There'e no better way to bounce back from a game that meant absolutely nothing. Last week, quarterback Alex Smith suffered a concussion and the 49ers walked off the field in dismay after tying a game they felt they should've won.
In his first pro start at quarterback, Colin Kaepernick did not disappoint. In fact, he was so good, the decision to start next week against the New Orleans Saints is an option. San Francisco left no room for mistakes and dominated in their 32-7 victory over the Chicago Bears.
"We've got two quarterbacks that have got a hot hand," said coach Jim Harbaugh. "I thought Colin did a an outstanding job. Thought he did great, poise in the pocket, pushing the ball and throwing with accuracy."
Kaepernick passed for 243 and two touchdowns. He threw a 57-yard pass to Kyle Williams for the first down and on the next play he found Vernon Davis in the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown. In a highly anticipated Monday Night game that matched two back-up quarterbacks, Jason Campbell walked away battered and bruised.
"It was definitely not the way we prepared all week, to come out and have this kind of performance," Campbell said. "You know their defense is great. They do what they do best. They rush pretty well, they hit pretty well and they cover pretty well, but it definitely was not our best effort by any means."
Credit that defensive performance to Aldon Smith who set a single game career-high tallying 5.5 sacks on Jason. Smith has 15.0 sacks for the season and 29.0 sack for his career. The 5.5 sacks by Aldon is the most in Monday Night history. Unfortunately, for the Bears it was their worst nightmare. They were embarrassed on a nationally televised game from start to finish.
Campbell threw one touchdown, a 13-yard pass to Brandon Marshall in the third quarter and got picked off twice. In his first start since October 2011 in Oakland, Jason never had a chance to show what he could do against the 49ers defense. Both Tarell Brown and Dashon Goldson had an interception off Campbell. Chicago's Offensive Line left him open throughout the entire game leaving the offense with little opportunity to get back in the game.
"it was a tough loss," said Devin Hester. "I don't think we gave him [Jason Campbell] a fair shot. We just didn't give him a fair shot to showcase his talents."
"I was disappointed in all of our performances tonight," coach Lovie Smith said. "Nobody did well tonight or played well. Jason was just a small part of that. So many of us had opportunities to do something and we didn't tonight. We're happy to have Jason here. He like the rest of our football team, didn't have a good night."
San Francisco on the other hand had a great night of football and have regained the momentum the've lost in recent weeks. A spectacular performance by all puts them back in the spotlight as the team to look out for. They out gained the Bears 249-35 in a lopsided first half. Frank Gore ran for 78 yards and David Akers kicked three field goals for 32, 37 and 32 yards.
"Coming in, I think there were some questions about who had the better defense," Smith said. "I was hoping to go out there and make some plays. I didn't sense that I was going to go out there and get a bunch of sacks, but I wanted to go out there and make some plays."
Next week the 49ers are on the road to face the soaring Saints. Not sure which quarterback will lead them to victory but regardless the team will be ready. A win at this level of football is more than just motivation, it's a goal set to achieve greatness for every game.
"This win will definitely help us get back on our winning streak," said Goldson. "It'll help us show that we can play this game and put the tie behind us."