Colin Kaepernick, 49ers Offense Show Signs of Life in Close 'SNF' Loss to Giants

The San Francisco 49ers dropped to 1-4 on the season in depressing fashion, but the offense did at least provide some reason for encouragement going forward.

Dropping four games in a row is never anything to celebrate, especially with the defense continually struggling on the road. 

After allowing a combined 90 points in two games against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals, the New York Giants earned a 30-27 win behind Eli Manning's 441 passing yards. The offense was consistently able to move the ball down the field, including on the game-winning drive in the closing minutes.

These types of struggles from the 49ers defense were expected to start the season after so many offseason losses, and they remain a major concern for the rest of 2015.

However, Colin Kaepernick was under just as much pressure due to his struggles in the past month. Over the previous two weeks, the quarterback completed 50 percent of his passes while throwing five interceptions and zero touchdown passes. The offense produced just 10 combined points in this stretch, with the one touchdown coming on a 19-yard drive.

It got so bad that some were speculating about possibly benching the quarterback who was playing in the Super Bowl just a few years ago.

Although the problems aren't completely behind him, Kaepernick and the entire offense showed major improvements in Sunday night's loss to the Giants.

Offensive coordinator Geep Chryst starting things off by getting back to the run game that had led to so much success in past years.

Running back Carlos Hyde finished with 93 yards on 4.4 per carry. The team as a whole ended with 124 rushing yards against a defense that entered the week ranked No. 1 in the NFL with just 69.8 rushing yards allowed per game. The Giants were tied for the league lead with 3.1 allowed per carry.

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

San Francisco went right after the defense, and it helped take some of the pressure off Kaepernick.

Still, the bigger adjustment came with the strategy of short, quicker passes throughout the game. The ball was out of the quarterback's hands before the pass rush could disrupt the play. This helped Kaepernick throw for 262 yards on 23-of-35 passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions. The 107.1 quarterback rating was the best of the season for the 27-year-old passer.

Kaepernick wasn't always firing deep balls across the field; instead, he was finding his tight ends (Garrett Celek had three big catches, including a touchdown) and his running backs for short gains. These types of plays helped extend drives, especially on third downs, where the team was a respectable 8-of-14.

When he did have to throw the ball, Kaepernick showed impressive touch, as noted by Bleacher Report's Matt Miller:

There weren't many notable big plays like we are used to seeing from this dynamic player; instead, he had a solid effort from start to finish while avoiding mistakes. Marcus Thompson of Bay Area News Group gave his thoughts on the performance:

Even in a loss, Kaepernick likely earned plenty of fans back with a strong effort that was arguably his best of the season.

Anquan Boldin, who had 107 receiving yards and a touchdown Sunday, looked at the bright side after the loss:

As bad as things have been to start the season, all you can hope for is constant improvement as the year progresses. Even in a loss, the positive moments were obvious.

With that said, the game was not without some question marks. There was a questionable timeout when Kaepernick could have let the time run out on the quarter. As Steve Palazzolo of Pro Football Focus explained, the outlook also would have been much different based on one play:

One play before Hyde's go-ahead touchdown, Kaepernick missed a wide-open target and instead nearly cost his team a chance at the win with an interception in the end zone. The defense eventually blew the game anyway, but the blame would have surely shifted to the quarterback with this result.

The 49ers did avoid disaster on that play, though, and finished with a season-high 27 points against a solid defense. Kaepernick showed what he can do when he plays within himself and is put in a position to succeed.

Even if this season is likely a lost cause, San Francisco has to feel good about the offensive performance from the latest prime-time loss.

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