49ers better in backup matchup

San Francisco 49ers defensive end Aldon Smith (99) had plenty of chances to celebrate Monday, finishing with 5 1/2 sacks of Chicago Bears fill-in quarterback Jason Campbell, as the 49ers defense held the Bears to 143 offensive yards and one touchdown. Campbell threw for 107 yards and was intercepted twice.

San Francisco 49ers defensive end Aldon Smith (99) had plenty of chances to celebrate Monday, finishing with 5 1/2 sacks of Chicago Bears fill-in quarterback Jason Campbell, as the 49ers defense held the Bears to 143 offensive yards and one touchdown. Campbell threw for 107 yards and was intercepted twice.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

— Strong-armed fill-in Colin Kaepernick made all the right throws, looking every bit a capable starting quarterback.

Kaepernick passed for 243 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start in place of the injured Alex Smith, and the San Francisco 49ers whipped the Chicago Bears 32-7 on Monday night in a highly touted NFC showdown that hardly lived up to the hype.

Kaepernick threw touchdown passes to Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree, and Kendall Hunter ran 14 yards for a score as San Francisco (7-2-1) jumped out to a big lead by scoring on each of its first four possessions - with Aldon Smith wreaking havoc on the other side of the ball with 51/2 sacks.

Jason Campbell, the other quarterback in this match up of backups for division leaders, threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall in the third quarter but was sacked six times and threw two interceptions in his first start since October 2011 for Oakland.

He faced fierce pressure all night for the Bears (7-3) in place of starter Jay Cutler, who is recovering from a concussion suffered eight days earlier- just like Smith.

After Kaepernick’s big night on the big stage, there’s certain to be chatter of a quarterback controversy for the NFC West-leading Niners.

Aldon Smith took over theNFL sacks lead with 15, passing Denver’s Von Miller with 13, with the second-best total in franchise history behind Fred Dean’s six-sack day Nov. 13, 1983, against New Orleans.

“We were playing our defense, stopping the run and then stopping the pass,” Aldon Smith said. “I was just playing my game and getting after it.”

The 49ers added a safety in the fourth quarter when former San Francisco offensive lineman Chilo Rachal picked up a fumble and threw the ball out of the end zone with 9:24 left. Coach Jim Harbaugh challenged and the review showed Rachal’s knee was down in the end zone before the ball left.

SUNDAY’S GAMES Dallas 23, Cleveland 20, OT NY Jets 27, St. Louis 13 Houston 43, Jacksonville 37, OT Cincinnati 28, Kansas City 6 Washington 31, Philadelphia 6 Green Bay 24, Detroit 20 Atlanta 23, Arizona 19 Tampa Bay 27, Carolina 21, OT New Orleans 38, Oakland 17 Denver 30, San Diego 23 New England 59, Indianapolis 24 Baltimore 13, Pittsburgh 10

MONDAY’S GAME San Francisco 32, Chicago 7

THURSDAY, NOV. 22 All times Central Houston at Detroit, 11:30 a.m.

Washington at Dallas, 3:15 p.m.

New England at NY Jets, 7:20 p.m.

SUNDAY, NOV. 25 Denver at Kansas City, noon Minnesota at Chicago, noon Oakland at Cincinnati, noon Pittsburgh at Cleveland, noon Buffalo at Indianapolis, noon Tennessee at Jacksonville, noon Atlanta at Tampa Bay, noon Seattle at Miami, noon Baltimore at San Diego, 3:05 p.m.

St. Louis at Arizona, 3:25 p.m.

San Francisco at New Orleans, 3:25 p.m.

Green Bay at NY Giants, 7:20 p.m.

MONDAY, NOV. 26 Carolina at Philadelphia, 8:30 p.m.

Sports, Pages 21 on 11/20/2012