Grant Cohn: Five top questions facing the 49ers against the Bills

We have no clue what to expect from Colin Kaepernick when he faces the Bills in Buffalo, but we know what we need to watch for. These are the top five questions facing him and the Niners this Sunday.

1. How long will Colin Kaepernick take to adjust to game speed?

Kaepernick hasn't started a game since Nov. 1, 2015, when he completed 20 of 41 passes and threw for 162 yards and no touchdowns and got benched.

Since then, Kaepernick has made just two appearances during real games and thrown just one pass — it was incomplete. He also played two preseason games and posted a quarterback rating of 67.5.

Besides those brief cameos, all of the football Kaepernick has played the past 12 months has taken place during practice, where there's no pass rush and the speed of play is slower than real games. He'll need time this Sunday to adjust to the speed not only of his wide receivers and tight ends, but also to the speed of the Bills' defense.

How much time will Kaepernick need? One quarter? Two quarters? The whole game?

2. How will we measure Kaepernick's performance?

Frankly, I don't expect him to go wild like he did a few years ago in the playoffs against the Packers when he made their defense look totally unprepared. The league has adapted defensively to Kaepernick since then. It can stop the zone read, and it has a book on him.

And he's not the same player he was a few years ago. Chip Kelly reminds of us that constantly. Tells us Kaepernick is 10 pounds lighter than he used to be, and no longer is 'running 4.5 and throwing the ball all over the place.' Kelly used those words just two-and-a-half weeks ago to justify keeping Kaepernick on the bench.

Now Kelly has no choice but to play Kaepernick. The other quarterback, Blaine Gabbert, was getting worse every week. Not only was he missing easy throws, he was missing lead-pipe-cinch touchdown passes to wide-open receivers, passes that were the determining factors between winning and losing.

Can Kaepernick complete those passes? Can he outplay Gabbert? And what does Kaepernick have to do to play well? How low do we place the bar? What passer rating is acceptable? How many completions must he throws? How many touchdown passes? These are difficult numbers to come up with.

And there's more. How many errant passes will we allow him to throw? How many incorrect reads will he make? How many times will he run into a sack?

The degree of difficulty for Kaepernick will be extremely high this Sunday. He's playing on the road, across the country and against a good defense. If he plays well and leads the Niners to victory, Kaepernick could resurrect his career.

3. How will the Bills defend Kaepernick?

Bills head coach Rex Ryan can take one of two defensive approaches:

1. Considering how little Kaepernick has played the past year and how many sacks the 49ers gave up last week (seven), the Bills could blitz him. See if he can make throws under pressure or move well enough in the pocket to buy extra time.

2. Considering how much Kaepernick always has struggled reading defenses, the Bills could drop extra players into coverage, mesmerize him with exotic looks and hope he makes bad decisions or simply holds the ball too long.

Either strategy could be effective. Which one will Ryan choose? Can Kaepernick thrive against either one, or both?

4. Can the 49ers stop LeSean McCoy?

The 49ers have given up at least 100 rushing yards to a running back four games in a row.

Week 2, they gave up 100 rushing yards to Fozzy Whitaker. Week 3, 106 rushing yards to Christine Michael. Week 4, 138 rushing yards to Ezekiel Elliott. And Week 5, 157 rushing yards to David Johnson.

The run defense is getting worse every week. If that trend continues, McCoy will rush for 170-something yards against the Niners – he's one of the best running backs in the league.

It seems the best the Niners can hope to do is keep him out of the end zone. Or, can the Niners defense actually defend?

5. Can the 49ers keep the game close?

McCoy almost certainly will rush for 100 yards or more, but that doesn't mean the Bills will score a ton of points. So far this season, they've scored only 117 points, and the 49ers have scored 111.

The Niners' defense should keep this game close, just like they did last week against the Cardinals during the first half. That was before the Niners' offense and special teams started turning the ball over and handing the game to Arizona.

If the offense and special teams avoid those breakdowns against the Bills, and if the Niners can keep the game close into the fourth quarter, they actually could pull off the upset. It sounds crazy, but it's possible. Welcome back, Colin.

Grant Cohn writes sports columns and the 'Inside the 49ers' blog for The Press Democrat's website. You can reach him at grantcohn@gmail.com.