THere in lies the issue though. ALex Smith didn't get his team to the playoffs, and alex smith didn't get his team a fumble away from the super bowl. I posted smith's 2011 numbers, they weren't that great. Matt Cassel had a better season in 2010 than smith did in 2011.
Lets look at the 2011 49ers team
#4 ranked defense overall
#2 ranked defense in INT's
#2 ranked defense in forced fumbles
#8 ranked rushing offense
#29 ranked passing offense ---- KC ranked #25 with cassel and PALKO!
#11 ranked scoring offense
49ers are a solid built team and coached VERY well. That is what got them to within a game of the super bowl. NOT alex smith. 49ers weak schedule combined with their rushing attack allowed it. Face it alex smith is surrounded by talent. Top 5 defense, top 5 O-Line, arguably a top 5 rusher, one of the better TE's in the league, a couple of stud WR's and some serious speed.
Cassel had the pieces minus the coaching in 2010. I fully believe if the BS with weiss and haley wouldn't have happened we would have beat the ravens, the difference is we were playing vanilla offense cause of haley/weiss screwing it all up, and the ravens making adjustments and we weren't. If was actually a pretty tight game the first half. We got out coached plain and simple. There was nothing cassel could have done that game to get us the win. Nothing!
And in NE with good coaching and good team around him he would have EASILY taken the pats to a atleast a couple playoff wins if they wouldn't have gotten left out on a fluke that had never happened up to that point.
You can say what you want about cassel you can not like him or not want him here, but to say that alex smith is better and has a higher ceiling or could lead a team to the superbowl is a blind statement. You would have put cassel in smiths' shoes in SF the last couple years it would have been the same story, and vise verse.