NEW ORLEANS — Amid the bitter sting, as he kept repeating his incredulity as falling “5 yards short,’’ Joe Staley bit his lower lip and looked ahead.
“Our future is very bright with Colin,’’ said Staley, the 49ers’ left tackle. “He’s a heck of a player and he never gave up. He never lost his focus in the game.’’
Colin Kaepernick did not win last night but he sent a message, using his arms and his legs to make a statement that reverberated through the NFL, providing a warning to all who will have to deal with the 49ers quarterback in the years to come.
Get him now, because you may not be able to catch him later.
In only his 10th NFL start, Kaepernick did not come up a winner in Super Bowl XLVII. His final three passes, all intended for Michael Crabtree, fell incomplete. The tattooed wunderkind didn’t complete the remarkable comeback he helped fuel, with the Ravens holding on for a 34-31 victory in Super Bowl XLVII at the Superdome. But after a rough start, he didn’t wilt under the pressure of the biggest game on the biggest stage.
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When he took off around the left side, scrambling 15 yards for a touchdown with 9:57 remaining — the longest scoring run by a quarterback in Super Bowl history — he had pulled the 49ers within 31-29, this after they trailed 28-6 merely 11 seconds into the second half.
When he got the ball back, still trailing by those two points, Kaepernick moved the 49ers from their own 20-yard line all the way to the Baltimore 5. His second-down pass couldn’t connect with Crabtree and on third down he hit Crabtree at the 5-yard line but the receiver couldn’t retain possession after cornerback Jimmy Smith nailed him with a heavy hit. On the last gasp for the Niners, Kaepernick, under pressure, lofted a fade pass into the right corner of the end zone, looking for Crabtree.
“That wasn’t the original option,’’ said Kaepernick, who was 16-for-28 for 302 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and rushed seven times for 62 yards and a touchdown. “It’s something I audibled to at the line based on the look they gave us.’’
Kaepernick most likely should have kept the ball in his hands and used his legs down the stretch. The 25-year-old, who took over for Alex Smith after midseason and instantly transformed the 49ers offense, completed 16 of his 28 passes for 302 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He ran with the ball seven times for 62 yards and a touchdown.
It was a shaky start for all the 49ers, Kaepernick included. He took a sack on third down in the first quarter, forcing the Niners to settle for a David Akers field goal. In the second quarter, he threw too far for Randy Moss and was intercepted by safety Ed Reed, leading to an ill-advised fake field goal by the Ravens.
“I led him a little too far up field,’’ Kaepernick said.
Asked what was going through his mind after the game, he said, “We’ll be back.”