San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick improved to 5-0 in Monday Night Football games with a 20-3 win over the Minnesota Vikings, joining Neil O'Donnell, Bob Griese and Dan Fouts as the only signal-callers to win their first five MNF games, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Of course, Kaepernick mostly played a care-taker role in the blowout victory, completing 17 of his 26 pass attempts for just 165 yards, with no touchdowns, no turnovers and just one sack.
Second-year running back Carlos Hyde did the heavy lifting, with a career-high 168 rushing yards and two touchdowns on a career-high 26 carries.
The NFL's leading rusher through one week of action, Hyde likely got a boost from Kaepernick's presence, as the running threat from the quarterback typically forces backside defenders to take a conservative path toward the ball-carrier.
In addition to Hyde's career-best showing, the 49ers got a first-rate performance out of their revamped defense, which limited the Vikings to 248 yards on 54 plays (4.6 yards per play), with an interception and five sacks.
The Vikings converted just one of their nine third-down attempts and also failed on both of their fourth-down tries, leaving them with just three points from 10 drives.
Kaepernick and the San Francisco passing game may still have some questions to answer, but they'll happily take a comfortable Week 1 victory over a team that many expect to compete for a playoff spot this season.
via http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2567408-kaepernick-becomes-4th-quarterback-to-win-1st-5-monday-night-starts
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