LANDOVER, Md. MLB Jerseys China . -- Never much for words, Colin Kaepernick summed up the best statistical game of his NFL career with typical understatement: "I think this was a good step for us in the right direction." Always one to speak at length when theres a camera around, Robert Griffin III reflected on one of the worst games of his young career by referencing "demons" that need to be conquered and the people who are supposedly "trying to character assassinate" him. While their playing styles may be similar, their public personas are as divergent as their performances were in their first face-to-face matchup. Kaepernick clearly outplayed Griffin on Monday night as the San Francisco 49ers broke a two-game losing streak with a 27-6 win over the Washington Redskins. Kaepernick completed 15 of 24 passes for 235 yards -- the first time in five games hes topped 200 -- with three touchdowns and no interceptions for a career-best 134.5 passing rating. He made a couple of throws to Anquan Boldin that looked worthy of a veteran drop-back quarterback. That should quiet the critics. For a few days, at least. "Some people have baby deer skin," 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said. "Hes got the armadillo skin." It will take more than an armadillo to quiet the angst surrounding the Redskins and Griffin, who completed 17 of 27 passes for only 127 yards and was sacked four times. His rating was 58.7, and Washingtons offence amassed a mere 190 total yards. Here are five ruminations on the 49ers (7-4), who remain tied for second with the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West, and the Redskins (3-8), who sit alone in the cellar of the NFC East. HEY, WE KNOW THAT OFFENSE: The 49ers did to Griffin what other defences try to do to Kaepernick -- take away the run and force the QB to throw. Alfred Morris rushed for only 52 yards on 14 carries. The Redskins, playing catch-up, gained only 30 total yards after halftime. San Francisco linebacker Aldon Smith had his first two sacks since undergoing treatment for substance abuse. RG3 AND DAD: Before Griffin headed to his postgame news conference, the reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year spoke with an unusual locker-room visitor: his father. RG2 then tagged along for the news conference. When RG3 returned to finish removing his uniform, the two men chatted for several minutes, sitting face-to-face. Griffin started the evening with four incompletions. When he finally completed his fifth pass, the play lost a yard. His sixth attempt was intercepted. "Weve got to conquer some of the demons that we have going on as an offence," Griffin said, "and just as a team in general." CRABTREE JOINS THE CREW: Injuries to the 49ers receiving corps have often been cited for Kaepernicks lacklustre passing numbers. Mario Manningham (four catches, 45 yards) recently returned to the lineup, and now 2012 leading receiver Michael Crabtree is set to be activated from the Physically Unable to Perform list and play next week. Crabtree returned to practice Nov. 5 for the first time since tearing his right Achilles tendon in May. "We need them all," Harbaugh said. "This is only for the tough. Where our team is headed, its only for the tough." SHANAHAN DISAPPOINTED: Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said his team got "embarrassed." He said he was "disappointed in the way we performed." He acknowledged that his team had not been "dominated like that since Ive been here." The Redskins are 24-36, including playoff games, since Shanahan arrived with a $35 million, five-year contract. They are currently on pace for their third last-place finish in his four seasons. The defence made Kaepernick look fantastic, and cornerback Josh Wilson was particularly generous, repeatedly getting beaten by receivers. There was a sloppy sequence at the end of the first half for Washingtons offence, including a timeout called while the clock was already stopped on a hurry-up drive. And with the score still only 10-6 early in the second half, Shanahan decided to go for it on fourth-and-2 at the 41 and gave the ball to backup tailback Roy Helu. He was stopped short, and the Niners took over and drove 60 yards for a TD. Still, after all of it, veteran linebacker London Fletcher called Shanahan "a great leader." 49ERS LOOKAHEAD: San Francisco now heads into the stretch run and has to be feeling better about its playoff chances. Of their five remaining games, two are against division foes the Niners beat already -- including St. Louis next Sunday -- and two come against also-rans Tampa Bay and Atlanta. The most intriguing matchup comes in two weeks, at home against NFC West rival Seattle, which leads the NFL with a 10-1 record and beat visiting San Francisco 29-3 in Week 2. Cheap MLB Jerseys . -- Inspired by their late teammate, the Edmonton Oil Kings went to their seemingly bottomless reserves to win the 2014 MasterCard Memorial Cup. Wholesale MLB Jerseys . Malaga bounced back from its elimination from the Copa del Rey earlier this week to Osasuna with a much-needed victory that provisionally lifted it to the middle of the standings.DUNEDIN, Florida - General manager Alex Anthopoulos believes the 2014 edition of the Blue Jays will contend in the American League East. It begins with starting pitching. "We have the talent," said Anthopoulos. "Last offseason because guys were hurt, we didnt have the bodies. We didnt have Hutchison or Drabek. We knew we needed Romero to bounce back. Happ was coming off a foot injury. We have a lot more bodies and a lot more depth. Beyond our front five last year we were thin. We had Romero who scuffled as our sixth starter coming out of camp. Beyond that, it was Ramon Ortiz and Chien Ming-Wang and we had to sign