S.F. Chronicle 49ers Insider: 49ers make a statement

By Art Spander
Special for 49ers Insider

It wasn’t so much that the 49ers didn’t miss a beat, more that Colin Kaepernick didn’t miss an opportunity – nor, rarely, a receiver -- and Aldon Smith didn’t miss Bears quarterback Jason Campbell.

The Niners’ class of ’11 proved very much the class of the game.

Nine days after San Francisco could do nothing more than gain a tie against the mediocre St. Louis Rams, it came back Monday night at the ’Stick and tied the Bears, the team some believed was superior to the Niners, in knots, 32-7.

It did so using a backup quarterback, Kaepernick, forced to start for a first time because Alex Smith’s concussion symptoms had not improved, and a virtually unmovable defense featuring Smith’s five and a half sacks.

It did so before a national TV audience, which surely had to agree with Smith’s dead-on assessment of the result when asked if the Niners made a statement: “I’d say so.”

Not only for a game, a game that lifted the Niners’ record to 7-2-1 to the Bears’ 7-3, but a season.

“Who’s got it better than us, nobody,’’ the crowd of 69,732, chanted in accompaniment to a repetitive video in the game’s final seconds, and indeed at the moment maybe nobody in the NFL has a better team than the 49ers.

And this side of the New York Jets, with their Mark Sanchez-Tim Tebow debate, maybe nobody now has a quarterback controversy like the Niners.

Kaepernick, the kid from Turlock and the University of Nevada, the Niners’ second-round pick in last year’s draft – Aldon Smith was the first-rounder – stepped in for Alex Smith and perhaps stepped up all the way to the top.

Not that San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh would say as much, insisting, “We’ll go with the quarterback with the hot hand, and we’ve got two quarterbacks with the hot hand.”

Kaepernick’s hand probably registered 212 degrees Fahrenheit. He connected on seven of his first eight pass attempts, 16 of 23 in all for 243 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He finished with a passer rating of 133.1 – numbers reminiscent of Steve Young, who was doing the postgame show for ESPN. 
“He did an outstanding job,” was the Harbaugh keep-it-cool observation. “Accuracy, poise in the pocket, play-making ability, understanding the game plan.”

What everyone must understand is that the Bears had the fifth-ranked defense in the league (the Niners were second) and led in takeaways, grabbing interceptions and fumbles.

But against Kaepernick and the Niners, they took nothing except a figurative punch to the ego.

Kaepernick threw the first play from scrimmage – “You expect they think you’re going to run with a backup quarterback,” Harbaugh explained – and kept throwing.

One of those passes was to Kyle Williams for 57 yards, a bomb, the sort Alex doesn’t throw. Another was a progression read to Michael Crabtree for 10 yards and a touchdown, the sort Alex does throw.

Kaepernick completed six, including one for a TD to Vernon Davis, who of late could have been reported to the Bureau of Missing Receivers.

This was as close to a perfect game as the Niners have played. The offensive line was effective. The defense was awesome. Numbers can be misleading, but these aren’t. At halftime, San Francisco had 249 total yards, Chicago 35.

“They started fast,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said of the 49ers, “and really kept us off balance through the night . . . They had a quarterback that hadn’t played an awful lot, but he was on and looked like a seasoned vet from the start of the game. On the other side of the ball, we couldn’t get our running game going. We couldn’t protect our quarterback.” 
Campbell, also a backup, for Jay Cutler, who as Alex Smith had a concussion, was sacked six times in all, Justin Smith getting the half to go with Aldon Smith’s 5.5 (All those Smiths are unrelated except for their ability to play football).

“I really just try to make people respect my power,” said Aldon Smith, who added, “I have a thing for night games. I love playing at night. I love the lights.”

They’re getting brighter, for all the Niners.

“Kaepernick played an amazing game,’’ said Aldon Smith. “Before the game I told him, ‘Don’t worry about the cameras, go play the game.’ And he put a good game together.”

It was a sensational game, a Tom Brady-Peyton Manning sort of game, but a game that, depending on Alex Smith’s health – Harbaugh told Kaepernick Sunday he would start – may not keep Colin in the lineup.

“I wanted to come out and show what I’m capable of and that I can be a starter,” said Kaepernick. “That’s what I’ve been trying to prove since I’ve been in the league.”

He proved it.