Even with 14 weeks left in the season, no score looks like it will end up being a bigger anomaly than the 49ers’ 28-0 rout of the Rams on the opening Monday night.
The 49ers have been so atrocious since that night that they will struggle to win one or even two more games unless drastic changes are made — one of which could be in the offing that would have even non-football fans tuning in.
Colin Kaepernick could go from bench-warming anthem protester to starting-quarterback anthem protester after another anemic Blaine Gabbert outing Sunday in a 37-18 road rout at the hands of the Seahawks.
Gabbert threw for just 119 yards (the second time this season he has thrown for fewer than 200 yards), prompting Seattle defensive lineman Michael Bennett to mock Gabbert after the game and say Chip Kelly’s team would be better off with the more versatile Kaepernick at quarterback.
“There is no challenge [defending Gabbert],” Bennett said. “He threw for 100 yards.”
A switch to Kaepernick — who hasn’t started since losing his job in midseason last year under former coach Jim Tomsula — probably isn’t in the cards for this week’s home matchup with the Cowboys.
Kelly told Bay Area reporters Monday afternoon that Gabbert is still the starter in part because Kaepernick isn’t fully healed from offseason shoulder surgery.
“I don’t think he’s 100 percent right now, so that’s why he’s our No. 2,” Kelly said.
But pay attention to Kelly’s use of “right now,” because Gabbert and his woeful 68.6 passer rating (the second worst in the league behind Ryan Fitzpatrick’s) isn’t going to cut it for much longer if the Niners hope to repeat their opening-night success.
Gabbert’s struggles are turning into trouble for the entire team because San Francisco’s defense isn’t talented or deep enough to make up for the offensive ineptitude — especially when Kelly’s hurry-up offense keeps sending that defense back onto the field so quickly.
The Niners’ two losses, 46-27 at the Panthers and then this week’s debacle in Seattle, quickly became avalanches when San Francisco could not make up for defensive breakdowns.
Gabbert is completing just 55 percent of his passes and is no threat when running the ball, unlike Kaepernick (or at least the Kaepernick of two or three years ago).
Whether Kaepernick is capable of getting back to the form that once made him so revolutionary remains to be seen. He was much more hesitant to run at the time of his benching last season, and his decision-making skills had regressed massively.
Kaepernick is garnering no shortage of attention for his beliefs these days, and a rebirth on the field would only heighten the attention. It also might be the only thing standing — or in Kaepernick’s case, kneeling — between the 49ers and a complete disaster of a season.