five minor league free agent starters. We didnt need to do any of that this offseason." One of the catchphrases of the offseason, and now here in Dunedin, is "internal depth," a reference to the clubs young cadre of pitching prospects beginning to bump their heads on the minor league ceiling. Its needed, too, because Anthopoulos seemed to pour the final dose of cold water on upgrading his rotation via an external option, most notably Ervin Santana, the last marquee free agent pitcher on the market. "Wed like to do it but were not going to do it at all costs," said Anthopoulos. "As we sit here today, I think its unlikely at this point, were getting so late into spring training. Anthopoulos continued, "Its a comparison, how much better are they than what you have." We have to make that evaluation. Term and dollars are important. You like every player but at certain years and dollars they dont make sense for us. If its just a draft or something and youre just picking a player, then abilities are a separate thing but theres obviously an acquisition cost to all of these guys." As for the persistent chatter linking the Jays to Santana and other free agent starters like Ubaldo Jimenez (signed with Baltimore) and Matt Garza (signed with Milwaukee,) Anthopoulos suggested the reports were overblown. "To trades? Yes. We got very close on some trades. Free agency-wise, I dont think we ever got close at all." Fans, understandably, dont want to hear excuses for the misery of 2013. It was clear as early as April the club had flaws, not the least of which were starting pitching that didnt match they hype and poor infield defense. Still, health, or lack thereof, played a role. When J.A. Happ was hit in the head with a line drive by Tampa Bays Desmond Jennings on May 7, he joined Josh Johnson on the disabled list. R.A. Dickey already was pitching with an injured muscle in his neck and Brandon Morrow was dealing with forearm pain, which ultimately was diagnosed as an entrapped radial nerve that would end his season weeks later. Only Mark Buehrle was healthy. Brett Lawrie went down with a strained oblique suffered in a World Baseball Classic tune up game in early March and missed opening day. Jose Reyes was lost to a severe ankle sprain on April 12, which necessitated the expedited return of a rehabbing Lawrie. He wasnt ready and would end up getting hurt again. Reyes was back by the time Lawrie returned on July 13, but Lawrie played at second base that day and the two wouldnt play the left side of the infield together until July 19. Jose Bautista, Melky Cabrera and Colby Rassmus also missed significant time but their injuries occurred once the Jays were out of the race.dddddddddddd Anthopoulos had no intention from diverting from the course set out with the major trades of last offseason. He wants the players hes assembled from years past, most of whom remain here, to get the job done. "We werent going to take away from the core of this team," said Anthopoulos. "We made a change behind the plate; that was important to us. Second base, we think theres obviously going to be turnover there. A third of our lineup is probably going to be different from opening day last year." DEALING WITH INJURIES Theres nothing the Blue Jays could do about Jose Reyes and Brett Lawrie injuring their ankles sliding into second base. Nothing could have been done to prevent Brandon Morrows nerve injury. Anthopoulos puts a lot of the aches and pains that befell last years club in the "freak injury" category. The club is concerned about the number of oblique injuries its suffered, however. "Colby (Rasmus) missed about four to six weeks and Rajai (Davis) missed two to three weeks," said Anthopoulos. "There are some things that we tweaked there. Like I talked about at the end of last year, it seems obliques are popping up a lot more or at least theyre being diagnosed a lot more. It felt like for us, the last two years, we were getting a lot more obliques so we reevaluated some of the strength and conditioning work that we were doing and made some tweaks there." Brett Lawries missed time with an oblique strain in each of the last two seasons. He added yoga to his offseason workout regimen in an effort to loosen his core muscles. Brandon Morrow missed almost three months of the 2012 season with an oblique strain. FILLING OUT THE ROTATION Esmil Rogers and Todd Redmond appear to be the early favourites to land the final starters job. Both are out of options, meaning they could be lost to waivers if the Jays tried to send them to the minor leagues. They face stiff competition from emerging youngsters like Drew Hutchison, Marcus Stroman and Kyle Drabek, and could find themselves in the bullpen if they dont win a starting job out of spring training. "We started before with an eight-man bullpen," said Anthopoulos. "We could do that as well. If everyone is throwing the ball that well and we dont want to expose anyone to waivers, or we dont want to trade someone and not get full value, we could go to an eight-man bullpen." HIGH PRAISE FOR GOINS Ryan Goins will have to earn the starting job at second base this spring but his boss loves his defense. "Hes as good defensively, I believe, as weve had here since Orlando Hudson was here," said Anthopoulos. "I think hes that good a defender. Defensively, hes gold glove caliber. The question will be the bat. Obviously weve got some competition for him and if he does make this team we view him right now as the nine-hole hitter. I think with Ryan, because the defense is so good, it allows him to not have to hit as much because he can help us on the other side of the ball to such a great extent." Maicer Izturis, Brent Morel, Chris Getz and Jonathan Diaz also are vying for the second base job. cheap jerseys ' ' '
