Colin Kaepernick is a dual-menace talent

2015.09.25 – Santa Clara – Last Sunday Colin Kaepernick threw a career-high 46 times, and led the team in rushing yards. The San Francisco 49ers quarterback recorded his fourth career 300-yard passing game.

It’s well documented that Kaepernick can throw the ball clip on a zip line. One of them came on a 4th-and-goal from the 14-yard line when he fired a dart to Anquan Boldin in the back of the end zone.

Three minutes later, he hit Torrey Smith over the middle of the field for a 75-yard strike – the longest catch and run of Smith’s career. The long touchdown was followed immediately by a fade from Kaepernick to Smith for a two-point conversion.

“It’s definitely one of the positives to take from the game,” Smith said. “We were able to move the ball throwing the ball. … And it wasn’t like we were stealing yards. (The Steelers) were still out there fighting hard. It’s something that we can build on.”

During the first half of the game, the 49ers quarterback completed 11-of-15 passes for only 61 yards. He showed composure staying in the pocket and short passes to his receivers.

“You have to be able to take what the defense gives you,” Kaepernick said. “They were playing deep on most of those plays, so we’re not going to throw that way down the field. So that limits you to shorter passes.”

“As a defensive coordinator, you’re going to notice if someone runs like Carlos Hyde did last week,” Kaepernick said. “You have to address that and they did. We got to our passing game, but we just got to it a little bit late.”

Kaepernick’s 33 completions were the quarterback’s most in a single game. His previous career high was 29, set against the Arizona Cardinals last season. The signal-caller finished the day 33-of-46 passing for 335 yards, two touchdowns with no interception and a 106.7 quarterback rating.

Kaepernick also led the team in rushing with 51 yards on eight carries, with a chance to score again, but was stopped just shy of the goal line on a fourth-down scramble.
By the time Kaepernick found its rhythm, the Pittsburgh Steelers had already put the game out of reach. The 49ers quarterback’s 75-yard throw was a lasting takeaway from an otherwise disappointing performance in the 43-18 loss to the Steelers, at Heinz Field.

“There were things from this game that we can take away as positives, but we don’t play for moral victories,” Kaepernick said, “We’re more of the team from Week 1. We have to regroup and get ready for Arizona.”

So far this year, with his coaches’ trust and a better feel for the offense, Kaepernick has completed 69 percent of his passes for 500 yards through two games, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Still, Kaepernick was vulnerable and took five sacks. That comes after he was sacked 52 times last season, second-most in the NFL behind then Jaguars rookie Blake Bortles’ 55.

Kaepernick, also said that he is more comfortable with the situation on offense this year. “I’d say the biggest thing is I’m being asked to be myself this year,” Kaepernick said, “And I don’t think anybody knows how to be myself better than me. It’s a comfort zone for me. It’s a situation where I’m not being asked to do things outside of my character.”
Kaepernick wouldn’t elaborate on what that meant and didn’t specifically mention previous head coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman.

Head coach Jim Tomsula kept it all in perspective, when asked what he thought of Kaepernick’s performance on week two;
“Obviously, did a really nice job with his feet, and his arm, and his brain.”
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” coach Tomsula said. “And we’ve got to continue to get it done … “We’re not going to overreact when it’s a ‘W,’ we’re not going to overreact when there’s a loss.”

Kaepernick has definitely embraced new coach Tomsula’s up-tempo offense as the 49ers (1-1) prepare for their first NFC West game Sunday at the Arizona Cardinals (2-0).

JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
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