Blaine Gabbert certainly did not have his best game on Thursday against the Arizona Cardinals. But what can you expect when the quarterback is sacked seven times and the receiving corps seems to consist solely of a Week 1 pickup? Blaine Gabbert is not Tom Brady, but he is not the problem.
Blaine Gabbert is not the problem for the San Francisco 49ers. Sure, he has made his mistakes — but he has also often been the reason the 49ers have moved the ball at all.
Gabbert has consistently thrown low to receivers in the middle of the field and over (or under) thrown the deep ball. That much is true. And while Gabbert did throw a couple picks against the Cardinals on Thursday, Gabbert typically does not make poor decisions with the football — more than can be said for Colin Kaepernick (or Christian Ponder, for that matter) the past couple years.
While Gabbert’s game against the Cardinals was unquestionably poor, he played well the Sunday before against the Cowboys. Furthermore, he was sacked seven times by the Cardinals defense. That cannot happen if you want your quarterback to be successful!
While the offensive line is better than a year ago, it still has much room for improvement.
The biggest problem for the 49ers offense, however, is the most obvious: a lack of receiving talent. When Jeremy Kerley — a player picked up after training camp, no less — leads the team in receptions and yardage by a mile, some questions need to be asked of those assembling the personnel.
Trent Baalke may finally have to answer for his poor decision making in recent years.
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So before you call for Gabbert’s head, remember that, a tiny number of exceptions aside, a quarterback is limited by the weapons around him. Kaepernick would have the same limitations — and, from what I’ve seen, would play even more poorly.
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