Okay, so Jay Cutler and Alex Smith are out with concussions following their Week 10 games. Though not great news for the Chicago Bears, the San Francisco 49ers should be too upset about having a new quarterback start a game for them. As a result, my Monday Night Football prediction has the 49ers grabbing the victory this evening.
The key name for the 49ers is Colin Kaepernick.
We probably won't throw for 400 yards and three touchdowns, but he brings key factors to this matchup against the Bears.
Kaepernick, without a doubt, has a stronger arm than Smith. He will have to be accurate if he plans on hooking up with Randy Moss, Mario Manningham or Michael Crabtree deep down field, but there is no doubt that if given time, Kaepernick can air it out.
We saw last week that the Bears have holes in their defense. Though not a great sum of points, the Houton Texans were able to score and pick apart the Bears' secondary when Matt Schaub had time to throw.
Kaepernick also has the ability to escape from the pocket, which can give defenses a problem. He has three rushing touchdowns, but his biggest weakness is fumbling as also has three fumbles in 2012.
Though Kaepernick might not light up the scoreboard and is less experienced in the NFL than Jason Campbell, I still like his chances of succeeding tonight and doing just enough to run the offense.
He has taken more in-game snaps with his team than Campbell has this season and let's face it, Campbell could not get it done last week against the Texans. He went 12-20 and tallied 94 yards.
The Niners also have the advantage as they have a pretty decent, well, the best running game in the NFL which they can fall back on if Kaepernick's efforts are futile. They are averaging, as a team, 170 yards on the ground per game.
Frank Gore has rushed for over 700 yards this season.
Predictions: The Bears will lose their second consecutive game as the 49ers will win their Monday Night Football game 19-17. Bears' defense gets either a pick-six or returns a fumble for their only score touchdown of the game.