NEW
ORLEANS --The 49ers' shiny new toy at quarterback continued to show off
his bells and whistles here Sunday. Colin Kaepernick started the game
and played pretty well -- terrific at times -- as he helped to
orchestrate a 31-21 victory over the New Orleans Saints.
Alex
Smith, the man Kaepernick replaced, stood on the sideline and tried to
look supportive. Smith, whose concussion in a game two weeks ago allowed
Kaepernick to take the job, was cleared to play Sunday but did not.
After the victory, Smith said that he thinks he "should" start the next
game but "doesn't expect anything." Meanwhile, 49ers head coach Jim
Harbaugh knew exactly what the first postgame question would be. So
before it could even be asked, he tempted to be proactive.
"I hope that everybody concentrates on the actual game," Harbaugh said.
Right. Fat chance.
In
pro football, nothing titillates or excites a fan base more than a
quarterback controversy -- or in the case of these 49ers, a mildly
frothy quasi-debate about whether Kaepernick or Smith deserves the keys
to the offense right now.
Harbaugh, in answering the question,
still insisted that Kaepernick is not the locked-in, new full-time
starter, saying that the 49ers coaches "will look at the game (video)
and make the decision." But the way things felt here Sunday inside the
Superdome, the decision is tilted 90 percent in Kaepernick's favor --
even if Kaepernick himself did not buy into that.
"That would be the
coach's decision," he said. "I keep my head down and just keep working."
And that's working quite splendidly so far. Kaepernick said he did not
learn for certain that he would open the game until 10 p.m. Saturday at a
team meeting, when Harbaugh announced to the team that Kaepernick would
get the ball. Sunday, the most impressive thing he did was walk into
the Superdome's mammoth house of drunken noise -- the late afternoon
local kickoff time meant more pregame drinking time -- and refused to
melt down or be rattled for more than a few seconds.
Indeed, for
several stretches during the game, the feeling was the same as it must
have been in 2001 with the New England Patriots, when starter Drew
Bledsoe was injured and his young backup -- Tom Brady -- stepped onto
the field and never lost the starting job. Although Bledsoe was a very
good winning quarterback, it was plain to the naked eye that Brady was
stronger and could extend plays to find open receivers.
The
identical sensibility crept onto the field during the 49ers' second
drive of the game. When the loudness created confusion as Kaepernick
tried to vocalize the proper formation, he calmly called timeout. Then,
on the next play, he completed a perfect 40-yard dart of a pass to
receiver Mario Manningham. Two plays later, Kaepernick ran the
read-option play and fooled the Saints and most of the crowd with a fake
handoff before sprinting into the end zone himself with the ball.
"The
guys made the blocks in front of me," Kaepernick said. "All I had to do
was run it in." On both the 40-yard dart and the touchdown run,
Kaepernick demonstrated why Harbaugh and his staff have seemingly gone
pie-eyed over their new toy. The second-year quarterback from Nevada
clearly has a stronger arm and faster feet than Smith. The read-option
can be almost impossible to stop if run properly. Harbaugh waxed
near-poetic in explaining Kaepernick's proficiency on the play.
"He
has a real knack for it," Harbaugh said. "He has a special ability,
honed it in college and has taken it to the pro level. He can cover
ground real fast, and he has an eye for making the read. He came with
that ability. I take no credit for that one." Does that sound like a man
who wants to reboot Kaepernick into his old backup role?
To be
sure, the shiny, new toy was not perfect against the Saints. Kaepernick
grew flustered late in the second quarter when he was in the shotgun and
a center snap landed at his feet. Hurrying, he reached down for the
ball and came up firing without looking closely at the coverage. The
ball was intercepted.
"I was trying to make a play out of something that wasn't there," Kaepernick said.
Fortunately
for him, the 49ers defense bailed him out seven seconds later as
linebacker Ahmad Brooks picked off Drew Brees and returned the
interception for six points.
So. Let the debate continue. If Smith
would not have been swift enough to score on the read-option as
Kaepernick did, would Smith have been experienced and smart enough to
also not throw the same interception Kaepernick did? Would the 49ers
defense have bailed out Smith, as well?
It's all quite
entertaining to discuss. We keep learning more about Kaepernick with
every passing day. Donte Whitner, the 49ers safety who also scored on an
interception return, has become friendly with Kaepernick because the
two often find themselves working out simultaneously at the team's
practice facility in Santa Clara. Whitner said that Kaepernick is often
the first man to show up on the premises.
"He's a quiet guy who has lofty goals for himself," Whitner said.
Such
as? It turns out that Harbaugh has adopted a motivational technique
from his old college coach at Michigan, Bo Schembechler. The 49ers
players are asked before each season to assemble a "goals package"
folder, as a kind of mission statement. Kaepernick showed his "goals
package" to Whitner. In the folder, Kaepernick had written down that he
wanted to become an NFL starter, win the Super Bowl and make the Pro
Bowl.
It is also instructive to hear what the Saints players said
about Kaepernick. Drew Brees, their own Pro Bowl quarterback, observed
that the 49ers have "got a great formula for winning" because there was
"not much difference" between Kaepernick and Smith. Jon Vilma, the New
Orleans rugged linebacker, was also complimentary of Kaepernick without
going too far overboard.
"I thought he did a good job managing the
game," Vilma said. "He didn't force any balls. He did exactly what they
asked him to do."
Hmmmmm. If those words and sentences sound
familiar, it is because a year ago, people were saying the same sorts of
words and sentences about Smith.
The Saints probably have it
right. The 49ers could win right now with either Smith or Kaepernick.
But Harbaugh and his offensive coordinator, Greg Roman, want Kaepernick
out there for the four or five plays a game in which he might make a
difference with his extra tools -- the faster legs, the stronger gun.
The coaches also know that with Smith's personality, he won't grumble or
make a public scene about sitting down. And long term, Kaepernick is
surely going to be the man.
It's an ideal situation. If Smith
returns as a starter because Kaepernick is hurt or is struggling, the
defensive-based 49ers likely would not miss a beat. Meanwhile, the
shiny, new toy keeps bringing a gleam to the eye. If it all works out,
December could be the most wonderful time of the year.
Source:
http://www.mercurynews.com
