San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick had a horrible game in Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals, and now we know why.
Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu explained after the game that he and his teammates knew what was coming before it happened because the 49ers playbook has been stripped down.
“Their passing game has just simplified so much, it was easy for us to anticipate routes, get some good breaks on the ball today,” Mathieu said, per Cam Inman of MercuryNews.com.
Earlier in the week leading up to the blowout 47-7 win for the Cardinals, offensive coordinator Geep Chryst revealed the 49ers had “stripped down” the offensive playbook for Kaepernick’s benefit.
“You know, a playbook is something that you build upon based on confidence. …And at some point in time you’d probably hit the reset button. You kind of clear it out and hit the reset button. So this was a great opportunity,” Chryst said, via ESPN.com.
Unfortunately for Kaepernick and the 49ers, the simplified playbook backfired in a major way. The quarterback opened the game with a pair of pick-sixes and finished with just 67 passing yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions.
This isn’t an encouraging development.
If teams can key in on certain routes based on packages the 49ers put on the field, then it’s hard to imagine things are going to get a whole lot better any time soon.
The 49ers have another tall task ahead of them in Week 4 when the Green Bay Packers come into town. Without some serious adjustments, Kaepernick will continue to struggle, and the losses will mount.