Kaepernick benched is the lowest point so far in 49ers season

Article by Rob Newell

Blaine Gabbert!

 

Two words that say it all, you want to know just how well the NFC West divisional game between St Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers went this weekend, all you really need to know is that following this game the QB that San Francisco just last year signed to multi-million dollar contract (although wisely not guaranteed) Colin Kaepernick has been benched in favour of Blaine Gabbert.

Gabbert at one point muted as a number one overall pick in the same draft that saw Cam Newton take that position in Carolina, whose shortcomings in Jacksonville have led to the phrase Gabbertzone being used in NFL Network podcasts to discuss QB shortcomings, that Blaine Gabbert is now taking over as QB 1 for a team that’s QB history reads as a who’s who of modern NFL greats.  Just to rub the 49ers faces in it a little more on the same day that this was happening former Niners QB Alex Smith was having an inspired day running and passing all over Wembley Stadium, looking every inch the QB the Niners thought they had in Kaepernick, and certainly a QB a growing number of Niners fans wish they still had in San Francisco.

However, lets not forget about their opponents in St Louis, since his arrival in the starting line up Todd Gurley has been the most prolific rusher in the league, and together with Tavon Austin forms just about the entire Rams offensive production.  It’s a simple plan that Jeff Fisher has been looking to introduce to the Rams to mirror the days of Eddie George under Fisher in their Houston Oilers / Tennessee Titans days.  The plan may appear simple, feed Gurley and look for Austin with some gadget and splash plays, but that doesn’t make it wrong.

On this day the Niners defence were unable to stop them as Gurley once again went over 100 yards on the ground, 133 in total including a 71 yard TD.  Austin was also over a 100 yards from scrimmage and 2 touchdowns.  For the first time since I believe 2004 the Rams have come out of their first 7 games with a winning record and have some other games that look winnable on their immediate schedule, maybe the playoffs are not out of reach for the Rams.

Elsewhere in the division, defending champion Seattle Seahawks travelled to Dallas Cowboys in what should have been a glamour game, but the Seahawks have not adapted to life with their new OL yet and are struggling, and Dallas were still without Tony Romo but at least did have Dez Bryant back in uniform, but without a decent QB throwing him the ball Dez was not overly happy with his lot. 

In the end a 13-12 victory was probably about right.  Seattle will wish they could play the Niners every week as this was not as straightforward as their Thursday night matchup last week.  The Seahawks defence is looking good again but will have much sterner tests that what Matt Cassel could put up, but the Seahawks offensive problems will concern them.  The big trade in the offseason to bring in Jimmy Graham has not produced the sort of results yet that were expected, and unless there is a significant swing around in the rest of the year, even if Seattle can get into the playoffs it already seems almost certain that the Seahawks will not be enjoying home field advantage this time round, and that levels a certain sizeable advantage.

This year as in the early part of last year the division is being led by the Arizona Cardinals, who eventually rolled through the Cleveland Browns 34-20, in another game that showed just why Bruce Arians is such a great coach to watch and listen to.  Chris Johnson continues to stake a claim for comeback player of the year with another 100 yard game but did give up two fumbles.  With many coaches two fumbles would result in your being dropped and no action for the foreseeable future.  Arians has his own methods though and CJ2K was rolled out there 30 times, the chances of the flashy big plays now seem less likely from Johnson who does still have remarkable pace, but there is now a much more evident willingness to grind out the hard yards between the tackles too.

An Arians offence would not be an Arians offence though if they didn’t take their shots and Carson Palmer racked up 4 more touchdowns as Michael Floyd went for just over 100 yards and Larry Fitzgerald just under.  Breakout Receiver John Brown was dressed for this one but didn’t see any action.  Arians was asked about this and what fantasy owners might think about Browns absence from the game to which Arians replied Tough Shit.  That brutal honesty right there, that’s how you get to be two time coach of the year, and possibly the most loved coach in the game, and with every season that goes by the Steelers must regret how they handled the whole `retirement` thing.

So at just about half way the Cardinals are on top, the Rams and Seahawks are still alive and the Niners are thinking if they want to stay in state next draft and look at Cal QB Jared Goff.