SANTA CLARA – This is what Jim Harbaugh said about Colin Kaepernick at the Monday press conference.
Q: You said after the game that you’re not going to make a change at quarterback. After watching the film, did that reinforce your stance?
HARBAUGH: Yes. I still feel that way. There were a lot of positives in the game, definitely a tough loss. And specifically with Colin, especially after the fumble-touchdown, the way he responded, the way our team responded, putting ourselves in a position to win after that. And the same can be said after the safety, too. I thought he responded with some big throws and big plays.
Q: Does Colin still have the hot hand?
HARBAUGH: I thought Colin played well, did a lot of really good things. made some good decisions, some big plays. We were better on third downs in this game, and a large part of that is Michael Crabtree, his emergence and continued good play. I thought he played extremely tough, made some big catches for us. Frank Gore is another player who is just a war-daddy type of guy who played big in this game as well.
Q: Are you evaluating Colin on a curve as a young quarterback, or was that a good performance for any quarterback? If that had been Alex, would that have been a good performance?
HARBAUGH: Yes. It was a winning-quarterback performance in tough circumstances, especially when you look at the third quarter, playing off of our own goal line. He made some big time plays in that situation and throughout the course of the game. Another area you have to look at and take responsibility for is penalties – our ability to move the ball when we don’t have penalties versus when we do have them.
Q: Was part of your decision to go with Colin the fact that he’s going to get better?
HARBAUGH: I think the biggest thing is what helps you win now, these games that we play, and going forward.
Q: This was Colin’s first loss as a starter. Did you want to see how he would respond? Did you like what you saw?
HARBAUGH: Yeah, I thought there were some real positives to take away from his performance.
Q: Is there anything Alex can do to get this job back?
HARBAUGH: Alex is not out of this. We feel like Alex is one of our guys, he’s won us a lot of football games. He’s prepared himself to play in these games each and every single week – that’s what his mindset has to be, as if he was the starting quarterback. That’s what we expect. If I know Alex, that’s what he’ll do.
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Lol
JH should be a comedian.
We need to start worrying about his abilities!
Let’s hope we make the play-offs despite this mess.
The ‘war-daddy’ comment was a classic
My favorite quote after the loss;
“It was a winning-quarterback performance”
And Michael Crabtree’s got the best hands he’s ever seen, and Alex Smith is a Pro Bowler, and…
can we believe ANYTHING Harbaugh says?
“Does Colin still have the hot hand?”
I bet Jim wanted to smack somebody for that one, lol!
He didn’t answer that question…
I think he answered that question and lot of others in my opinion. They are going to go with CK7 no matter what he does win or lose. The real backup has become Tolzein and Alex Smith will not get his bonus in April. That is the way it looks to me. If that is the case I believe that there are a lot of teams out there that are looking for a QB and will give him a good look. I beleive that he has become a winner. I think that JH has to prove a point about his selection in the draft and he got the excuse with the injury to AS. I wish AS nothing but good luck and good fortune with a continued career. I personally think it sucks to bench a guy for no other reason then an injury. He would not have lost the Rams game, no matter what JH says or the rest on this blog.
JH knows who has the ‘Hot Hand” since he will be in the Hot Seat for the rest of the season!
That was one of the most penalized games by a 49ers team I’ve seen in the JH era.
Gotta say the last two have been. Horrible penalties that killed drives and scores. I hope he emphasizes those things moving forward.
Not a good sports day yesterday. Both both of our teams lost.
Thats been an on going problem all year, penalities have destroyed many drives this year.
Alex is out of this, dont need to be BS. I thought the two drives CK had were great drives, the rest of the game eh I didnt see much.
Sounds like he is trying to move on from his hot hand comment and trying to look ahead with no more who’s the starter questions. I think he’s got to go all out with CK now. I can’t see ck having a horrible game in the future. The more he plays. The more he will help win. Harbaugh knows this. And I believe this. GO NINERS!!!!
No SB this year?
You can’t see CK having a horrible game in the future? lol
Even the kool-aid maker will tame it down a little but why should you – you are a ‘blithering idiot’
Penalties have been a major problem all year, not the amount of penalties but the timing of the penalties. Kind of like CK’s mistakes yesterday but the timing
How bout Goldson’s penalty? Borderline call(certainly wasn’t helmet to helmet) but the refs are gonna call those close.
It was not borderline. His helmet was not even close to Bradford’s and there was an official 10 feet away crouched down looking at the play from the best angle. Brutal mis-call.
