If there is one thing we’ve learned about San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly, it is the fact that he is one stubborn individual. That stubbornness may be the reason behind the continued effort to start Blaine Gabbert at quarterback.
However, following another poor overall performance from Gabbert in Thursday night’s 24-14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, Kelly may have left the door open to a switch at quarterback.
According to reports, Kelly was very vague about his QB situation following the game, but did leave the door open to making a change at quarterback.
For the first time since the season started, Chip Kelly left the door wide open for a possible change to Colin Kaepernick next game.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) October 7, 2016
With his team sitting at 1-4 and not really going anywhere, there may not be much to lose in this scenario. It’s exactly what Kelly stated following the loss to the Cardinals on Thursday night.
“I think we’re going to look at everything,” Kelly said, via the San Jose Mercury News. “I mean, we’re 1-4, we’ve got to make sure that we’re going out there and giving us the best chance to win, so we’re going to look at everything.”
Gabbert has forced his head coach’s hand in this one, going just 18-of-31 for 162 yards with one TD and two interceptions. That performance also included some big missed opportunities down the field to wide-open receivers.
It was just another in a long line of bad passing performances for the QB.
Sure, Kaepernick has been controversial for his words and actions around the national anthem and racial issues in this country. But football is a business that is predicated on winning football games. If Kaepernick even has a slight possibility of giving you better results as the starter, Kelly owes it to the team and his employers to play the man.
Given Gabbert’s ineffective play and a lack of other options to turn to, Kelly — who clearly doesn’t trust Kaepernick with his offense — may have no choice if he wants to keep the locker room and a restless fanbase happy.
Of course, Kelly can’t make the change based on fan pressure alone. But if the fanbase is united behind the fact that Gabbert isn’t the answer, perhaps it is time for the head coach to see the same thing.
Five games in and in danger of losing any hope of a playoff push? It’s desperate times, calling for desperate measures. Playing Kaepernick is exactly that: desperate.
But it just might work, and that makes it worth the risk.
