Smith: ‘Kicking myself' over third-quarter interceptions

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SANTA CLARA -- Quarterback Alex Smith met the media on Monday to talk about the 49ers' 26-3 loss to the New York Giants. The 49ers have a quick turnaround with a game Thursday against the Seattle Seahawks at Candlestick Park.Coach was talking about how different people rebound off of a loss. What about you?
"Definitely not right away, that's not me, no. Waking up, thinking about it, replaying it even today a little bit. Consciously, obviously putting this one away quick with the quick turnaround Thursday. Normally it's a little longer, but this week, putting this one aside. Big division game."Do you like having a short turnaround after a loss, just come right back out?
"After a loss like that, yeah, in some ways it's nice because you can't dwell on it. Even as a team, you've just got to move on."What do the Giants do that's so vexing for you guys in their coverage?
"Yesterday, I thought we started well. We couldn't end anything, didn't finish anything well. It seems like every time we got some momentum going we couldn't really capitalize on it. Then you get down a couple scores and you got one dimensional. I really feel like we gave our defense a short field. For me, the two interceptions late (in third quarter) were the ones I thought about the most. It's third down you're trying to make a play, but you're just making matters worse. You really got to see the bigger picture there, make good decisions on both those cases. That's what I was really kicking myself for."Is it difficult, they can get away with just rushing four guys?
"That's the thing. They're so good when they get a lead like that, they don't have to bring pressure to get home. They've got a bunch of D-linemen that can all get after the pass. So, it's tough. They're tough when they get a lead like that."Looking back at those first two drives, what was the cause of frustration? Where did it end up and why did it go dry right at the end, those first two drives?
"The first two? I thought we had good balance. We were moving it and mixing it up, just didn't capitalize down there. Got in some third-down situations where we couldn't connect. Had the one tipped ball. Forget what the second one was, but moved it, changed field position, get down there to kick a field goal and to only come away with three points, that's tough."You started the game with more passing than usual, a lot of shotgun formations. What was it about the Giants defense that made you guys think that was an effective way to attack them?
"Different reasons. One, we're very conscious, they're a good D-line. I think they knock down more passes than any D-line in the NFL. They're all tall. They're all long. They all get their hands up. So a little bit get back there and get away from it a little bit. One, I think we had good balance out of that formation. The week before we had been running it well, even out of the shotgun. So, wanted to continue that and had good balance early. Like I said, just got away from it, got down multiple scores and got one dimensional and then started forcing things and then it really got bad."In your wins, you guys have looked pretty awesome. In your losses, there's been some wild fluctuations. Can you point to a reason for that inconsistency?
"A lot of reasons. There's not one, for sure. You turn on the film and offensively, it's easy to look at yesterday's film and ask questions about pretty much everything because none of it looked good. And it wasn't good enough. A lot of times that is the case with a loss. A lot of times you don't have a loss and you look back and, 'Hey, this was all great.' It was some things you've got to get better at and need to do that. I don't think there's any one thing, I guess. A lot of things playing into it. And then turnovers are just like the nail in the coffin. You're not going to overcome those, especially once you're down. In some ways it is nice to have a short week. We've got to just move a long from this one and get ready for a big division game."Transcript courtesy of the 49ers public relations department.

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