franchise tag would be. It’s mind-blowing how impressive the 49ers have looked in the five games that he started compared to the previous 11. This also comes as he’s had minimal time to take in Shanahan’s offense.
Lifting their own curse, the Vikings had a lot to celebrate.
The question of why Colin Kaepernick is unemployed has been hotly debated since he opted out of his Niners’contract in early March (something he did to get ahead of their plan to release him) and became an unrestricted free agent. I’ve been consistent on this one—and it’s not about what I think, but I what know, having spoken with someone with just about every team in the league about it over that time.
But as The MMQB continues its coverage of the anthem protests across the NFL, and Kaepernick’s place in the debate, and looked for a new way to approach this story, I wanted to go to the teams and ask why they individually decided to stay away. I went to teams that would have had reason to kick the tires on backup or stopgap starter-level quarterbacks, and granted anonymity in pursuit of honesty.
This isn’t enough points given what we’ve seen from Saints-Panthers this season. Yeah, it’s tough to beat a team three times (so they say, whoever they is), but the Saints are just a bad matchup for Carolina.
Their offensive line negates Carolina’s dangerous defensive line and their pass-catching running backs can negate the blitz-heavy approach that Steve Wilks brings with Carolina’s defense. New Orleans has been very good at home and Drew Brees has been great at home in the playoffs: in four home playoff games with New Orleans, he’s completed 67.4 percent of his passes for 1,153 yards and 8.4 yards per attempt with 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions. I think the Panthers have a lot of upside, but they need Cam Newton to be perfect, and he doesn’t have enough around him for it to happen.