It's far from revenge for their loss in Super Bowl XLVII, but the San Francisco 49ers (2-4) earned their second win at home this season with Sunday's 25-20Â victory over the Baltimore Ravens (1-5) in Week 6. Here's what you need to know:
- Leave it to Baltimore's secondary to turn Colin Kaepernick into a functional quarterback. After throwing for less than 170 yards in three games this season, Kaepernick lit up the Ravens with a 76-yard touchdown strike to Torrey Smith and helped fullback Bruce Miller to a single-game career-best 89 yards off three grabs. Kaepernick (16-of-27 passing for 340 yards with two scores) still fails to see the entire field, but he made plays against the blitz and wasn't afraid to take chances against a generous defensive backfield.
- It feels like the same thing every week for Baltimore's offense. After the defense puts them in a hole, Joe Flacco is forced to unleash a rash of passes in hopes of keeping up. The Ravens quarterback guided a flat attack in the first half before opening the third quarter with an ugly pick thrown off his back foot. The resilient Flacco rebounded with a beautiful 34-yard touchdown strike to Steve Smith and nearly brought the Ravens back, but Sunday was another reminder of how depleted this offense is. Outside of Smith, not a single receiver had more than 40 yards on the day. The team could only watch as former Baltimore targets Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin piled up 198 combined yards for the Niners.
- Back to Steve Smith: Most people wouldn't get out of bed with the back injury he's been dealing with, but the ageless wonder fought through the pain to pile up 137 yards to go with the touchdown catch. Three months away from his planned retirement, Smith still has a major impact on every game he plays in. We can think of a hundred players who should hang up their cleats before No. 89.