As for Goldson, I cringe at his out-of-control behavior and some of his tackles, but he did exactly what the NFL wants on that play. He was committed to go after Bradford’s legs before Bradford started to slide. Goldson responded to this change in circumstances with a great athletic move, twisting his body so he came in back or side first to avoid a penalty.
There is a book out examining why teams have a home-field advantage. I haven’t read it, but I’ve been told that the conclusion after studying game videos is that the home filed advantage consists entirely of bad officiating calls in favor of the home team.
We saw a lot of that on Sunday. Without the homer calls, we win 13 or 16 to 7.
Bruce Miller and Crabtree were the only offensive players that played well. Gore had no blocking but ran hard.
They should get Miller more involved in the passing game. He’s a load. Kinda reminds me of his position coach.
CK is the guy. The running QB with the astronomical upside is the starter. If he learns to play mainly from the pocket, he will be a good QB and possibly great. JH has made his decision and there’s no turning back. I hope it works out. Go 9ers!
Hofer
There you go again with the running QB comment. Kaepernick has shown that our pocket presence in 3 games than AS showed in 7+ years.
Better pocket presence
Nick, he looked very confused in the pocket yesterday which isn’t shocking considering his amount of playing time. Right now, he is mainly a running QB. He rushed for 84 yds and didn’t pass for a TD. He had some nice throws, but not overly impressive. The turnover was atrocious. Each week since the Bear game, his play has declined. Last week 1 INT and 1 saved INT by RM. Yesterday, the scramble backward from his own 18 into the endzone for a safety and then the botched pitch to TG.
I haven’t given up on him yet. Go 9ers!
Hofer once again with the backhanded compliment. CK is the 49ers starting QB hofer. He had the third highest QBR yesterday. Did you know that?
Don’t take my word for it. Listen to Ron Jaworski’s take on it.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8706840/colin-kaepernick-remain-san-francisco-49ers-starting-quarterback-jim-harbaugh-says
I’m a Kaep fan. Having said that, I am very surprised at how he’s played from the pocket. Lets work on getting better. Starting this week.
Bay, yes and do you know why his QBR was high? Probably not! The botched fumbled that accounted for 8 of the Rams points in their win, was considered an abort. He didn’t get dinged for that play. That is where the QBR is inconsistent. He didn’t throw or run for a TD. He game the Rams 10 points and he’s third in QBR!!? Yes that’s impressive. LOL
*gave the Rams 10 points*
The botched pitch accounted for 6 points.
You can’t get a two point conversion without first receiving a TD for 6. So yes it was 8.
Didn’t realize the QB played on the defense. Guess we can go back to the Giants game and blame the defensive failures on Smith’s interceptions.
AS won against the Giants during the regular season in 2011. AS won a playoff game. He has some built up equity. CK does not.
“AS won a playoff game. He has some built up equity.”
From the looks of it he is currently under water…
A winning performance on a silver platter to the Rams. Merry Xmas!
Hof I am not so optimistic about our runnin QB. I will wait til after the two games against SEA and NE to see if he is SB worthy.
Monkey boy
Your hero is done and JH knows more than you. Sit back and enjoy or go find another team.
Like the loser Cal Bears?
I am not feeling it either. Next two games are huge.
The good thing is the best game of year came against the AFC east hopefully we sweep to clinch
If this years pattern holds true 9ers beat MIA and NE but lose to SEA.
He has played mainly from the pocket. He was a running qb yesterday because he was forced to by the pressure. For some reason stl d line owns our o-line.
Glad we don’t have to play them again this year. Rams are 4-0-1 against the NFC west. Hopefully they’ll help us out against the Seagulls.
weren’t the niners like 5-1 or 6-0 vs the NFC west under singletary
Yeah and just like the Rams they couldn’t beat anyone else.
Rams are 1-6 outside the division.
Hofe – VD needs the damn ball, Roman needs to design plays for him and have Kap force it to him, even if double covered.
VD is the 2nd best TE (Gronkowski #1) in NFL, Kap and Roman better find a way to get him the damn ball Hofer!
Crabtree has been solid but we need VD and Crabs.
Crab, I’ve said it all year long and there were those here only blaming AS for VD’s lack of production. Some even thought CK would improve GR’s offense. Now it is the same offense, same productivity, and with game changing mistakes.
Hofe – I agree with your stance on VD but Kap does make our offense better. We would’ve been shutout yesterday if Kap didn’t start.
Crab, he may make the offense better at some point, but to date his record is 2-1-1. I have yet to see the explosiveness that he is supposed to provide but it may show up at some point.
