In the season-opening victory on Sunday, Colin Kaepernick didn't touch the ball until the 7:22 mark of the first quarter. The San Francisco 49ers signal-caller watched patiently as his team's defense returned a fumble for a touchdown and then stopped the Dallas Cowboys ensuing drive in the red zone.
"I was just waiting," Kaepernick said. "We knew we were going to get out there at some point."
By the time the eager 49ers offense finally made its regular season debut, the Kaepernick-led unit erupted out of the gates, taking its cue from the defense and scoring a pair of touchdowns on just five first-quarter plays.
Kaeperinick finished the afternoon 16-of-23 passing for 201 yards and two touchdowns. His quarterback rating was a sky-high 125.5, a number he eclipsed only twice last season.
"I think everyone was ready to get to the season," Kaepernick said, "ready to play and ready to start putting these wins together."
On the first snap of his 2014 campaign, Kaepernick completed a bubble screen to Anquan Boldin for seven yards. After a penalty on the next play resulted in a first down, the quarterback hit his veteran wide receiver again for 37 yards over the middle.
The 49ers first offensive drive of the year ended one play later when Kaepernick escaped pressure and found Vernon Davis running alone. Kapernick delivered a strike to his tight end, who initially bobbled the ball before hauling in the pass for a 29-yard score.
"It was going to depend on what they were doing," Kaepernick said of the 49ers game plan to attack Dallas. "They gave us those lanes to throw and we took advantage of them."
After the defense secured its second turnover of the first quarter, Kaepernick put the ball in the end zone again with a two-yard play-action pass to Davis. The touchdown extended the 49ers lead to 21-3, but Kaepernick wasn't satisfied.
"We had to keep going," he said. "They have a great offense; they can score points at any moment, so offensively we were thinking we need to score again."
The 49ers tallied a third first-half touchdown in the second quarter on a Pierre Garçon four-yard scamper, but the offense failed to score in the second half. The team's most promising drive later in the game ended when a Brandon Lloyd offensive pass interference penalty wiped out a third-down conversion.
"Those are things we can't do," he said.
Overall, Kaepernick was pleased with his unit's production in Week 1 after the first-team offense failed to score a touchdown in the preseason.
"At this point, we're 1-0," he said. "That's where we want to be."
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