San Francisco 49ers: What really went wrong for Colin Kaepernick last season?

By Brian Spaen | Jul 9, 2015

Much has been made during the San Francisco 49ers offseason about Colin Kapernick and his improvement. It comes after a disastrous 2014 campaign gave wonder to many fans and analysts on if Kaepernick could ever return to the success he saw in the postseason when he took over for Alex Smith. There’s three key areas to understand what exactly went wrong.

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Part of the reason wasn’t just Kaepernick himself; it was how he was protected. Even though the 49ers are known to have a strong offensive line unit, a weakness has always been keeping the quarterback alive under center.

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According to Pro Football Focus, San Francisco ranked 9th overall in offensive line play last year, but 16th overall in pass blocking. If the league-high 52 sacks didn’t make it glaringly obvious, it was how much better the running game was compared to how Kaepernick was doing on his feet throughout last season.

Keep in mind that continuity was another issue as much of the original starting lineup didn’t play together throughout the season. That affected both the running attack and QB protection.

Still, you can’t blame the offensive line for all the sacks. The unit was still ranked in the top 10 overall and better than half the league in its weakness. What contributed to some of the sacks was Kaepernick’s decision-making.

Something that must change in order for Kaepernick to become a better quarterback is to stop focusing on one receiver. This has been a problem throughout his early career. NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell told KNBR Radio (via Daniel Brown of San Jose Mecury News) that Kaepernick struggled to identify what was available quickly.

"“(Kaepernick) needs to know right away that that’s where the ball should be thrown,” Cosell told KNBR radio. “But he was totally focused on (Anquan) Boldin, who was double-covered. No recognition. And Kaepernick just dropped his eyes and ran into a sack. Plays like that are what concern you over time, because that’s pre-snap recognition.”"

These decision-making problems also have shown in the game’s crucial moment — the fourth quarter. Kapernick doesn’t exactly fall off the map in ability, but he certainly does in efficiency. ESPN’s Seattle Seahawks reporter Terry Blount explains the issue in an NFC West Q&A.

"Kaepernick was last in the NFC last season in fourth-quarter passer rating at 60.3, but his overall passer rating was 86.4. In other words, Kaepernick tends to make bad decisions with the game on the line. Four of his 10 interceptions last season came in the fourth quarter. December 28, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi"

Finally, the offensive in general became predictable. Why did Kaepernick thrive so much earlier? Because opponents didn’t know what to expect and the 49ers fooled them with pre-snap motion and shifted their players. That’s where the fault of former offensive coordinator Greg Roman comes in.

The mixture of offensive line injuries and teams figuring out what San Francisco was doing led to unimaginative, simplistic offensive formations.

They finished the 2014 season as the 20th best total offense in the league and 25th in points per game. The lack of scoring caught up with them eventually in a four-game losing streak late in the season.

Both the struggles in the offensive line and Kaepernick, combined with the lack of a solid game plan to run the offense, contributed to a setback season for the 49ers quarterback.

There’s a lot more to it than some generalities out there, and it’s certainly not all his fault. If Kaepernick can force the issue less, the offensive line is able to give him better protection, and the offense looks like it knows what it’s doing, perhaps the team can make last season just an outlier.

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