Crabs no one can say what if? Hof is right. CK was suppose to add a new dimension to the offense, big play capability. It has not happened once. Not one bomb for a TD in 3.5 games.
Prime – It wasn’t a good game from Kap but let’s give him his 7 years and if he sucks we can replace him with another Smith (Geno Smith).
Crab,
CK needs to deal with 2 more HC’s and 6 OC’s before we can give him 7 years. Yes, 7 years of ownership having their own growing pains after uncle ed was out of the picture.
Hofer – All I know is the Alex Smith starting for 49ers again (pipe dream) has been blown to SMITHEReens.
Hear, hear, Hofe.
CK made some bone-headed plays yesterday that were inexcusable for a second year QB in Harbaugh’ system.
Three plays particularly stand out:
1. option pitch with the left hand.
2. escaping a pass rush by running 18 yrds back and being called for a safety.
3. running out of bounds thereby nullifying the Rams having to take their last time-out.
But aside from those bad plays, the numbers will show that CK had a better than average game. You can’t give away points, but if you do, you better have what it takes to bring your team back or at least put your team in position to win.
CK7 did just that. Walker has to make that catch period. In any case, that’s the positive aspect of CK’ play that I saw, and it looks like Harbaugh is viewing it the same way the day after.
Now, if CK has a bad game (not just bad moments like yesterday) from start to finish against the Dolphins, AS deserves a chance to start again. And start for the rest of the season, period!
AES, excellent post.
The issue is not with CK. I thought he would compete with AS in 2013 and win out. My issue is they replaced AS, who was playing well, with CK because he is more explosive and offers the offense plays AS can’t do. OK, where the heck are those plays? In the meantime, CK is making poor decisions and horrible game changing mistakes. It wasn’t good for CK nor AS to make this change this late in the year. I hope it works out.
Aes I agree with most of the problems except the phantom safety. He ran backwards because there was another defender on the edge. He feels he can outrun linemen which he can. Had he gotten tackled it would be his fault. But he made it outside the box and threw it past the line. It shouldn’t have been a safety. He did his job on that play. Was it dangerous? Yes but at no fault of his own was that play bad. The refs screwed it up.
agree
One play – that nobody is talking about – was perhaps the biggest mistake by CK. The score was 7-2, the Niners had driven down field, in the redzone, 3rd down, CK missed a wide open Moss in the back of the endzone. Instead, he threw to Manningham who was tackled short of the endzone. 4th down, Field goal, score 10-2, instead of an insurmountable 14-2.
Nick,
went over that play several times. Moss did not come open until he let the ball go. The DP tailed off and helped make the tackle.
If CK learns to pump fake like Brees he could fake in the flat and hit the deeper receiver.
Brees and Romo use the pump fake very well.
Nick,
That is the same play they ran in almost the same goal to go situation for the winning TD in Detroit. Moss does come open, but the ball is already coming out of Kaepernick’s hand at that point.
Akers’ could’ve-been field goal (not putting the loss wholly on him) makes Colin’s game a winning performance. Sounds to me like Coach is placing the blame on anyone other than his QB this round. Can’t blame him, too much, but he’s definitely being careful with the direction of his responses.
I still think they should make sure the spot is in the middle of the field if they’re gonna insist on playing for field goals. Is it just me or does akers miss more from the hashmark? does anybody else agree?
I think he just misses period. He’s not injured. Those kicks have plenty of length on them. And I’m putting some of the blame on roman for going conservative and calling the same running plays to set up for a fg rather than a td. The last person they should trust is Akers right now.
The miss yesterday barely trickled right. The same kick from the center of the field is good.
If we lose the miami game or not much improvement from CK, no doubt Alex is back starting.
Let’s not kid ourselves, the backlash would be too much.
In niners I trust.
Totally agree! CK has to have a big game and the entire offense has to be much more productive, or else JH has to answer why he benched a winning QB for a “question mark.” The 49ers have to win out from here or we may have a crappy position in the playoff seeding or worst, we could miss the whole thing. We have two really tough games left. A loss to Miami will have us facing a potential 9-6-1 record. That’s not going to get us very far this year.
I don’t want to be an alarmist, I just want to win…but yesterday’s loss did not look like a team that’s on the verge of a super bowl.
Do you really think JH cares about backlash. If you do, you just started watching football yesterday. JH doesn’t give a damn about what anyone thinks except his players. You won’t get any backlash from them.
