But we don’t want to throw him back out there and then have a setback. Outside linebacker Eli Harold had the wind knocked out of him when he collided with teammate Tank Carradine, who was pass-rushing from the other side. Kubiak has made it very clear that this is a two-man competition, pointing out on several occasions that Lynch is still developing. “There’s no excuse for that, poor, poor quarterback play”. The issues with Sanchez have been his inability to finish drives, unnecessary turnovers and inability to take advantage of field position. Defensive tackle Aaron Donald and defensive end Robert Quinn figure to give the Broncos offensive line fits, and figure to pressure Siemian a bit as well.
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The Broncos looked like they were going to cash in with under 2 minutes to go in the half but Mark Sanchez was sacked and lost the ball – the 49ers recovered. And then he threw a pick. He was off-target on his first two passes as San Francisco went three-and-out in 41 seconds on the opening drive and started the game 1 for 6 overall.
“I foresee myself trying to find a way to fix some mistakes”, the coach said.
Maybe Sanchez wins the job in the end, but Kubiak was being real when he called it an “open” competition.
Siemian and Sanchez will each play roughly a quarter and a half. Safety Eric Reid picked off a Travis Siemian pass and went 41 yards for a pick-six. Mark gets in and is fine but the next thing you know he’s getting stripped-sacks. Normally, I would criticize Gary Kubiak for not making a decision, but I’m not quite sure Kubiak can make any sound decision based on our sample size so far. I mean if he’s not going to start or be in the running for the backup job, what good is he? This is a good sign for rookie Paxton Lynch and a awful sign for veteran Mark Sanchez. The career backup has yet to start an National Football League game and will get every chance Saturday. His passer rating is 86.3.
So this battle seems to be down to Siemian and Lynch and whoever plays the best will be announced the starter I think.
We should look at what the three have done in two preseason games. Obviously [Lynch] is a young kid. He did some really good stuff tonight.
The Broncos’ quarterbacks made more mistakes last night than drunken US swimmers at a gas station.
We all knew it was coming eventually. When asked whether he envisioned a scenario in which all three of the quarterbacks would be forced to play in that game, Kubiak said “I don’t envision that”, which suggests that whoever is named the starter for the season likely would sit that one out. He hoped a clear victor would emerge after almost five months of auditioning.
“W$3 e’ll continue with the competition”, Kubiak said. And I think to a credit to them in how well they’ve battled and pushed each other, it’s down to the nitty-gritty here.
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If all goes according to the 49ers’ plan, arm-weary quarterback Colin Kaepernick will make his exhibition-season debut next week and definitely not this Saturday night against the host Denver Broncos.
