Alex Smith shows his talent

The 49ers are 7-1, the second-best record in the league, and are widely considered one of the surprises of this NFL season.

Well, not by everyone.

Even though he spent only one season there in 2010, Giants backup quarterback David Carr was more surprised that the 49ers were 6-10 last season than by their seemingly sudden ascension to pro football's elite in the last two months.

"They're a very talented team," Carr said this past week as the Giants prepared to face the 49ers in San Francisco Sunday afternoon. "I said that when I got there. If they're not the most talented team in the league, they're one of them. They just needed some direction, and they got it."

Giants center David Baas spent the first six years of his career with the 49ers. His teams were below .500 in five of those seasons and 8-8 once.

"It's definitely going to be a tough challenge," he said of facing the 49ers. "Everybody might not have said that a couple of years ago, but they're definitely doing things different and it's working for them."

It was only this summer that quarterback Alex Smith was teetering on busthood, coach Jim Harbaugh was going to be a flop in his first season because of the lockout and Frank Gore was an injury-plagued running back.

Now the 49ers are a team that could mathematically clinch the division title before Thanksgiving.

There still are plenty of doubters waiting for the 49ers to fall back to reality. In fact, they may have drawn more attention this season for a handshake scuffle between Harbaugh and Lions coach Jim Schwartz than they have for their record or their imposing defense.

"They still don't give us the props," Gore said, "but we don't worry about that."

The 49ers' turnaround would not be possible without the Smith turnaround. He was the first overall pick in 2005 -- the 49ers famously selected him over Aaron Rodgers -- and Smith stumbled through his first six seasons with 51 touchdown passes and 53 interceptions.

This year he's found his groove. He has 10 touchdown passes and two interceptions in a run-oriented offense. While Eli Manning and Tom Brady come off their head-to-head battle concerning the hierarchy of NFL quarterbacks, Harbaugh has thrown Smith's name into the mix. "He's every bit the elite quarterback as there is playing in the game right now," Harbaugh said.

"I always thought he was a good quarterback," Baas said. "It's very tough when you're being thrown a different playbook and being asked to do eight million different things every single year by eight million different people. You want to talk about pressure? That's what he's had on his shoulders for the last six years. I think they do a good job of taking that off him and just allowing him to play."

Baas said the offensive lines he played with in San Francisco never lost faith in Smith.

"We always stuck by him no matter how many different people tried to tear him down," he said. "We always knew that he was a great guy and that he would have success at some point."

That point is now. But if the Giants win, there will be lots who will consider the 7-1 record a mirage, a fraud. It's a team that was used to losing and a fan base that had become accustomed to disappointment.

Giants defensive end Dave Tollefson, who grew up in Northern California, has lots of friends at home who have become discouraged by the team's recent history. They're asking themselves the same question over and over this fall, he said.

Are the Niners for real?

Said Tollefson, "They look pretty real to me."

Notes & quotes: Giants WR Hakeem Nicks (right hamstring) traveled with the team, a good sign he will play. The team also added WR Mario Manningham to their injury report with swelling in his right knee. Manningham also traveled with the team. Both players are listed as questionable.