I have no words for what I saw from the San Francisco 49ers today. Absolutely no words. Well, that’s not true. I’m a blogger. I have a lot of words. Unfortunately, many of them have four letters and this is a family-friendly site, so I’m going to do my best to be eloquent.
Despite some optimism earlier in the week, once Carlos Hyde and Anquan Boldin were ruled out for the game, I didn’t expect the Niners to pull out the win; but I did expect them to play better. Though in hindsight, I’m not sure why. Over the past two games, San Francisco has had as many first downs as punts with 19 of each. They have scored 9 points and no touchdowns. Kicker Phil Dawson is the team’s offensive MVP with three field goals in two games. That is a bad sign.
And then there is the Colin Kaepernick of it all. After the quarterback finished the game 21 of 40 for 162 yards and no touchdowns, Kap’s future with the 49ers is looking more and more dismal, with Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole reported that two Niners think Kap needs to be benched; not forever, but for a bit to clear his mind.
Beyond the stats, he’s looking a little lost out there. With 4:24 left in the first quarter, the 49ers took a safety. However, WRs Jerome Simpson and Torrey Smith were wide open, and Smith was desperately trying to let Kaepernick know how open he was.
This is a Kaepernick weakness, but it’s not all a Kaepernick weakness.
From Chris Biderman, Kap has a higher passer rating than Cam Newton and Peyton Manning, and their teams are undefeated. They have better personnel around them.
Colin Kaepernick signed a team-friendly contract to give the organization the ability to both retain and bring in quality personnel to give the team its best chance to win. Instead, the Niners let numerous quality players go in free agency, and the only major player of note that was brought in was Torrey Smith. Anthony Davis’s post draft and post free agency retirement, or time off, or whatever it is, certainly didn’t help, but the vast majority of this is on the organization. Kap is also stuck with an inexperienced, and I’m sorry to say it, ineffective coaching staff who has no idea how to help their QB and their offense work.
So maybe Jerry Rice was right earlier this week, and maybe the unnamed 49ers are right today. Maybe Kap does need to sit and get his mind right. It’s just unfortunate and unfair that the 49ers organization has done so much to get his mind and his performance wrong.
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