Gabbert to remain 49ers starting QB

Coach Jim Tomsula praised the way Colin Kaepernick has handled his demotion, with Blaine Gabbert remaining as the 49ers’ starting quarterback for a post-bye visit to the Seattle Seahawks on November 22. This was a refreshing change from QB Colin Kaepernick, who looked skittish and lost at times. “And that pass he threw was right on the money”.

“He was wonderful”, Gabbert said.

Gabbert hasn’t been promised the starting gig beyond the next game, however, as Tomsula said Tuesday that his “calendar” is focused on “winning one game at a time”. “Very confident, (and he) knew where he wanted to go, and what he wanted to do”. On Wednesday, a few veterans will be allowed to go off and enjoy the bye week, but younger and rehabilitating players will be at the facility. “You play well when you’re having fun and that was the biggest thing”. Garrett Celek caught the two TD passes while Phil Dawson kicked a 44 yard FG. “And I keep telling people we need to play ourselves into a groove, but we’re not doing that”.

“He had a nice day on third down”, Tomsula told reporters Monday. As a team, the 49ers out-rushed the Falcons 133 to 17. That was second of three straight NFC championship games reached by San Francisco, which also clinched playoff berth following season with 34-24 home victory against Falcons in final game at Candlestick Park…. Instead of going for it on fourth down, Quinn settled for Matt Bryant’s 19-yard field goal with 2:56 left to play, cutting San Francisco’s lead to 17-16.

“That was my goal for how it would go down, but we didn’t execute it that way”, said Quinn, Atlanta’s first-year coach. The Seahawks defeated the 49ers in their first meeting 20-3 last month. Kendall Gaskins converted the fourth-and-1 run, moving the 49ers to the Falcons 8 as the first quarter ended.

His performance Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons with just one week of preparation with the first team-and a makeshift first team at that, considering the running back, tight end and wide receivers positions are in flux-was impressive. It sure seemed the reeling 49ers were at a bigger disadvantage than the 4½-point underdogs they were to begin the week, when tight end Vernon Davis got traded to Denver. Gabbert completed 10-of-16 passes for 115 yards in the first half, and his 123.7 rating that could have been boosted if not for drops by Torrey Smith and Jerome Simpson.

WR Julio Jones finished the game with 10 receptions for 137 yards, including a 54-yard reception, which was a new season long. This was Jones’ fifth 100-yard receiving game of the season, and the 24th of his career. However, the Dan Quinn led Falcons losing games to the lowly Tamp Bay Buccaneers and the flailing San Francisco 49ers in consecutive weeks definitely raises concerns of whether or not this is the “same old Falcons!”