The San Francisco 49ers started Blaine Gabbert against Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons, and they've now snapped a two-game losing skid, beating the Falcons, 17-16, on Sunday.
Blaine Gabbert replaces Colin Kaepernick, leads 49ers to 17-16 win over Falcons
Gabbert didn’t have a huge game, but it was enough to give the 49ers their third win of the season.
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Gabbert threw for 185 yards and a couple touchdowns against a weak Falcons secondary, but the game was a close one. Gabbert also had a pair of interceptions, which the Falcons were unable to take advantage of thanks to a strong defensive performance for the 49ers. Gabbert completed 15 of 25 passes.
The Falcons trailed by four points with three minutes to go and faced a 4th and goal from 2 yards out, but head coach Dan Quinn elected for the field goal and the Falcons never got the ball back. The 49ers effectively killed the rest of the clock to take the narrow win.
The Falcons dropped to 6-3 on the season after being unable to complete a fourth quarter comeback. The Falcons took a fourth-quarter lead against the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys this season, winning all of those games. They also beat Washington in overtime and passed the Tennessee Titans in the third quarter of that game. All but one game was technically a comeback win this season.
Colin Kaepernick was the starting quarterback for the 49ers coming into the season, but after he led the team to a 2-6 record, the move to Gabbert was made this week. Kaepernick did make a brief appearance in Sunday's game after Gabbert took a huge hit from Falcons linebacker Philip Wheeler and had to be evaluated for a concussion. Gabbert was staying in but the officials ordered him to the sideline.
He was quickly cleared and Gabbert returned to the game, with Kaepernick at tempting just one pass, one that was dropped by tight end Vance McDonald. You can see the hit that briefly took Gabbert out of the game here:
There was talk leading up to Sunday’s game that the 49ers considered starting Gabbert earlier in the year, but they saved him for the game against the Falcons due to their relatively poor secondary. Going into Week 9, the Falcons ranked 24th in the league against the pass, allowing 262.0 passing yards per game on average.
Atlanta’s defense wasn’t terrible, but they did make Gabbert look good at times. Quinton Patton caught three passes for 70 yards. Running back Shaun Draughn had 58 yards on 16 carries. Kendall Gaskins made the start as starter Carlos Hyde was out for injury. Gaskins finished with seven carries for 20 yards.
Devonta Freeman, the NFL’s leading rusher coming into Sunday’s game, had 12 carries for 12 yards in the game. The Falcons finished with 17 rushing yards. Gabbert himself rushed for 32 total yards. Ryan threw for 303 yards and a touchdown for the Falcons, and did not have any interceptions.
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