Peyton Manning and Colin Kaepernick face off Sunday at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)
The San Francisco 49ers roll into Denver this weekend for a primetime game against the Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Sunday, pitting two of the top quarterbacks in the league.
But these two quarterbacks, Colin Kaepernick and Peyton Manning, couldn’t have more different styles.
One relies primarily on his athleticism, mobility and bullet passes. The other is one of the game’s all-time great pocket passers, with diminishing arm strength.
One is completely unpredictable, if inconsistent, after a snap. The other can pick apart a defense in seconds, but is more uniform in his approach.
So who would opposing coaches prefer to game-plan for? polled a dozen NFL coaches to find out:
At last year’s combine, just a few weeks after the Super Bowl, I asked a dozen NFL coaches, Conceptually, who would you rather game-plan for and face: Manning or Kaepernick? A solid majority said they’d prefer to face Manning.
Wow.
A man who many — and especially those inside the NFL — agree is one of the five greatest quarterbacks of all time feels less threatening to opponents than a callow fourth-year pro who is still not always comfortable reading the field.
As Benoit goes on to explain, the coaches’ preferences do not mean that Kaepernick is better than Manning (his numbers speak for themselves). Rather, it’s a reflection of Kaepernick’s random style. Game-planning for a completely unpredictable quarterback is, well, darn near impossible.
In short: Sunday is gonna be fun.
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Which quarterback would you rather face?
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