San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks are a slo-mo train wreck

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The San Francisco 49ers were reminded Sunday why Colin Kaepernick is their starting quarterback of the present, even if his future with the club is very foggy.

On a day when he was given his first opportunity to prove 49ers head coach Chip Kelly made a mistake when he changed starting quarterbacks after a 1-4 start, veteran backup Blaine Gabbert threw away his chance by going 4-for-10 for just 35 yards in relief of an ineffective Kaepernick in the 26-6 loss to the Chicago Bears.

Kaepernick was even worse, completing just one of his five passes for four yards. The passing yardage was the lowest of his NFL career; his 39.6 passer rating equaled his career-worst.

When Kelly pulled the plug on Kaepernick after 45 offensive snaps in three quarters, Gabbert had a shot to perhaps wrestle back his starting spot on a team that has yet to win since he led a 28-0 season-opening victory over the Los Angeles Rams.

Other than the snowy conditions, Gabbert couldn't have asked for a better situation.

Kaepernick had already brought his future with the team into serious question earlier in the week when it was reported he was putting his San Francisco Bay Area mansion up for sale. He later explained it as an "investment decision."

Then on Sunday, while the 49ers were enduring their franchise-record 11th consecutive defeat, the NFL Network was reporting that Kaepernick already has decided to exercise an opt-out in his recently restructured contract this offseason and test the free-agent market.

Rather than also label that an "investment decision," Kaepernick refused to discuss the subject in Chicago, claiming he was focused on the game.

Mix in a performance in which Kaepernick's 20 rushing yards were more than offset by five sacks that pushed the team back 25 yards, and Gabbert had a chance to play hero Sunday. Or at least post some meaningless stats late in the blowout that might prompt Kelly to make the change permanent.

Instead, he only made things worse, taking a late sack that added to the final two points to the Bears' total.

Neither Gabbert nor Kelly addressed the big picture after the game. Gabbert's play had done -- or in this case, not done -- his talking.

Kelly, meanwhile, wrote off the in-game move as something he would have done -- and has done -- at any other position when a backup might possibly help turn things around.

"It was just my decision to make a move to see if we could get a spark," Kelly explained. "There were no permanent decisions or anything like that."

While admittedly puzzled by the move, Kaepernick said he accepted the change as a short-term change on a snowy day when the 49ers couldn't get anything going.

Between the two of them, Kaepernick and Gabbert passed for 39 yards, but took sacks totaling 33. The six net passing yards were the second-fewest in 49ers history, better only than a minus-10 in a 1963 game against the Detroit Lions.

Even Gabbert walked away saying he didn't think Kaepernick should be singled out for the team's poor offensive showing.

"It's just one of those days," he observed. "It's not on any single guy's shoulders why we didn't win this football game and why we didn't execute as an offense."