Kaepernick, 49ers Offense Show Signs of Life in Heartbreaking Loss to Chargers

History didn't hold true for Colin Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night against the San Diego Chargers in a 38-35 overtime loss.

Kaepernick, who finished the game with only 114 passing yards but 151 yards on the ground, scored both a passing touchdown and a rushing score against San Diego. He has done that three times before in his professional career, and San Francisco won every time.

Until Saturday night. 

It's hard to imagine a team totaling a whopping 355 rushing yards and failing to win such a game.

Though San Francisco failed to score a point after the 2:26 mark in the third quarter—and though the defense subsequently allowed the Chargers 17 points in their comeback run—the 49ers offense as a whole showed renewed signs of life.

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The 35 points the 49ers scored were the most in any game this season, and their 355 rushing yards were more than they had amassed in their past three games combined. 

Even though Kaepernick passed for only 114 yards, San Francisco's 447 total yards were its highest on the season, as the offense quickly progressed through 66 plays. 

And, perhaps most notably, Kaepernick scored as many total touchdowns as he had notched in his last four games combined. His incredible 90-yard scoring run, in which he reminded the world that he ran a 4.53-second 40-yard dash at the combine, was his first such score of the season. 

Frank Gore, who was listed as questionable heading into the matchup as he recovered from a concussion, set a season high for rushing yards with 158, registering 129 in the first half alone. His 52-yard run for the 49ers' first score of the game set the momentum early on, before it swung in San Diego's direction after halftime. 

The 49ers won't make the playoffs for the first time since 2010. They won't even finish with a winning record. But what the offense demonstrated Saturday night was a reason to be hopeful for 2015. 

"Regardless of the situation, this team is going to go out there and fight. We're going to try to win games the best we can," Kaepernick said in his press conference after the team's 17-7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 15. That's exactly what the offense did against San Diego, though the win ultimately eluded the team. 

On Saturday, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported San Francisco is expected to look for a young offensive specialist to take over in 2015, someone like New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels or Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase, via Pro Football Talk. 

A talented, offensive-minded head coach would work wonders with Kaepernick, the young and developing Carlos Hyde, Vernon Davis and Anquan Boldin. Rookie Bruce Ellington's stock, after posting both a rushing and receiving touchdown Saturday, is skyrocketing.

Michael Crabtree and Gore are both set to become free agents at the end of the 2014 season, and it is unclear how they would factor into a new offensive system. 

Certainly, offensive coordinator Greg Roman has been limiting his use of Gore this season, sometimes frustratingly when the 49ers have struggled to achieve offensive balance. Roman signed a two-year extension through the 2015 season last year.

Under Harbaugh, Roman calls the plays, but if the 49ers bring in an offensive-minded head coach who wants to call his own plays, the offense could look quite different in 2015. 

At least in 2015, one would hope that the Kaepernick who showed up against the Chargers emerges at the start of the season. Saturday night's Kaepernick completed 62.5 percent of his passes, threw no interceptions and finished with a passer rating of 87.8.

On average this season, he has completed 60.6 percent of his passes, has thrown 10 total interceptions and has an average passer rating of 85.1

Saturday's offensive showing may have been too little, too late for the 2014 season. But the offense is too stacked with talent not to contend in 2015.