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SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The night began with Colin Kaepernick putting on a fastball display, and ended with Christian Ponder reminding everyone why he was a former first-round draft pick. And in between, Blaine Gabbert was so lackluster in the San Francisco 49ers' 31-24 win over the Denver Broncos on Saturday, he left the door wide open for either or both of the veterans to pass him in a 49ers quarterback competition that is just starting to get interesting.
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Gabbert led the 49ers on a six-play, 63-yard scoring drive on the club's third possession of the game.
But it's what happened on the first two possessions that leads to the obvious conclusion: It's quite possible the guy who starts the all-important third preseason game Friday against the Green Bay Packers will outperform Gabbert and, if nothing else, give new coach Chip Kelly a tough decision to make.
The biggest knock on Gabbert after he replaced an injured Kaepernick as the 49ers' starting quarterback last season was his inability to keep drives alive on third down.
He demonstrated that same issue Saturday, throwing an incomplete pass on third down on the 49ers' first possession, and completing a pass short of the first-down sticks on third down on the next series.
The result: two punts, an early 7-0 deficit and every reason for Kelly to believe the press clippings on Gabbert that he received when he got the 49ers' job in the offseason.
In the end, Gabbert went 6-for-9 for 69 yards and, in effect, parred the final hole to take a one-stroke lead into the clubhouse with the powerful Kaepernick standing in the fairway, prepared to go for the green on the par-5 in two.
Shortly after praising Saturday's three quarterbacks, including rookie Jeff Driskel, for their accuracy (19-for-24 with no interceptions) in his day-after critique Sunday, Kelly admitted he didn't like the way the game started.
"You want success right out the gate no matter when you're playing," he claimed. "So that's something that we need to get better at and will continue to work on."
Kaepernick, who hasn't practiced since Aug. 10 with a "tired" right shoulder, was not expected to play in the game. And he didn't.
But he loosened up his arm -- and got the attention of pretty much everyone in the stadium -- with 25 pregame throws that progressively got longer, ending with a 55-yard sizzler that Gabbert only dreams about having the ability to throw someday.
If the display was supposed to demonstrate to Kelly that he is ready to get his chance to get the team off to one of those fast starts the coach wants, it worked.
Kelly announced Sunday that Kaepernick would be returning to practice Monday.
Ponder, meanwhile, did his work against a live defense. He had a 22-yard touchdown run and a 30-yard TD pass to Dres Anderson to lock up Saturday's win.
Not bad for a guy who had been painting his house in the Phoenix area when the 49ers came calling last Monday, looking for an emergency replacement for injured Thad Lewis.
"I thought he did an unbelievable job to come in here Tuesday like he did and play full in practice on Wednesday and Thursday, and then play in the game 20-plus snaps, go 7-for-8 and then run one in from 22," Kelly gushed. "Really nice job."
