For one half it appeared the 49ers were right to let quarterback Blaine Gabbert make his season debut against the Falcons.
The 49ers had the Falcons reeling with 17 first-half points. They scored two touchdowns in the half after failing to score a touchdown in either of their previous two games and had more yards (203) than in four different complete games this season.
The Falcons regrouped to shut out the 49ers in the second half of the 17-16 defeat. But they couldn’t get a stop on San Francisco’s final drive after coach Dan Quinn decided to kick a field goal at the 49ers’ one-yard line with three minutes to play.
“I think overall we were (good),” Falcons cornerback Desmond Trufant said. “They had a couple plays on us but I think overall we played well enough. We were getting stops. They got a couple of plays on us. We’ve just got to put it together for four quarters.”
The 49ers reportedly thought Gabbert could have success against the Falcons and so benched Colin Kaepernick in favor of him. A report in the days before the game said they considered starting quarterback Gabbert at the Rams in Week 8 but decided to wait until facing a “weak Falcons defense at home.”
Quinn and his players took note of the slight but it apparently didn’t inspire them to come out of the locker room and prove the 49ers wrong.
In his first start since Week 5 of the 2013 season, Gabbert was 10 of 16 for 115 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. He also scrambled for 15 yards on three attempts, including a 10-yard run for a first down at the Falcons’ 29-yard line.
Gabbert wasn’t as effective in the second half, when he was 5 of 9 for 70 yards and threw two interceptions. But he helped to finish off the victory with a five-yard run on third-and-four with 2:11 to play.
“We knew he could run,” Trufant said. “He’s obviously not as fast as Kaeperinick but he still can run. He made some plays. That third-down run he had at the end, that was a big play. Sometimes it happens like that but overall I think we were solid.”
The Falcons defense was weakened by injuries to some key players. Starting safety William Moore (groin), starting linebacker Justin Durant (calf) and No. 3 cornerback Robert Alford (groin) didn’t play. Then starting defensive end Tyson Jackson (ribs) and reserve safety Robenson Therezie (hamstring) left the game with injuries in the first half (Jackson later returned).
But the 49ers had their own injury woes on offense. They were without their two top running backs, Carlos Hyde and Reggie Bush, and No. 1 wide receiver Anquan Boldin. The 49ers also traded No. 1 tight end Vernon Davis to the Broncos on Monday.