That’s precisely the “backlash” I’m talking about. If the 49ers fail to make it to the super bowl (when they were favorites), he’s gonna have to answer as to why he made such a decision. It will be that much more difficult to win the locker room over in 2013.
The holding penalties and ridiculously bad pass blocking the last 2 weeks have confirmed what i thought all along the last 2 years about this O line. They do indeed “suck”. There are patchwork groups in this league that outperform our mostly healthy 1st round draft pick laden line. Joe Staley is the single most overrated tackle in the NFL.
wow…take it easy..I would’nt say they suck..ask our running backs if they suck..let’s not forget,they are still young,and mainly drafted for a “power” running game..they will get better
I said PASS blocking. How long are we going to go with they are still young excuse?
and I said take it easy…most of the sacks that the line has given up is from Alex playing a safe game of “I would rather take a sack instead of turning it over”
Our O-line has been pretty good in the run game but at times below average in the passing game. Both Kaep and Smith have been under to much pass rush pressure this season. Never gonna advance the way we want to in the playoffs unless that phase of our game improves. I noticed yesterday the Kaep’s passing got a lot better and he got into a nice rhythm later in the game when the O-line’s pass blocking improved and he had a real pocket to throw from. Neither Kaep or Smith will lead us to the promise land without better pass protection.
Although I don’t agree totally with they suck! They do struggle at times with the pass protection. But I do agree that staley is the most overrated o-lineman. And a piece of garbage IMO for his smiling on a defensive td.
http://ninerchatter.blogspot.com/2012/12/there-were-plenty-of-goats.html
Did they all give the Rams 10 points? ; )
Lol at the guy who still blames ck for the refs mistake.
And I would like to add that MC has been robbed of two catches the last two games.
MD,
There wasn’t enough difference from CK versus AS. The change was immature. But if CK plays better, unlike some of the others, I’m willing to admit it was the right move. LOL
Colin did a great job of playing catch with his receivers yesterday but he not only did nothing to put us into position to win his mistake had a direct impact on us losing. Harbaugh calling that a “winning quarterback performance” is just coach speak for; my decision backfired on me but I’ll never admit it.
well yeah…He can”t hang his player out to dry..
True, his mistake was costly. Also his 50 yard run put them in position to regain the lead.
yep…not his fault Walker dropped a perfect pass..you know the kind that hit him in the worst spot..his hands
Didn’t put us in position to win?? Yea cuz he didn’t throw a perfectly good pass to DW right??
JH knows CK is not going to be great every game he will need help(drops by wr n te)because keep in mind this is his 3rd start..yes he had numerous mistakes but did this kid get low or did he keep making plays to keep us in the game…JH is a qb guru n he knows what he has….
Seek Walker drop and missed game winning field goal.
You can almost single out one play or one moment when a player does something great, but for the QB, because they touch the ball on almost every play and are the leader of the offense, you have to look at the entire body of work for the game. Yes CK made a great run to make up for the bone-head pitch, but then he doesn’t another bonehead play by not staying in bounds.
He’s a young player and will only get better but if he is going to be a starter on a SB caliber team heading to the playoffs, trying to get a 2 seed, then unfortunately he shouldn’t get a long leash. It may not be fair, but life isn’t fair. Just ask Alex Smith, who may not be the best athletic QB ever, but he was the 1st pick and had to deal with really bad coaching for most of his career.
Sure CK looks better then Alex in his three starts, but look at the team around him.
That is going to be the burden he bears if they don’t win it all and make a bonehead play to cost the Niners a chance at the SB. Look at the backlash that Kyle Williams got. Yeah, death threats…
HB was taken to school by a real professional football coach. The play calling is Div 11 college crap. For those of us who were lucky enough to be around for the SB’s ,know how difficult it is to get there. How much longer will some of this teams key players be with the team? If not now, when?
AFAIK, the current defensive starters are locked in for at least another 2 years. Just sayin’.
Mr. A,
I stated that Q wrong. I meant to say how much longer will they be able to play at a SB level . A 1% drop off and they are no longer in the SB hunt.
I’m destressed by their (the coaches) performance.
Let’s see how the team responds this week against Miami. We CAN NOT lose this game, or we may be fighting for a wildcard at the end of the season. @ New England and @ Seattle are tough games, ones that we can very easily lose. If lose to Miami….it’s gonna be a long off season. I hope they fix this mess soon.
