49ers Kap-size in arctic conditions
Kaepernick benched in club-record 11th straight loss; completes one pass
CHICAGO — Colin Kaepernick was benched Sunday before he even could attempt a fourthquarter comeback win. That surprised him, even though he had completed only 1 of 5 passes for four yards through three quarters of play.
“It wasn’t something I expected,” Kaepernick said of his benching in a 26-6 loss at Chicago, the 49ers’ franchiserecord 11th straight defeat. “I’m always prepared and ready to do everything I can to help this team win.”
Once quarterback coach Ryan Day relayed coach Chip Kelly’s decision to insert Blaine Gabbert, Kaepernick took off his helmet and put on a hooded red coat to quietly watch the 49ers’ latest loss unfold under snow showers at Soldier Field.
“It’s not my place to really argue on the sideline,” Kaepernick said. “I want to make sure I do what I can do to help this team win. That was the decision that was made, so I’m going to
support my teammates.”
Kelly had seen Kaepernick struggle enough in the conditions that he wanted to give Gabbert his first action since Oct. 6.
“I thought we needed a spark on offense and needed to get something going,” Kelly said. “I knew we’d be throwing it every down, so give Blaine a shot. That was it.”
Who gets the shot next Sunday when the 49ers (1-11) host the New York Jets? Well, Kelly said there hasn’t been any discussions on that front, though he did add: “There was no permanent decision or anything like that.”
Gabbert finished 4 of 10 for 35 yards in his first action since being benched with a 1-4 record. The Bears’ final points came when they sacked Gabbert in the end zone for a safety with 1:55 remaining.
Kaepernick’s 49ers’ future came into question even before kickoff. Not only was there Thursday’s news that he had put his San Jose mansion up for sale — he called it an “investment decision” — but Sunday brought a report by NFL Network that Kaepernick would opt out of his reworked contract and enter free agency in March.
Asked to confirm or deny that he wants to test the 2017 market, Kaepernick replied: “Like I’ve said all along, my focus is on the next game. So my focus has been on the Bears this past week.”
He only attempted five passes against the Bears, but Kelly noted he called more than that. The Bears sacked Kaepernick five times and forced him to often scramble, as he ran six times for 20 yards.
“I was just watching all the balls coming off his hand and what our chances were of completing them,” Kelly said of benching Kaepernick. “Maybe I was too cautious but it didn’t look like we were doing much in the passing game. We had some (passes) called and have to get it out a little quicker.”
Kaepernick is the first quarterback to have less than five yards passing and endure at least five sacks in a game, according to ESPN.
Factoring in their six sacks for minus-33 yards, Gabbert and Kaepernick combined for just six net passing yards, the 49ers’ second-lowest total ever. Their lowest net passing yards were minus-10 in 1963 against the Detroit Lions, when they passed for 63 yards but lost 73 yards on sacks.
Kaepernick’s four passing yards were his lowest in 54 career starts, and his 39.6 passer rating matched his career low, including his Sept. 30, 2012 passing debut when he didn’t complete his only attempt. He also had a 39.6 rating last Nov. 8, when his lone pass fell incomplete during a cameo against the Atlanta Falcons, having lost his starting job to Gabbert after the previous game.
Those numbers were a far cry from last Sunday’s 31-24 loss at Miami, when Kaepernick nearly rallied the 49ers from a 17-point, fourth-quarter deficit while rushing for 113 yards and throwing for 296 yards and three touchdowns.
A Chicago snowstorm flipped the script.
“The weather was something that definitely played a factor,” Kaepernick said of his first snow game as a pro, although he did rally the 49ers in the fourth quarter of a 2012 win at a cold and rainy New England.
Bears counterpart Matt Barkley, a USC product making only his second career start, also struggled out the gate with the conditions. He didn’t complete a pass until 1:21 before halftime. Then Barkley got hot, torching a reeling secondary and absent pass rush for 192 yards on 11 of 18 passing with only one sack and no turnovers.
“He threw some deep balls, and completed some deep balls,” Kelly said. “He seemed like he had pretty good command of it. But we didn’t seem to handle the weather very well from a passing-game standpoint.”
Seven of Barkley’s 11 completions went at least 15 yards.
“It took a quarter or so to get used to throwing the ball with those conditions,” Barkley said. “I really had to adjust my arm angle and almost push the ball instead of flinging it, because my thumb would slip.”
The Bears (3-8) pulled away once rookie Jordan Howard ran for touchdowns on three consecutive possession in a 10-minute span. Howard’s first score coming 31 seconds before halftime, after Tramaine Brock’s pass-interference penalty in the end zone; the 49ers had a season-high 11 penalties.
Gabbert’s first pass resulted in an 18-yard completion to Jeremy Kerley. But Gabbert’s other three completions went for just six, six and five yards.
“You just have to be able to handle the elements, and that applies to all 11 guys on offense,” Gabbert said.
Once Day told Gabbert to get warm on the sideline, the deposed starter got ready to replace Kaepernick and told his teammates that “somebody has to make a play” to get a rare first down.
On Kaepernick’s outing, Gabbert said: “It’s just one of those days. It’s not on any single guy’s shoulders why we didn’t win this football game and why we didn’t execute as an offense. Football is the greatest team sport in the world.”
This season remains on pace to go down as the worst in 49ers’ history.