1. A home loss to the Colts have got some SF fans talking real reckless about Colin Kaepernick. Considering their WR situation, what are their options in elevating their passing game?
Richard Boadu: Good players make plays, which make them look good. Great players make plays AND they make everyone else around them better. Nothing is given to you in the NFL and no one is going to feel sorry for Colin Kaepernick. Tom Brady is 3-0 and he’s throwing to unknowns right now. If Colin wants to be elite, he’s got to figure out how to work with what he’s got.
Brandon Scott: Thing is, the problem right now is Kaepernick's inaccuracy, and as we've indicated, teams know the only way for Kaepernick to beat them right now is with his legs. Three games in, the Niners don't have a receiver with more than 15 catches. The 49ers are out there looking like an FCS squad.
DJ Dunson: Even if he was out with Aldon Smith all night, there’s no excuse for a consecutive game of completing fewer than 50% of his attempts. He's struggling throwing downfield with Vernon Davis missing time over the last two weeks. It may be time to take a page out of the dusty, old dink and dunk playbook they abandoned when Alex Smith went by the wayside. On that same note, the Niner's offense has inexplicably begun directing the offense away from Frank Gore, like the RedZone channel avoids commercials.
2. More surprising: Detroit 2-1 or Green Bay 1-2?
Boadu: Neither is surprising actually. Detroit’s roster is extremely talented. They should have made the playoffs last season. So far they’ve played a tender Viking’s team, the defenseless Redskins team and a rising Cardinal’s team. Hell, they should be 3-0. The Packers have faced three playoff teams in the 49ers, Redskins and Bengals. They’ll be fine though, the season is still very early.
Scott: Neither is surprising, but I'd go with the Packers if I had to pick one. The Green Bay defense leaves these kinds of possibilities open, when the team can go from good to bad with a simple blink. No shame in losing to the 49ers and Bengals, though. Of course, that's unless the 49ers keep putting on this FCS exhibition. Both the Lions and Packers could be labeled underachievers, though.
DJ: The Detroit Lions being 2-1 is most surprising. It’s not Oprah partying with Kim Kardashian shocking though. They pounced on a favorable schedule. Who have they really beaten though? We’ll see if they can keep this going next week against Chicago. That secondary is in another tax bracket compared to the Redskins bankrupt pass defense. As far as the Packers, their defense has been sloping downhill for years now and it’s a gaping hole in their Super Bowl hopes. Kaepernick’s struggles in the two games since he butchered the Packers defense is yet another bleak sign for Green Bay's season.
3. Who is your MVP for Week 3?
Boadu: Ryan Tannehill. His numbers weren’t great, but he outplayed Matt Ryan and led his team 75 yards down the field in 13 plays for the winning touchdown. He didn’t let his two turnovers earlier in the game effect him and that’s what winners do. Often lost in the 2012 QB class conversation, Tannehill is starting to make noise with the Fins being 3-0.
Scott: Can I just give a salute to the Cleveland Browns? It seems like a long time could pass before we get to say good things about them again, so let's take the time to acknowledge that coming off the head-scratching Trent Richardson trade and being widely recognized as tankers, they responded with, who knows, possibly their only win of the season? Wait, they play the Jags on Dec. 1. So the first of two wins this season.
DJ: DeMarco Murray couldn’t have picked a better time to have his season-best performance against the St. Louis Rams. After defensive end Jason Hatcher reportedly called out Tony Romo for his habit of calling audibles of running plays and changing them into passes, he obviously heard the message loud and clear. A scared straight Romo fed Murray well and he didn’t waste the carries. This was his first 100-yard outing since the 2012 season opener. A coincidence? I think not.
