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The story surrounding San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick heading into this afternoon’s game against the Miami Dolphins has focused around his wear of a t-shirt featuring a meeting between Malcolm X and former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. After a tense back-and-forth with Miami Herald reporter Armando Salguero, during which Kaepernick praised Castro’s investment in education, the off-the-field story about Kaepernick - which started during the preseason with his sitting during the National Anthem - continues to swirl.
On the field, however, Kaepernick has once again claimed the starting quarterback position for the 49ers following Blaine Gabbert starting he first five games of the year. How does a Kaepernick led offense in San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly’s system actually operate? I had a chance to talk to Niners Nation lead David Fucillo to get a look at the 49ers offense from someone who follows it every single day. Here were his thoughts:
The 49ers offense has been wildly inconsistent all season long. Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert have not had drastically different statistics. Kaepernick is averaging more yards per attempt, great depth per target, but is completing passes at a lower rate. We see more from Kaepernick on the ground, out-rushing Gabbert by 17 yards per game. Gabbert can move around, but Kaepernick is clearly the better runner.
Amidst all that, the offense continues to struggle in the second half. The team puts up solid first half numbers, and this past week they hung around with the Patriots. And yet, when the third quarter arrived, they fell apart, which has been par for the course.
If things continue like what we've seen, the 49ers will show some signs of life in the first quarter. They'll keep things close, and then in the third quarter the wheels will start to fall off. Kaepernick will get some garbage time stats to pad his numbers, but the 49ers will lose by at least a couple scores. If the Dolphins play too much man-to-man defense, we'll see Kaepernick get more scrambling yards, but again, it will be inconsistent.