SAN FRANCISCO — This was judgment time for the Colin Kaepernick experiment. The long-legged quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers passed his first playoff test in grand style with a display of record-breaking running and resilience after setbacks and big-play passing.
Kaepernick's 181 rushing yards for two touchdowns set a record for rushing yards by a quarterback in an NFL playoff game as he led the 49ers to an 45-31 victory in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs against the Green Bay Packers. On 14 carries, Kaepernick also set a 49ers team playoff record for the most rushing yards ever at any position.
The 6-5, 230-pounder, in his second pro season and eighth start of his career, also threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns as the 49ers advanced to the NFC title game for the second year in a row. They will face the winner of Sunday's Seattle Seahawks-Atlanta Falcons game.
BOX SCORE: 49ers 45, Packers 31
In the process of upstaging Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the top-rated career passer in NFL history and a Super Bowl MVP, Kaepernick lived up to the expectations Coach Jim Harbaugh had for him when he put him in control of the offense midway of the regular season.
Kaepernick got the job while incumbent Alex Smith was sideline by a concussion, and he never relinquished it.
Smith had led the 49ers to the NFC title game last season. Kaepernick offered a potentially bigger upside with his running and passing. He delivered it all against the Packers despite having his second pass of the game intercepted and returned 52 yards for a touchdown by Packers cornerback Sam Shields.
Demonstrating his resilience after the interception, Kaepernick led the 49ers 80 yards for a touchdown on their next series. The score came on his 20-yard scramble.
With the 49ers trailing 21-14 in the second quarter, Keapernick nullified his own 15-yard run with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for spiking the ball in the direction of a defender. Bouncing back again, Kaepernick hit Michael Crabtree with a laser-like 20-yard touchdown pass.
At the end of the first half, long-striding Kaepernick had runs of 19, 18 and 9 yards to set up a 36-yard field goal by David Akers that gave the 49ers a 24-21 halftime edge.
Akers, who spent the past two weeks competing for his job with Billy Cundiff after a season of struggles, was cheered by the Candlestick Park crowd that had booed his 2-for-4 performance to end the regular season.
But the biggest roar came in the third quarter when Kaepernick ran a read option, tucked the ball under his arm and broke loose on a 56-yard touchdown run that snapped a 24-24 tie. The run pushed Kaepernick past the previous record for playoff rushing yards by an NFL quarterback: 118 by Michael Vick when he was a member of the Atlanta Falcons in 2004.
Kaepernick finished with 17 completions in 31 pass attempt. Running back Frank Gore also had a big night for the 49ers, rushing for 119 yards and a touchdown.
Rodgers hit 26 of 39 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns, the latter with 57 seconds left and the outcome no longer in doubt.
With Smith throwing for two touchdowns in the first week of the season, the 49ers won 30-22 in Green Bay. Kaepernick went far beyond that in his coming-out party in the NFL postseason. The goal in going with Kaepernick over Smith was for the 49ers to get beyond the NFC title game. Kaepernick lost 2 yards on his final kneel-down, but he set the table for the 49ers to advance beyond what they accomplished in 2011.
Source: http://www.theusalinks.com/2013/01/13/colin-kaepernick-49ers-thrash-packers-45-31/
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