The San Francisco 49ers made the cross-country trip to the nation's capital for what was supposed to be an even matchup. Instead the 49ers (6-4) are in much better shape than their east coast counterpart in Washington (3-7).

Although the 49ers are still in playoff contention, neither team has lived up to the expectations put before them in the beginning of the season. Quarterbacks Robert Griffin III and Colin Kaepernick have been mediocre thus far - passable - but still not up to par with what people thought they would do after such magical 2012 campaigns. Kaepernick has thrown 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions while RGIII has 14 touchdowns and ten interceptions on the year.

Despite the disappointment thus far, Kaepernick is one 49ers play who is confident in the team's potential moving forward.

"I think we are (surprised) but we still have six more to go," Kaepernick said. "And we can still finish this season 12-4."

Washington head coach Mike Shanahan said it takes patience to develop the younger and inexperienced players in the NFL, noting that Kaepernick needs to keep practicing and he'll improve.

"If you're talking about Robert or if you're talking about a guy like Kaepernick, everybody comes from different systems and when you go to the National Football League and you're working with a drop-back passing game and you haven't done a lot of that, it takes some repetition," Shanahan said. "Whoever has been in those shoes realizes that it doesn't happen overnight."

The two teams have not met since 2011, when San Francisco came through with a 19-11 victory. Th4 49ers are looking to repeat but this time the offense will look for a fast start; Vernon Davis leads the team in touchdowns with eight while Alfred Morris has anchored the running game with 5 touchdowns and 918 yards.

Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.