Colin Kaepernick Recalls Finish to 2012 NFC Title Game in Atlanta

Colin Kaepernick returns to the site of one of the best finishes in his professional career. The Georgia Dome is the home of Sunday’s San Francisco 49ers Week 15 tilt against the Atlanta Falcons. The last time Kaepernick and the 49ers stepped foot in the “Peach State,” NaVorro Bowman’s fourth-down pass breakup sent San Francisco to its sixth Super Bowl. That's the moment that Kaepernick remembers most from the 2012 NFC Championship Game. “That was something," the quarterback said on Tuesday. "On the sideline, you’re sitting there waiting, ‘Are we going to make this play?’ We have all the confidence in the world in our defense and they come up huge for us in that situation. That’s something I’ll always remember, that feeling.”The 49ers trailed 17-0 in the second quarter of that Jan. 21, 2013 matchup. The road team, however, produced four touchdowns the rest of the way to pull off a 28-24 victory. “Getting down early, being able to come back, sticking together as a team and being able to pull out that win was huge for us,” recalled Kaepernick, who threw for 233 yards and a touchdown in the biggest victory of his professional career. A similar mindset will be needed for Kaepernick’s present-day teammates. Losers of 12 straight games, the 49ers have found a myriad ways to find themselves on the wrong side of the win-loss column. Kaepernick pointed to execution and finishing games.“It comes down to, once again, execution, our ability to finish games and hit another gear in the second half to go out and make plays, put more points on the board, be stouter on defense,” the signal-caller said. “We have to be able to turn it up on both sides of the ball as well as special teams in order for us to pull out wins.” Kaepernick was a perfect 7-of-7 passing in the first quarter of last week’s 23-17 overtime loss to the New York Jets. The 49ers passer cooled off for the remainder of the game, finishing 15-of-26 passing for 133 yards with one touchdown. “We have to be able to make plays,” Kaepernick said, “and we didn’t make enough in the second half to put points on the board.” The sixth-year pro remains winless in his eight starts for the 49ers this season. His approach, in the midst of his longest losing streak as a starter, is about being resilient. “You try and fix it,” Kaepernick said. “That’s the only way it’s going to change. You come in, you work, you do everything you can to be prepared for the next game and go out and play with everything you have.”