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Kaepernick leads 49ers over Redskins

Nov 26, 2013 - 6:43 AM Landover, MD (SportsNetwork.com) - Forget about winning the NFC West, the San Francisco 49ers are just hoping to stay in the playoff hunt.

Colin Kaepernick shook off his woes and helped the 49ers get back on track by outdueling another young struggling zone-read quarterback.

Kaepernick threw two of his three touchdown passes to Anquan Boldin and eclipsed the 200-yard passing mark for the first time in more than a month as the 49ers took down the Washington Redskins 27-6 on Monday night.

Kaepernick was 15-of-24 for 235 yards, and Boldin totaled 94 yards receiving on five receptions as the 49ers (7-4) snapped a two-game losing streak to move into a tie with the Arizona Cardinals for the sixth and final playoff spot in the NFC.

"For the team, this was one of those that we had to have. We came a long way to get it," 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh said.

Kaepernick hadn't topped the 200-yard mark since throwing for 252 yards in a 32-20 victory over the Cardinals on Oct. 13. It was just the third time this year he's gone over 200 yards passing.

Kaepernick, who averaged 15.7 yards a completion, hadn't completed a pass over 17 yards during the brief losing skid.

Robert Griffin III completed 17-of-27 passes for 127 yards with an interception for Washington (3-8), which has dropped three in a row.

"We haven't gotten dominated like that since I've been here," Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan said.

Kaepernick and RG3 burst onto the scene in 2012, with Kaepernick leading the Niners to a Super Bowl appearance and Griffin winning the Rookie of the Year award while guiding the Redskins to a divisional crown.

A year later, though, both have been mediocre as defenses have done a better job of adjusting to the read-option. Coming in, Kaepernick's passer rating was down 16 points from 2012, while Griffin's had dropped 18 points.

The Redskins went three-and-out on seven of their 12 offensive possessions.

The 49ers led 10-6 at the break, but Vernon Davis fumbled on the third offensive play from scrimmage in the second half as he was trying to fight for extra yardage. Barry Cofield poked the ball loose and Brandon Meriweather made the recovery at the SF 49.

Faced with a 4th-and-2 four plays later, however, San Francisco linebackers Patrick Willis and NaVarro Bowman stuffed Roy Helu in the hole to give the ball back to the 49ers.

Kaepernick hit Boldin for a 32-yard gain on a 3rd-and-7 and then found Davis for 20 yards two plays later before he found Boldin, who worked the end line, in the back of the end zone for a 17-6 San Francisco cushion.

Following a pair of Washington three-and-outs, LaMichael James' 40-yard punt return gave San Francisco the ball at the Redskins' 39-yard line. Kaepernick flipped a 1-yard score to Davis to cap the 6-play march and make it 24-6 late in the third.

After the Redskins again went three-and-out, Phil Dawson nailed a 49-yard field goal to conclude the scoring at the 9:01 mark of the fourth.

Earlier, Kaepernick's 19-yard TD pass to Boldin opened the scoring late in the first and Donte Whitner's interception of Griffin on Washington's ensuing sequence led to a 29-yard Dawson field goal for a 10-0 spread early in the second.

Kai Forbath booted through a pair of field goals in the second to get the Redskins with four heading into the locker room.

Game Notes

Davis caught four passes for 70 yards, while Frank Gore carried the ball 13 times for 31 yards for SF ... Alfred Morris ran for 52 yards on 14 totes for the Redskins ... SF leads the all-time series between the clubs, 19-10-1.