2 early pick-6s give Arizona cushion; QB throws 4 interceptions in loss
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Less than 30 miles from where Colin Kaepernick spent part of his offseason receiving a mechanics makeover, the 49ers’ quarterback offered compelling evidence Sunday that he needs a do-over.
Kaepernick spent eight weeks in Arizona tightening his motion, and widening his throwing base, and … well, absolutely none of it was on display in a 47-7 loss to the Cardinals, the 49ers’ most lopsided defeat since 2006.
Kaepernick threw a career-high four interceptions and had career lows in yardage (67) and passer rating (16.7), and the 49ers’
hopes were basically deepsixed when he threw two picksixes in the first six minutes.
The stat that might best put the disaster in perspective: The Cardinals had four more interception-return yards (71) than Kaepernick had passing yards.
Kaepernick, who had one more completion (five) than interception in the first 55 minutes, suggested he couldn’t have envisioned such an awful afternoon in his worst nightmares.
“Never crossed my mind,” said Kaepernick, who completed 9 of 19 passes. “Very hard to deal with. Very hard to go out and play like that and hurt this team the way I did. I nullified all the efforts of every other player on that field today, and that’s something I have to fix.”
Kaepernick isn’t alone. The 49ers (1-2), who lost 43-18 in Pittsburgh in Week 2, were humbled again by a 2014 playoff team. Their 90 points allowed is their most in back-toback games since October 1980 when they surrendered 107 in Bill Walsh’s second season.
“We really got embarrassed today,” outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks said. “That’s everybody. It’s an embarrassing feeling. I don’t feel like I’ve ever lost a game by 40 points.”
Offered tight end Vernon Davis when asked about an offense that produced the 49ers’ fewest first downs (10) and yards (156) since a 10-9 loss to the Panthers in November 2013: “We struggled a bit,” he said, pausing. “A lot.”
And head coach Jim Tomsula acknowledged the issues were hardly limited to the offense. The 49ers have surrendered 680 passing yards, five touchdowns and 13 completions of 20-plus yards in their past two games. On Sunday, they were torched by Carson Palmer (311 yards, 102.5 rating) and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (nine catches, 134 yards, two touchdowns).
“We’ve got to play better defense,” Tomsula said. “We’ve got to play better offense. We’ve got to play better special teams. We’ve got to play better everything.”
The 49ers could overcome some of their offseason personnel losses if Kaepernick took the next step in his development. However, his four picks Sunday led to 24 points, and he earned a dubious distinction. Before Sunday, a quarterback hadn’t thrown two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns in the first six minutes of a game since 1925, according to NFL.com.
Instead of relying on Kae- pernick on Sunday, the 49ers had 13 straight runs after the second interception was returned for a score. The run streak ended when Kaepernick threw a 2-yard completion to Anquan Boldin on 3rd-and-20 with the 49ers trailing 28-0 with five minutes left in the first half. Did Tomsula fear Kaepernick would throw another pick?
“No, that was just me trying to get everything calmed down here,” Tomsula said, “Let’s grab ahold of this and see if we can get things calmed down and back at it.”
That didn’t come close to happening. And the rout was on after two of Kaepernick’s first four passes were returned for touchdowns.
First, Kaepernick stared down Davis and floated a pass 9 yards beyond the line of scrimmage that cornerback Justin Bethel returned 21 yards. Four plays later, Kaepernick locked in on Boldin and tossed a pass 2 yards beyond the line of scrimmage that safety Tyrann Mathieu returned 33 yards.
On Thursday, offensive coordinator Geep Chryst said the staff had scaled back the playbook in the offseason to focus on plays Kaepernick was “most comfortable with.” For his part, Kaepernick said he was “being asked to be myself this year” and was in a “comfort zone.”
Three days later, however, it was the Cardinals who looked comfortable as Kaepernick’s awful opening sunk the 49ers.
“We knew going into this game that the focus for them was to run the football,” Mathieu said. “Their passing game has simplified so much, it was easy for us to anticipate routes and get some good breaks on the ball today.”