X
WATCH & READ
Fitzgerald, Johnson lead way in Cardinals' win over 49ers
1:00
Loading
Making personnel moves based on what the fans say usually isn't a good idea, but Chip Kelly might want to start listening to 49ers fans.
During the second half of the 49ers' 33-21 loss to the Cardinals on Thursday night, the fans made it clear what they want, and what they want is Colin Kaepernick as their starting quarterback.
For several minutes during the game, the fans were chanting for Kap.
Unfortunately for the fans, Kelly didn't listen and he stuck with Gabbert until the bitter end, and unfortunately for Kelly, Gabbert didn't do much to prove that he deserves to be starting.
In four quarters of action, Gabbert threw two interceptions -- and both were backbreakers. In each case, the Cardinals got the ball inside the 49ers' 25-yard line.
The Cardinals ended up scoring a total of 10 points off of Gabbert's picks, which was huge number because this was a 21-14 game going into the fourth quarter.
Kelly will likely defend Gabbert by pointing out that one of the interceptions came on a batted ball and by also pointing out that receivers were dropping passes, but the truth is, Gabbert just wasn't good.
It wasn't completely Gabbert's fault that the 49ers lost -- San Francisco fumbled a kickoff return that led to a Cards touchdown -- but Gabbert's play definitely didn't help things.
The 49ers quarterback was regularly overthrowing his receivers, including a throw at the end of the first quarter where he had Rod Streater wide open for what could've been a 70-yard touchdown pass, or a 40-yard gain. However, Gabbert overthrew his receiver by a good five yards.
In a conversation with CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson, Kelly made it clear that he has no plans to bench Gabbert, which basically echoed the comments he made last week.
"If you ask me where he is, he's not where he was in 2013," Kelly said of Kaepernick on Sept. 28. "That's the only thing I'm pointing out. So, he's not 100 percent back from the recovery standpoint. He's 100 percent healed from those injuries. So, that allows him to play in the game, but is he the same player that he was when he was running 4.5 and throwing the ball all over the place? He's not that guy right now because he's not where he was physically. You can just look at him physically. He's not the same guy right now."
At some point, it only makes sense to give Kaepernick a shot because you know what you have with Gabbert, and what you have with Gabbert is a quarterback who was 8-27 as a starter going into 2016 and is 1-4 this year.
Kelly might have finally realized that because he at least left the door slightly open for a quarterback change during his postgame interview following the 49ers loss.
"We're going to go and look at everything," Kelly said of making possible change, via CSN Bay Area. "We got a couple of days off, in terms of getting ready for Buffalo and we'll assess the film."
The way Kelly's talking, it's possible that 49ers fans will soon get to see Kaepernick on the field instead of just on the sideline.
Giving Kaepernick a shot now makes sense because that means he'd have 10 days to prepare for the 49ers next game. The more likely scenario though is that Kelly will stick with Gabbert, which is a decision that could come back and haunt the organization. Fans didn't really show up for Thursday's game, and as the team's record gets worse, so could their attendance numbers.
The most exciting thing that happened at the game for 49ers fans might have been the fact that Ayesha Curry showed up.
Alright, let's get to the other six takeaways.
2. Drew Stanton played exactly like Drew Stanton
As bad as Gabbert was, Stanton might've been worse. The big difference though is that Stanton is a backup quarterback who was asked to start on three days notice.
All the Cardinals wanted from their backup quarterback on Thursday was a turnover-free game, and that's exactly what they got. Although Stanton had atrocious numbers (11 of 28 for 124 yards), he made his completions count and he didn't throw an interception.
Of Stanton's 11 completions, two went for touchdowns, including the 29-yard touchdown to Larry Fitzgerald that you can see below.
Besides throwing to Fitzgerald, Stanton was only asked to do one other thing: Hand the ball off to David Johnson a lot.
The good news for the Cardinals is that Carson Palmer should be back for Week 6.
3. The 49ers couldn't stop David Johnson
The Cardinals game plan against the 49ers was pretty simple: Get the ball to David Johnson as many times as possible. Cards coach Bruce Arians stuck to that game plan for four quarters and it worked wonders in the win.
