LANDOVER, United States // Colin Kaepernick looked left, scrambled right, then found Anquan Boldin open in the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown.
Quarterback and receiver raced toward each other for a celebratory chest-bump, proving to all that the San Francisco 49ers offence is alive and well.
“We showed people we can pass the ball,” running back Frank Gore said. “That’s big for this team.”
If Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III have become the future of football suddenly put on hold, consider Kaepernick the one who looks ready to play his way out of the doldrums.
The young, mobile quarterbacks who have struggled in 2013 after breakout years in 2012 faced off for the first time Monday night, and Kaepernick outperformed his counterpart as the 49ers broke a two-game losing streak with a 27-6 win over the Washington Redskins.
“I did comment to him in the middle of the week, Wednesday or Thursday, that he was being exactly perfect – leadership and demeanor-wise,” 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said.
“A combination of loose and focused. ... Some people have baby deer skin. Some people have armadillo skin. He’s got the armadillo skin.”
Kaepernick completed 15 of 24 passes for 235 yards – the first time in five games he’s topped 200 yards – with three touchdowns and no interceptions for a career-best 134.5 passing rating.
The Redskins dared him to throw the ball by bottling up Gore (13 carries, 31 yards), and the QB responded by showing some veteran-like chemistry with the veteran Boldin, who had five catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns.
“Colin, he’s been taking a lot of criticism, but one thing I like about Colin, he’s always hanging in there,” receiver Vernon Davis said. “He’s always fighting through adversity. He’s one of those guys who’s tough.”
Davis also had a touchdown catch for the 49ers (7-4), who are tied for second with the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West and are three games back of the Seattle Seahawks with five to play.
“We knew what type of game this was for us,” Boldin said. “We’re right in the hunt. We’ve got to come out with a win.”
A loss would’ve put the defending NFC champions in trouble in their quest to return to the play-offs, but they’re nowhere as bad off as the Redskins (3-8), who have dropped three straight and sit alone in last place in the NFC East a year after a late-season run that won the division.
Contrast the Kaepernick chest-bump scene with the sight of Griffin lying on his stomach after throwing an interception on the final play of the first quarter, a 15-minute span in which he completed 1 of 6 passes for minus-1 yard.
It used to be a guarantee that the fans would chant “R-G-3!” at some point during every Redskins home game, but not on a night when the franchise player completes 17 of 27 passes for only 127 yards and gets sacked four times – and when the offence as a whole amasses a mere 190 total yards.
“We’ve got to conquer some of the demons that we have going on as an offence and just as a team in general – and I think we will,” Griffin said. “It takes all of us.”
Griffin took some flak last week from teammate Santana Moss for not taking enough responsibility for mistakes, and on Monday Griffin said a report on the NFL Network that he’s asked for his negative plays not to be shown during team meetings as evidence that “people are trying to character assassinate” him.
Regardless, there’s plenty of fault to go around after this game, including a fair share of blame for coach Mike Shanahan, who said his team were “embarrassed” against the 49ers and whose future is unclear as his team heads for a third last-place finish in his four years in Washington.
“We haven’t got dominated like that since I’ve been here,” the coach said.
Kaepernick and Griffin seemed poised to take the quarterback position to a new dimension last season when they wowed the NFL with their mobility when running zone-read and play-action.
But defences have adjusted, and the two QBs’ stats have tumbled accordingly when they’ve been forced to throw in conventional drop-back situations.
Griffin’s fall has been more precipitous. He threw his 11th interception Monday, more than twice the number he had all last season.
And, even though the 49ers have a winning record, they’ve been relying heavily – possibly too much – on Gore and the running game while Kaepernick has floundered. They began the weekend ranked last in the NFL in yards passing.
“It’s great to say, ‘OK, we played well in a certain area.’ But going into this one, it was by any means necessary,” Harbaugh said, “and our guys rose up to the challenge and got it done.”
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
De De Pyaar De
Produced: Luv Films, YRF Films
Directed: Akiv Ali
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Rakul Preet Singh, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jaaved Jaffrey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
MWTC
Tickets start from Dh100 for adults and are now on sale at www.ticketmaster.ae and Virgin Megastores across the UAE. Three-day and travel packages are also available at 20 per cent discount.
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
more from Janine di Giovanni
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Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
No more lice
Defining head lice
Pediculus humanus capitis are tiny wingless insects that feed on blood from the human scalp. The adult head louse is up to 3mm long, has six legs, and is tan to greyish-white in colour. The female lives up to four weeks and, once mature, can lay up to 10 eggs per day. These tiny nits firmly attach to the base of the hair shaft, get incubated by body heat and hatch in eight days or so.
Identifying lice
Lice can be identified by itching or a tickling sensation of something moving within the hair. One can confirm that a person has lice by looking closely through the hair and scalp for nits, nymphs or lice. Head lice are most frequently located behind the ears and near the neckline.
Treating lice at home
Head lice must be treated as soon as they are spotted. Start by checking everyone in the family for them, then follow these steps. Remove and wash all clothing and bedding with hot water. Apply medicine according to the label instructions. If some live lice are still found eight to 12 hours after treatment, but are moving more slowly than before, do not re-treat. Comb dead and remaining live lice out of the hair using a fine-toothed comb.
After the initial treatment, check for, comb and remove nits and lice from hair every two to three days. Soak combs and brushes in hot water for 10 minutes.Vacuum the floor and furniture, particularly where the infested person sat or lay.
Courtesy Dr Vishal Rajmal Mehta, specialist paediatrics, RAK Hospital
