Here is Ira Miller on the 49ers as they approach this weekend:

Cohn: How did Alex Smith do against the Colts?

Miller: He did OK, considering. I did not expect the game to be competitive the way it was. The defense kept them in the game. The next 2 weeks will be interesting. These are 2 games at home against 2 not very good teams, Tennessee and Chicago. They have bad defenses.

Cohn: Is there a chance the 49ers will do well?

Miller: Yeah, if they're going to show something it would certainly be against these teams at home.

Cohn: Is Singletary showing himself to be adaptable?

Miller: He changed quarterbacks but he hasn't changed his basic philosophy. He's shown he's adaptable to some degree; he's not totally inflexible. At some point he must think about his overall direction. You can't win a championship in the NFL just running the ball. I think he knows that and that's why he's not happy with his quarterback situation. His 2 best games were games they lost, Minnesota and Indianapolis. It shows they are clearly better than I thought they would be and they have reached the big middle rank of mediocrity.

Cohn: Where were they before?

Miller: Down there not far away from the Raiders. They were mixed up because of coaching and their quarterbacks and they weren't very good. Now they have discipline and you can draw a direct straight line between Mike Singletary becoming the coach and Vernon Davis becoming a player.

Cohn: Is the 3-game losing streak they're on serious or standard growing pains?

Miller: It's a sign of a team making slight improvement. Certainly from game 1 to 2 to 3 of the losing streak they have improved. They've lost 4 games, 3 of them to teams very clearly better than they are. One of their problems is quarterback matchup. They almost always have the 2nd best starting quarterback. This week they may not. I don't know where Vince Young is now.

Cohn: How will they do against Tennessee?

Miller: I think they will beat Tennessee. Their defense is good enough to keep an eye on Vince Young. They must stop the run but they have done a good job at stopping the run. They have held opponents to under 3.8 yards per carry for almost year.