KISS AND TELL: Colin Kaepernick, who ran for a record-setting 181 yards, kisses his biceps after one of his two rushing touchdowns during the 49ers’ 45-31 victory over the Packers last night. The Niners’ quarterback also threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns. (Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO — We were all witnesses.
Colin Kaepernick made an playoff debut for the ages Saturday night, writing himself into the NFL record books while running and throwing the 49ers into the NFC Championship Game during a shocking, 45-31 demolition of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers at Candlestick Park.
Jim Harbaugh’s midseason gamble to switch to Kaepernick paid off in incredible fashion as the second-year pro set an all-time NFL record for rushing yards in a game by a quarterback with 181. That eclipsed the previous record of 173 rushing yards by Michael Vick in a 2002 regular-season game.
Kaepernick also threw for 263 yards and accounted for four touchdowns overall (two rushing and two passing) as his size, speed and mastery of the read option ended in utter humiliation for the Green Bay defense.
San Francisco finished with 579 total yards, including a staggering 323 yards on the ground as running back Frank Gore compounded the Packers’ misery with 119 yards of his own.
“The Packers defensive guys weren’t saying too much, but I’m sure it had to be a frustrating for them,” 49ers guard Mike Iupati said amid a giddy postgame locker room scene. “They had a lot coming at them. Who wouldn’t be frustrated with that going on?”
It seems almost unimaginable now, but Kaepernick’s hold on the starting job once the injured Alex Smith returned to health in November was controversial at the time.
You couldn’t have found a Smith fan anywhere near chilly Candlestick last night, though, as Kaepernick quickly shook off the nerves of an early interception returned for a touchdown and ran the hapless Packers silly — when he wasn’t picking them apart through the air, that is.
Kaepernick has the Niners back in the NFC title game for the second year in a row (they will play the winner of Sunday’s Falcons-Seahawks matchup) after completing 17 of 31 passes and amassing the 181 rushing yards on just 16 carries — an average of 11.3 yards per attempt that had to feel like triple that to the Packers.
“It’s a lot easier on me when other people are making plays,” said Kaepernick, who is almost painfully shy in front of a microphone. “Our offensive line was dominating them.”
The 6-foot-5, 233-pound Kaepernick was a nightmare for Green Bay in the first half but waited until the third quarter to fully announce his presence.
That’s when he cut through the Green Bay defense and then made like Usain Bolt while pulling away for a 56-yard touchdown that gave San Francisco a 31-24 lead and put the Niners in front for good.
Kaepernick also did the unthinkable — making Rodgers look downright ordinary by comparison. The reigning NFL MVP completed 26 of his 39 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns, but that wasn’t going to be anywhere good enough while Kaepernick was running wild.
You never would have guessed it by the way this one started, either.
The Niners trailed 7-0 just two minutes into the game when Kaepernick scrambled and threw an ugly, off-balance interception across his body that Sam Shields easily picked off and returned 52 yards to the end zone.
But if Kaepernick was rattled in the least by that, he certainly didn’t show it — because the rest of the game was a tour de force both running and throwing by the San Francisco starter.
“I had to bounce back, and I knew it,” Kaepernick said of his early mistake.
Helped by the Packers’ stubborn insistence on blitzing him and playing man-to-man coverage behind that, Kaepernick also used his impressive athleticism to take full advantage of that strategic blunder.
Kaepernick’s ability to act like the early miscue never happened was almost as impressive.
He responded immediately to Shields’ interception by leading three touchdown drives over the next quarter-and-a-half, the first of which Kaepernick capped with a nifty, 20-yard scramble and the other two ending in short, pinpoint darts to Michael Crabtree.
Crabtree, in fact, proved to be a pretty serious headache for Green Bay, as well, catching nine passes for 119 yards. But no one was a bigger — and ultimately unstoppable — load as lanky No. 7.
“We did not do a very good job of keeping [Kaepernick] in the pocket,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said in a massive understatement. “We obviously did not get the job done.”