Game of Week 12: 49ers-Saints
 

1. San Francisco, we have a quarterback controversy

Jim Harbaugh can spin it any way he wants, but the fact is the 49ers now have a sticky situation that could affect their run to the playoffs in these last six weeks of the regular season. Colin Kaepernick will start at quarterback for the second game in a row -- and this time it has nothing to do with the health of Alex Smith.

Kaepernick stepped in for the concussed Smith last Monday night and performed splendidly in his first NFL start, completing 16 of 23 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns (with no turnovers). Afterward, Harbaugh praised Kaepernick profusely, saying the second-year quarterback played at an "A-plus" level. Harbaugh also rejected the notion that a quarterback -- Smith -- shouldn't necessarily lose his job because of an injury.

On Wednesday, Harbaugh privately told Smith, who apparently had not been medically cleared to return at that point, that Kaepernick would start against the Saints. "Alex, I'm sorry," Harbaugh said, according to SI.com's Jim Trotter.


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