The San Francisco 49ers, despite their struggles in the second half and overtime last week, had a chance to win the game. The game-winning throw was there for Colin Kaepernick to make, on a good play call against the defense the New York Jets ran.

What happened is representative of where he is as a quarterback now.

The Jets had a “man free blitz” called on a third-and-10, and Chris Harper was open on a quick slant. This should be an easy throw with a good possibility that Harper’s run-after-catch would have put the 49ers in field-goal position, and he had a chance to score a touchdown. You can see how open the middle of the field was. But Kaepernick’s poor ball placement prevented that. Harper stretched out for the catch instead of getting it in stride, got only 8 yards, the 49ers were stopped on a fourth-down run and the Jets won on their next possession.

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Little things add up in the NFL and Kaepernick struggles with a lot of those little things, especially from the pocket.

Accuracy with ball placement is an issue. Late in the first half he had Jeremy Kerley wide open on an in-breaking route with a lot of room to run. Kaepernick threw the ball too hard and too high, and it fell incomplete. He struggles to make those throws that demand touch, pace and precise ball location.

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