San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick outperformed his Washington counterpart Robert Griffin III as the 49ers broke a two-game losing streak with a 27-6 win over the Redskins on Monday.
Kaepernick completed 15 of 24 passes for 235 yards - the first time in five games he had topped 200 yards - with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Redskins bottled up Frank Gore (13 carries, 31 yards), essentially daring Kaepernick to throw the ball, and the quarterback responded by showing veteran-like chemistry with veteran Anquan Boldin.
Boldin finished with five catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns - a 19-yard grab at the pylon in the first quarter and a six-yard, wide-open-in-the-end-zone reception in the third.
Vernon 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.
A loss would have put the defending NFC champions in trouble in their quest to return to the playoffs, 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.
Kaepernick and Griffin seemed poised to take the quarterback position to a new dimension last season.
But defences have adjusted, and the two quarterbacks' stats have tumbled accordingly.
Griffin threw his 11th interception Monday night, more than twice the number he had all last season.
He completed 17 of 27 passes for 127 yards and was sacked four times.
The 49ers led 10-6 at the half, and the Redskins had their best chance to take the lead when they took over in San Francisco territory after a fumble on the opening drive of the third quarter. But, on a fourth-and-2 at the 41, Washington gave the ball to back-up tailback Roy Helu, who was stopped short of the first down.
The 49ers took over and drove for a score that gave them a double-digit lead for good, with Kaepernick and Boldin hurdling into each other for a celebratory chest-bump after the six-yard touchdown pass.
There would be no such celebrations for Griffin, who took flak last week from teammate Santana Moss for not taking enough responsibility for mistakes.
Griffin's interception came on the final play of the first quarter, when he unwisely unloaded while being decked by Aldon Smith.
Griffin rolled over onto his stomach and lay there. He wasn't injured, but perhaps he was mulling over a rare home game in which no one was chanting his name
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