The St. Louis Rams came after San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in Week 13, sending five-plus pass-rushers more than 60 percent of the time. That was a single-game high for the Rams over the past two seasons.
That tactic forced Kaepernick to unload the football quickly.
The Rams played soft coverage, taking away the deeper passes Kaepernick had used to hurt previous opponents. Kaepernick's passes traveled only 5.8 yards past the line of scrimmage on average, down from 7.4 the previous week and 10.2 when Kaepernick made his first NFL start a week before that. The average was 7.5 for former starter Alex Smith, by the way.
So, what should we expect from Kaepernick and the 49ers against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday? Russell Wilson's recent performance against Miami offers some clues. Doug Clawson of ESPN Stats & Information broke down the all-22 coaches' video and will be posting his thoughts on Kaepernick against the Dolphins.
Look for that to appear on the Stats & Info blog Friday. I'll update this item with the direct link once his item publishes. Update: Here is the piece.
As the chart shows, the three most mobile quarterbacks Miami has faced account for the three highest QBR scores against the Dolphins.