I think the writing was on the wall when the offense only put up 17 against New Orleans’ terrible defense. So it’s no surprise that they turned around and only put up 13 against a much stronger defense. I don’t want to be too pessimistic, but the Rams games were supposed to be “sure wins” for us (for whatever that means in the NFL). So to tie and then LOSE to them really hurt us. And because of yesterday’s loss, the Rams are actually in the hunt for a wild card! THE RAMS!!! I never saw that coming this year.
Okay defense, it’s up to you!
I’d rather Harbaugh speak highly of his players than throw them under the bus. Guys know when they are struggling, they don’t need to be called out through the media.
Smith is yesterday’s news.
Finally. The LaMichael James debut looks imminent, according to Baalke:
http://www.csnbayarea.com/football-san-francisco-niners/niners-talk/Baalke-hints-James-debut-is-coming?blockID=809417&feedID=5936
“Dammit Jim! I picked him now use him! You’re making me look bad here!”-TB
“Dammit Jim, I’m a GM not a doctor!”
Crossing my fingers it’s this week. The kid was dynamic in college. Let’s see if he can bring it to the bigs.
He brings speed to the position. Something the 9ers lack with Hunter out.
nice….
The more I think about this last game, the more I believe that Hunter’s absence had a considerable impact on Kaep and the offense. With Hunter in the backfield, the defense has to account for two outside rushers — Hunter and Kaep. With Gore and Jacobs, the defense knows that most running plays will be between the tackles. If James can come in and do even a little of what Hunter caould do, then that should help the offense.
That horrible drop that walker had it was unexceptable…we need to have him blocking on the line and have VD going out for those passes…Roman called a horrible game no matter what JH says…his play calls were either timid or just plain stupid the offense never got into a rhythm and all I could think about is why doesn’t he call a screen to counter those blitzes the rams were doing but we all know roman doesn’t call screens…I thought Kap played ok yea he made some bonehead plays but he also gave us a shot at the W at the end…I honestly don’t think smith would’ve made the offense perform any better(don’t think he would’ve made that idiot pitch either but there were throws that smith would not have pulled the trigger on to) the rams are undefeated in the division this year so far so anyone who thought we were just gonna go in there and beat the crap out of them was dreaming that being said we still should have won that game but Akers has lost his confidence and he might end up costing us a playoff win too
let’s look on the bright side for a moment.
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/83578/silver-linings-49ers-at-rams-2
I’m not in the mood for silver linings yet. I’m scheduled to be grouchy until Wednesday.
clemons, for once I’m with you.
enjoy your sandy vajayjays.
Ooh, arrows up on personal stats. Hope the guys have fun cashing their incentive checks while watching other teams in the show.
“Harbaugh says Kaepernick put on ‘a winning-quarterback performance’”, yes coach he did, just not your our team. Yes there were other people who could have won the game for us (Walker catching the late TD, Ackers kicking the ball between the uprights, etc.) but that doesn’t mean Kaep didn’t lose the game for us. He did. He lost this game, played lousy in the last Rams game but was the backup so you give him a bit there. Played really well agaisnt the Bears who prepared for Smith, played rather poorly against the ‘Ainsts, who were the WORST Def in the league and we were held to the lowest number of yards of the season of any N.O. opponent, and now he LOST a game for us. He is the future but today is the present. If Smith did this there would be calls for his head (wait, there were calls for his head even with a MUCH better record than 2-1-1 [yes I give credit to for the tie to Kaep, he played more and the Offense looked better with Smith in it]).
Grant, how about his line at the next coach’s presser?
Jim, since you’ve promoted Colin to the starting spot, the offensive production has gone from 30 to 17 to 13 points per game. Is that consistent with what you’ve said about getting better today than we were yesterday?
A follow up question. If that trend continues do you see this team even accomplishing what you you were able to last season?
+1
Grant, for the next presser can you dress in a Gollum costume and wail “My Precioussssssss!”
You know you want to.
It is the Holiday season, what about RRatto’s “Baby Jesus”? LOL
msclemons67, you used to add some good commentary to this board. If every posting of yours is now just going to contain idiotic “precious” references, consider this. Take some time away from here, and tend to the more important matters in your life.
ribico
I prefer looking at the brighter side. Maybe msc is just really excited about the new Hobbit movie coming out. And is using the blog to satisfy his urges till he sees the film.
You agree?
Rib,
Yes, that point has been made throughout the day, and there’s no debating the numbers.
But those numbers would have much more credibility if the season ended yesterday. 4 more games left bud. We all made the contention that with AS a win was a win whether dominating or ugly.
I want to see CK produce wins, period. That obviously includes ‘must’ wins over the NYG’ and the top shelf teams. Numbers will come and go, what I want to see is the same ‘explosiveness’ galvanized together with game management.
