|
 Quarterback and receiver raced toward each other for a celebratory
chest-bump, proving to all that the San Francisco 49ers offense is
alive and well.
"We showed people we can pass the ball," running back Frank Gore
said. "That's big for this team."
If Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III have become the future of
football suddenly put on hold, consider Kaepernick the one who looks
ready to play his way out of the doldrums.
The young, mobile quarterbacks who have struggled in 2013 after
breakout years in 2012 faced off for the first time Monday night,
and Kaepernick outperformed his counterpart as the 49ers broke a
two-game losing streak with a 27-6 win over the Washington Redskins.
"I did comment to him in the middle of the week, Wednesday or
Thursday, that he was being exactly perfect — leadership and
demeanor-wise," 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said.
"A combination of loose and focused. ... Some people have baby deer
skin. Some people have armadillo skin. He's got the armadillo skin."
Kaepernick completed 15 of 24 passes for 235 yards — the first time
in five games he's topped 200 yards — with three touchdowns and no
interceptions for a career-best 134.5 passing rating.
The Redskins dared him to throw the ball by bottling up Gore (13
carries, 31 yards), and the QB responded by showing some
veteran-like chemistry with the veteran Boldin, who had five catches
for 94 yards and two touchdowns.
"Colin, he's been taking a lot of criticism, but one thing I like
about Colin, he's always hanging in there," receiver Vernon Davis
said. "He's always fighting through adversity. He's one of those
guys who's tough."
Davis also had a touchdown catch for the 49ers (7-4), who are tied
for second with the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West and are three
games back of the Seattle Seahawks with five to play.
"We knew what type of game this was for us," Boldin said. "We're
right in the hunt. We've got to come out with a win."
A loss would've put the defending NFC champions in trouble in their
quest to return to the playoffs, but they're nowhere as bad off as
the Redskins (3-8), who have dropped three straight and sit alone in
last place in the NFC East a year after a late-season run that won
the division.
Contrast the Kaepernick chest-bump scene with the sight of Griffin
lying on his stomach after throwing an interception on the final
play of the first quarter, a 15-minute span in which he completed 1
of 6 passes for minus-1 yard.
It used to be a guarantee that the fans would chant "R-G-3!" at some
point during every Redskins home game, but not on a night when the
franchise player completes 17 of 27 passes for only 127 yards and
gets sacked four times — and when the offense as a whole amasses a
mere 190 total yards.
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"We've got to conquer some of the demons that we
have going on as an offense and just as a team in general — and
I think we will," Griffin said. "It takes all of us."
Griffin took some flak last week from teammate Santana Moss for
not taking enough responsibility for mistakes, and on Monday
Griffin said a report on the NFL Network that he's asked for his
negative plays not to be shown during team meetings as evidence
that "people are trying to character assassinate" him.
Regardless, there's plenty of fault to go around after this
game, including a fair share of blame for coach Mike Shanahan,
who said his team was "embarrassed" against the 49ers and whose
future is unclear as his team heads for a third last-place
finish in his four years in Washington.
"We haven't got dominated like that since I've been here," the
coach said.
Kaepernick and Griffin seemed poised to take the quarterback
position to a new dimension last season when they wowed the NFL
with their mobility when running zone-read and play-action.
But defenses have adjusted, and the two QBs' stats have tumbled
accordingly when they've been forced to throw in conventional
drop-back situations.
Griffin's fall has been more precipitous. He threw his 11th
interception Monday, more than twice the number he had all last
season.
And, even though the 49ers have a winning record, they've been
relying heavily — possibly too much — on Gore and the running
game while Kaepernick has floundered. They began the weekend
ranked last in the NFL in yards passing.
"It's great to say, 'OK, we played well in a certain area.' But
going into this one, it was by any means necessary," Harbaugh
said, "and our guys rose up to the challenge and got it done."
NOTES: Harbaugh said 2012 leading wide receiver Michael Crabtree
will be activated from the physically unable to perform list and
will play next week against the Rams. Crabtree returned to
practice Nov. 5 for the first time since tearing his right
Achilles tendon in May. ... The Redskins had their worst
offensive output since gaining 178 yards in a 23-0 loss to
Buffalo in 2011.
___
AP NFL website:
http://pro32.ap.org/
[Associated
Press; JOSEPH WHITE, AP Sports Writer]
Follow Joseph White on
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP.
Copyright 2013 The Associated
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