What Colin Kaepernick's Big Week 1 Performance Means for 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers secured a 28-17 victory over the defenseless Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys were a popular sleeper choice before the start of this game, but the 49ers showed their superiority in every way on Sunday.

It seems the demise of the 49ers will have to wait another week. 

All joking aside, this game was far from the shootout many expected. This game was dominated by the 49ers from the jump, and honestly, it wasn't even close. 

The biggest factor for San Francisco was quarterback Colin Kaepernick. His performance this afternoon was a positive step for the 49ers offense going forward. 

Yes, the Cowboys turnovers played a part in the 49ers success on offense, but make no mistake, No. 7 was sensational in the pocket today.

What bad preseason?

Let's take a look at why Kaepernick found success in the 49ers' opening week victory. 

Reading the Field

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Viewing Kaepernick's stat line, nothing really stands out. In fact, Kaepernick had a better statistical game in last year's opening week victory over the Green Bay Packers. 

Don't get me wrong, completing nearly 70 percent of your passes without a single turnover is pretty impressive, but his stats matter little in this argument. Kaepernick posted a solid stat line, but he also looked the part in the pocket. 

Kaepernick's pocket presence was fantastic throughout this game. He was calm and collected in the pocket as he picked apart the Cowboys' Swiss cheese secondary.

More importantly, Kaepernick was going through his progressions like a seasoned veteran. Put on the tape and watch Kaepernick's eyes. The 49ers are no longer limiting Kaepernick to half of the field. Credit the 49ers protection in giving their young quarterback time to read the field.

Against a desperate Chicago Bears team in Week 2, this should give Kaepernick the confidence he needs to match up against the high-powered Bears offense. Not to mention, this is a Bears defense that can be had in the back end

Look for Kaepernick to follow up on his great Week 1 performance against the Bears next week. 

Evolving Offense 

When the 49ers acquired Brandon Lloyd and Stevie Johnson, I suspected this offense could change their personnel groupings to match the new personnel. Under Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman the past three years, the 49ers primarily used 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR) on offense. 

The 49ers love to run the football, so using two tight ends make sense. However, this limited the 49ers passing offense, especially if the run game wasn't established. The 49ers loved the play-action passing game in result, but mostly stayed away from 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR) groupings because they lacked depth at receiver. 

With four legitimate receivers in Michael Crabtree, Anquan Boldin, Lloyd and Johnson, plus upstarts in Bruce Ellington and Quinton Patton, we may begin to see more trips and bunch formations. It was pretty evident against the Cowboys that the 49ers want to spread the ball more on offense. 

Now, the 49ers will still employ a ton of 12 personnel. This is still a run-first football club, but with more 11 or "01" (1 TE, 4 WR) personnel sprinkled in, we could finally see a breakout-passing year for Kaepernick.

Kaepernick has all of the physical tools to be a dominant player, but we're starting to see him understand the intricacies of passing from the pocket.

If No. 7 can pair an improved pocket presence with his dynamic rushing ability, the league better watch out.