Blogs

Morning Tailgate: Jan. 11

In the past seven games, Colin Kaepernick has led the 49ers to a 5-2 record and closed out their run as NFC West Champs and the No. 2 seed in the conference. But it’s a whole new ballgame now.

Heading into his first postseason action, Kaepernick will have a chance to show why Jim Harbaugh elected to make the quarterback switch to the young, athletic signal-caller in Week 11. Kaepernick has approached the 5 p.m. Saturday kickoff as business as usual, but realizes the magnitude of the NFC Championship bid that’s on the line.

Daniel Brown of the Bay Area News Group said it’s time to see if Harbaugh’s decision will pay off for the 49ers in earnest.

“Harbaugh pushed in all his chips this season with a midseason change of starting quarterbacks and, on Saturday against the Green Bay Packers, the coach finds out if lucky No. 7 comes up a winner,” Brown wrote. “That’s the jersey number of Colin Kaepernick, the boundlessly talented, minimally experienced quarterback who earned Harbaugh’s endorsement over the cautiously efficient Alex Smith.”

The rest of today’s Morning Tailgate features all the latest links on the Packers matchup, Eddie DeBartolo’s bid for the Hall of Fame and the 49ers kicker situation.

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Morning Tailgate: Jan. 10

Have no fear 49ers Faithful, it’s almost here. Yes, playoff football is right around the corner. But before the Green Bay Packers come into town for a Saturday night Divisional Playoff clash, there’s still plenty of telling statistics to comb over prior to kick-off.

Good thing Evan Silva of Rotoworld.com uncovers those interesting details as well as anyone around. In his recent matchup column, Silva shared plenty of valuable notes on the 49ers opening playoff matchup.

Here are just a few of the many interesting items from Silva’s writeup:

-Aaron Rodgers has completed 102 of his last 149 passes (68.5 percent) for 1,310 yards (8.79 yards per attempt), with 11 touchdown passes and no interceptions.

-Rodgers hasn’t been intercepted in 177 throws.

-When the teams met in Week 1, Rodgers completed all nine of his passes targeted to Randall Cobb for 77 yards.

-Greg Jennings, not Cobb, has been Green Bay’s most productive receiver as of late. Jennings led the Packers in receptions (19), receiving yards (226), and touchdowns (3), over the past three weeks.

-Colin Kaepernick had possibly his best start in San Francisco’s Week 17 win over Arizona. Kaepernick completed a career-high 276 yards on 28 attempts against Arizona’s top-five pass defense. Kaepernick averaged 9.9 yards per attempt without a turnover.

-Most importantly of all, Silva predicted a 34-30 victory for the 49ers.

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Morning Tailgate: Jan. 4

The 49ers will do a lot more scoreboard watching this weekend, just like Pro Bowl safety Donte Whitner was doing after the regular season finale in the photo atop this post.

The game San Francisco is most focused on features the two teams they anxiously watched at the conclusion of a Week 17 win over Arizona. On Saturday night, if the Green Bay Packers are victorious at home over the Minnesota Vikings, the Packers will travel to San Francisco to face the 49ers on Jan. 12 in the Divisional Playoff round.

For what it’s worth, longtime Sports Illustrated writer Peter King is predicting a Packers win.

If the Vikings win, however, the winner of the Seattle Seahawks-Washington Redskins Sunday afternoon tilt will travel to Candlestick Park for a primetime postseason clash.

Tickets for the Jan. 12 Divisional matchup presented by State Farm will be made available on Monday, Jan. 7 at 10 a.m. PT via Ticketmaster.  Quantities will be limited, so fans will be encouraged to visit NFL Ticket Exchange for additional seats.

But before the 49ers can find out who they’ll play next week, the team will hold one last workout this week that figures to impact San Francisco’s decision at kicker for the postseason.

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Morning Tailgate: Jan. 2

The New Year is here and the 49ers are already back at team headquarters getting ready for their Divisional Round matchup next week. Players were given Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off this week, but it hasn’t stopped some 49ers from working out at team headquarters on their own time.

Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group relayed comments from Jim Harbaugh’s appearance on KNBR Wednesday, when he said the 49ers are preparing to play in “three Super Bowls.” Harbaugh also touched on other topics like Justin Smith’s health and the Stanford victory in the Rose Bowl.

“Watching Stanford win the Rose Bowl on Tuesday also gave Harbaugh a thrill, and fondly recounted how he sat in some of those Stanford players’ living rooms while recruiting them in his days as the Cardinal’s coach,” Inman wrote.

The rest of today’s Morning Tailgate looks at the potential impact of newly-signed kicker Billy Cundiff and a look at 49ers front office members and assistant coaches who could be candidates to fill positions for other organizations.

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