If you don't read the whole thing, at least check out the part at the end.
Ever since last year when the 49ers made their Super Bowl run, I've doubted them. Sure that defense is nasty, and their special teams is fundamentally sound (even though it cost them in the NFC Title Game last year), but am I supposed to believe that Alex Smith can quarterback a Super Bowl winning team? Thankfully, it looks like I won't have to. Enter Colin Kaepernick.
Kaepernick was a second round draft pick out of the University of Nevada. Had he played at a more prominent university, he might not have come out of nowhere like he has. Consider that at Nevada, he was the only FBS quarterback to ever pass for over 10,000 yards and rushed for over 4,000 yards in a career. He made Nevada a relevant program and was a thorn in Boise State's side for the years he was there. Early this year, he was learning and sitting patiently behind Alex Smith as he watched his 49ers go 6-2 heading into their bye week. Then came week 10 against the Rams. Smith, who had been playing well so far, went down with a concussion.
Down 17 entering the 4th quarter, the 49ers needed a stellar performance from Kaepernick, and he delivered. He passed for 117 and ran for 66 with a touchdown. The most important stat was zero, as in number of turnovers. He took care of the ball, didn't try to be Aaron Rodgers, and let the stellar defense keep the 49ers in the game. It worked, sort of. Despite tying the game in regulation, both teams missed field goals in OT, and the game ended in a tie. This was the start of the Kaepernick movement and may even become the Kaepernick era if he keeps it up. While there was some controversy and confusion at first over who would start, Kaepernick has solidified his spot as the starter to the delight of 49er, and fantasy football fans everywhere.
Since that tie, he has gone 4-1 with his only loss coming against the Rams in OT. Thankfully for the 49ers it doesn't look like they will be facing the Rams in any context until next season as the Rams will likely miss the playoffs. San Fran, meanwhile, have already clinched a playoff spot and can win the division with a win over Seattle this Sunday. His most recent virtuoso came against the Patriots yesterday in prime time, in Foxborough, in the rain, on Sunday Night Football. This is when I became a believer.
The Patriots, at home, in the second half of the season? Forget about it. Frequent flyer miles aside, there's really no good reason to even go play them. Stay home, enjoy California, take the L. Instead, Kaepernick and the defense came out on a tear and jumped out to an early lead. By the end of the first quarter, the Pats had already thrown an interception and fumbled the ball, while Kaepernick had already thrown a TD to ex-Patriot Randy Moss. By the end of the first half, it was 17-3 as the defense had smothered Brady and the vaunted hurry up Pats offense. In the third quarter, when the Pats had halftime to make adjustments, it got worse.
Their first two possessions of the third quarter, the Pats fumbled and threw yet another interception. The fumble led to a whacky touchdown when Kaepernick fumbled the snap (a common occurrence for the 49ers in this game) and an alert Frank Gore picked it up and ran it in for a TD. The interception led to a Michael Crabtree TD catch from Kaepernick. With ten minutes left in the third, it was San Fran - 31, Pats - 3. People may have picked the 49ers to win, but no one expected a blasting of this magnitude. Then, as if content with their lead, the 49ers played a kind of prevent defense. They were still getting pressure and making tackles, but it wasn't as intense as early on as anyone who saw the game will tell you. Not the best of all decisions. No matter how good your defense is, if you give players like Brady or Rodgers time back there, they will tear your defense to shreds. And he did.
New England rattled off 28 straight points with Brady contributing to two of them (ran for one, threw for one). He was shredding the defense, as the atmosphere in the stands picked back up, and defense found itself once again. Three and out became the name of the game as the Pats tied the game with around seven minutes still left to play. The way the Pats were moving the ball, it wasn't that crazy to think they might win by a couple scores after being down 31-3. The Pats then fell victim to special teams and the Kap. Following the TD that tied the game, returner LaMichael James, who should be used more in their regular offense, raced down the sideline and returned it for 62 yards. The very next play, Kap showed poise in the pocket and found a wide open Crabtree for a 38 yard TD. San Fran's D seemed to wake up and they sacked Brady twice on the Pats next possession. A late field goal by the 49ers put it pretty much out of reach, though Brady made it interesting at the end. After a Pats FG put them within striking distance, a failed onside kick ended the game at 41-34. Regardless of the score, this was a big win.
Colin proved to me, he can ball. His other victories were impressive, but I still needed to see something. The Chicago win was impressive, but as we're seeing now and as I've tried to warn people all year, the Bears are overrated. When that defense doesn't get turnovers for the offense (49ers turned it over 0 times) they are a mediocre team at best as the 49ers proved in destroying them 32-7. I started to get a bit more belief when they beat the Saints in the Superdome, but that was against the Saints D. I could grab ten other random friends and we could go put up a few scores on that D, so I still wasn't that impressed. His other victory came against the Dolphins and well, they're the Dolphins. This win spoke volumes about how good this team is. On the road, in a place where no one wins, and they pull it out with a guy who wasn't even in the conversation of starter a few weeks ago.
The upcoming schedule is going to be tough and test Kap. If he can knock off the Seahawks in Seattle, then you would simply have to be ignorant to not give this kid his props. His dual threat running and passing keeps defenses guessing and he rarely makes the bad decision that costs his team the game (excluding the 16-13 OT loss to St. Louis, though he did a lot to put his team in a position to win). I could certainly see this team Super Bowl bound. As of right now, they have a first round bye and finally have their man at quarterback. The other teams in the playoffs would be the Falcons, Packers, Redskins, Vikings, and Seahawks. They've already beaten the Pack and Seahawks. They have not and will not play the Redskins or Falcons. Their loss to the Vikings was early on when Alex Smith played like, well, Alex Smith with an INT and a fumble lost. I think it would be a different story this time around. Hop on the bandwagon while there's still seats available. This wagon is going all the way down to New Orleans. See you there New England!
Matty O
On a much more serious note and just something that I've noticed the last couple days, people need to take a different perspective when thinking about the shooting in Newtown, CT. I've seen multiple, long threads on Facebook about gun control and recently numerous people posting about Deadspin.com's article regarding Sunday Night Football and Obama's speech. Stop it. You like gun control? Fine. Write a letter to your senator or read up on gun policy instead of giving reasons like "guns are evil." All those gun control posts do is just wind up in 10 people going at it over guns, freedom of speech, and finally ending up at why Coke is better than Pepsi. It's pointless. Were those tweets mentioned in the article appropriate? No, of course not. But what good are you trying to accomplish by posting that? Are you trying to go after football, even though all stadiums and players paid tribute to those victims? I bet your workplace won't do that today. Were you trying to go after people that hate Obama, and try to associate hating Obama with rudeness and classlessness? Or are you just trying to make other people look bad? You can disagree with me on this and I probably won't see eye to eye with everyone, but if you really do care, then post stuff like the Morgan Freeman post.
To those that have not read it, he makes the point that the media will "glorify" this shooter which gives others something to strive for or top. Everyone will know the shooter's name by week's end yet many of the victims will go unknown and lost from memory. If you really want to take something away from this, research a news article like this, that makes you familiar with one of the victims involved. You can also donate to United Way CT or the Red Cross. Again, don't take my head off for this if you don't agree, but just think about which of your actions will have the desired results you want. Thanks for reading!
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