Johnson carried the ball 27 times for 157 yards in the game, marking only the second time in his career that he's crossed the 25-carry mark or the 100-yard mark. Johnson also scored two touchdowns against the 49ers, marking only the fourth time in his career that he's scored two or more touchdowns in a game.
The 49ers had no answer for Johnson, who averaged a ridiculous 5.8 yards per carry.
4. Larry Fitzgerald owns the 49ers
Johnson wasn't the only Cardinals player who dominated the 49ers defense on Thursday. So did Larry Fitzgerald. Of course, that was nothing new because the 49ers can never stop Larry Fitzgerald.
The Cardinals receiver caught two touchdowns against the 49ers, giving him 16 against them for his career. That's the second-most touchdowns that any player has ever scored against the 49ers.
If any team is hoping that Fitzgerald retires soon, it's San Francisco.
Fitzgerald and Johnson were a big reason the Cardinals were able to come out of this game with a win. Basically, all Stanton had to figure out how to do on this short week was throw the ball to Fitzgerald and hand the ball off to Johnson.
For the game, Stanton was only 5 of 20 for 43 yards when he wasn't targeting Fitzgerald. On throws that went toward the Cardinals star receiver, Stanton went 6 of 8 for 81 yards and two touchdowns.
5. Punters are people, too
If you like watching punts, then hopefully you DVR'd Thursday night's game so you can watch it on an endless loop for the rest of time. The two teams totaled 16 punts in the game, which is the third-highest total of any game in 2016 (Bengals-Steelers in Week 2, 49ers-Rams in Week 1 both had 17).
At one point, this game looked like it was going to turn into the Super Bowl of punting.
The two teams had a total of 12 punts in the first half putting them on a pace for 24 in the game. Cardinals punter Ryan Quigley put on a show, pinning the 49ers inside their own 20 with six of his nine punts. Niners punter Brad Pinion wasn't bad either: He averaged 49.8 yards per punt on seven punts.
Although Gabbert's two interceptions were bad, the 49ers actually had an uglier turnover in the game. On the opening kickoff of the second half, 49ers returner Chris Davis couldn't hold on to the ball.
After Davis fumbled, the Cards recovered at San Francisco's 14-yard line and would turn the mistake into a touchdown four plays later. Even uglier: The 49ers actually held Arizona to a field goal, but that got waved off after the Niners were called for running into the kicker on a fourth-and-4. The penalty gave the Cardinals a first down and a second shot at the end zone.
6. The best trade of 2016 that you didn't hear about
One week before the regular season started, the 49ers quietly pulled off a trade that went under the radar: They sent an offensive lineman to Detroit in exchange for Jeremy Kerley.
Chip Kelly clearly knew what he was doing because Kerley has been one of the best players on the team through five weeks. As a matter of fact, if Kerley wasn't on the roster, Gabbert might have completed zero passes for zero yards against the Cardinals.
On the 49ers' first scoring drive, which came in the second quarter, Gabbert went straight to Kerley with every pass he threw. The wide receiver caught four passes for 63 yards on the drive, including the nine-yard touchdown pass you see below.
Overall, Kerley caught eight passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. To put that in perspective, Gabbert only threw for a total of 60 yards when he was targeting his other receivers.
7. 49ers fans had better things to do on Thursday
What happens when two 1-3 teams play in a Thursday night game that kicks off at 5:30 p.m. local time?
No one shows up. That's what happens.
Levi's Stadium was basically a Ghost Town when the game kicked off. For proof, just check out the video below.
Apparently, fans in the Bay Area weren't too excited about watching a duel between Gabbert and Stanton, and you can't really blame them.
Although traffic is usually bad in San Francisco, it doesn't really look like that's what was keeping fans away from this game. Midway through the second quarter, the stadium was still relatively empty, which means most fans decided they'd rather watch the game at home.
At this rate, Levi's Stadium might be empty when the 49ers host their regular season finale on Jan. 1.
Click here to view original web page at www.cbssports.com