I believe the explosiveness is there, once the game management is established we will have a perennial winner in CK.
Harbaugh knows that AS is the better game manager. Obviously Harbaugh wants more from his QB. Harsh, but I can’t think of any other logical reason for the change.
Well, he’s getting more from his QB decision alright. More pressure from the Seahawks.
This may all work out for 2012 in the end. And it sure is making it more interesting.
>>I want to see CK produce wins, period. That obviously includes ‘must’ wins over the NYG’ and the top shelf teams.
AES, after failing to produce wins against a less than top shelf team, the Rams, the Niners have been put into the position that every game from here on out is a “must “win.
If they don’t, they may not have your opportunity to see the Giants or other top shelf teams.
After blowing up the teams offensive identity, now relying on a QB who at critical times plays confused and thinks, to the detriment of the team, that he can bail himself out with his physical skills – if Harbaugh gets this team as far or further than he did last year, it’ll go down as one of the great coaching feats of all-time.
Jim, with these winning quarterback performances, don’t overlook the fact the point is to actually win.
Jim, so is Alex the low hanging fruit?
I do think this game had to shake up Harbaugh a bit no matter what he says. After the Bear and Saint games I don’t think he conceived that a Kaepernick led offense could be so anemic. I know that I thought that Kaepernick would continue to be explosive and effective (with a youthful blunder mixed in every now and then), as did the host and all of the Smith haters on this blog. Now the view changes a bit. If the Rams had snapped the ball half a second quicker in the first game, you would be looking at two losses to the Rams in four weeks.
In any case the die is cast and Harbaugh has to double down on the Kaepernick’s education and development. Even if he were to sub back in after an injury or offensive meltdown, I am convinced that Smith would force his way out of San Francisco in the offseason. A Super Bowl ring would only make that more likely as he could leverage a better contract elsewhere. I imagine that Smith admires and appreciates what Harbaugh has done for him, but trust is out the window and soon Smith will be too.
Chargerfan
There are a lot of plays that went our way that first game. And we still couldn’t beat the Rams.
Luck has a way of averaging out at the end. And we owe Ms. Lady Luck a lot still.
The worse thing for the franchise I think, sadly, would be for AS to come back in at some point and then win the Super Bowl for us. Then what do we do? What does JH do? “Come here Alex, I love ya!” Noooooooo. And what loser franchise dumps the QB who won them the Super Bowl? The Ravens did. And they didn’t win another playoff game for a long time and the HC was never able to get a good/better QB and was fired for his inability to do so.
sad to see the Alex lovers turn into Kaep haters.
go Niners!
I’m confused, again. Isn’t the winning quarterback the one who plays for the team that scored the most points in the competition?
Is Harbaugh saying Colin gave a great performance but it wasn’t enough? Like, he was just good enough to lose us the game? But Jim is proud of how Colin played because he looked really good on a couple of plays…
Harbaugh can be the master of blunt when he wants to be but in this case he is using used car salesman speak.
Bradford gave the winning performance not Kaepernick. Blunt truth even when you consider Kap engineered exactly the same number of points for the Rams as Bradford! The only blunt truth is the Niners lost and our offense scored only 13 points. Six less than it did against the Saints.
True OpenMinded.
There are no positives in any loss, but by virture of Harbaugh’ remark that “CK put on a winning performance,” it’s abundantly clear that Harbaugh is deflecting some of the blame away from his QB.
Harbaugh has made a decision to go with CK and I’m sure he’s also weighed the fact that the young QB will have growing pains and give cause for frustration. My only hope for CK in this transition process is that he matured rapidly and ready for the playoffs.
There is a myth that CK has a higher ceiling than AS. The truth is that CK has an unknown ceiling, he may have hit it against Chicago. Plenty of QB’s who played strong early on and then did nothing. See Kolb, Flynn, Cassell. Jamarcus Russell supposedly had the highest of ceilings. Alex’s ceiling is apparently a 95% completion percentage with a 156 rating. Alex is 1-2 against the Giants. Brady is 0-2 against the Giants in the playoffs. CK is 0-1-1 against the Rams.
Personally, I think Harbaugh is trying to one up Pete Carroll one more time – ‘my youngsters better than yours.’ I just wish he had started that project at the beginning of the year, or next year.
In reference to Harbaugh’s statement about a winning performance: Kaep had the winning TD, nose up and softly landing in Walker’s hands. A Pop Warner receiver catches that ball.
End of discussion.