By Morris Phillips

On Sunday, Colin Kaepernick provided hope with an eye-opening first half that had the 49ers within reach of the Saints, and in position to rally and end their six-game losing streak.

But in a second half littered with miscues and poor throws, Kaepernick and the 49ers wilted in a 41-23 loss that again placed the microscope squarely on the team’s controversial quarterback, and their historically-poor defense.

Kaepernick finished 24 of 39 for 398 yards in his best performance of the season.  But he set up the Saints with a first half interception that was a big piece of the visitors’ start that saw them lead 21-3 in the second quarter.  And with the 49ers driving in the third quarter with a shot to chop into the Saints’ 31-20 lead, Kaepernick missed on seven straight passes, most of which were simply errant throws, as the game slipped away early in the fourth quarter.

“I thought there were some throws in the pocket that if we could’ve completed them then we’d have stayed on the field and kept some drives alive,” Coach Chip Kelly said of Kap’s afternoon.  “But I also thought he did some really, good things, fit some balls in there.  A couple of balls to Vance McDonald were big plays to us.  Tried to take advantage of some of the things he did, but again, I think the story for us offensively, we fumbled on the 1, we fumbled on the 10, and then we didn’t convert on a fourth-and-1.”

Kelly’s rapid-fire postgame recap was not only comprehensive, succinct, it did the math as well.  The 49ers lost by 18 points in a game where they were driving—and failed—to score at least 21 other points.  But that merely reveals the other issue.  The 49ers’ struggling defense may have had its worst day yet.

The 41 points scored by the Saints and the timeless Drew Brees were the most by an opponent in the 21-game history of Levi’s Stadium.  For the seventh straight week, the 49ers allowed a 100-yard rusher in the Saints’ Mark Ingram.  And Brees did his thing, persistently testing the vulnerable San Francisco back seven downfield, and coming up with 323 yards passing and three touchdowns for his efforts.

Ingram’s had big days in his career, but probably few like this where he needed just 15 carries to reach 158 yards rushing.  On his 75-yard touchdown run in the first half that put the Saints comfortably ahead 28-10, 49ers’ safety Antoine Bethea was left flailing along the sideline for a back who’s not known for his afterburners.

“It was a mishap on defense and, at the end of the day, we need to get him down,” Bethea admitted.

“We just need to correct things.”

Those corrections will be in tight focus in the next two weeks in which the 49ers will see Carson Palmer, David Johnson in Arizona, then return home to face Tom Brady and the Patriots.  Unfortunately for the 49ers, the record for points allowed in a season set by the Baltimore Colts in 1981 (520 points) looms for a defense that allowed more points than their league-worst 31.3 average on Sunday.

GAME BEHIND THE GAME: The Mike Davis fumble (pictured above) that short-circuited the 49ers’ opening drive of the second half, and kept them from opening the half with momentum, and potentially climb within 31-27, when they trailed 28-10 in the second quarter, highlights all that ails a football team that hasn’t won since opening day, and will undoubtedly experience challenging days going forward.

Davis, the second year back from South Carolina, was forced into the game earlier in that drive when DuJuan Harris was temporarily knocked from the game after a hard tackle courtesy of safety Kenny Vaccaro.  Harris ran the ball well in the first half, and went for a game-best 19 yards on the play he was hurt.

Harris was replacing Carlos Hyde, the team’s starter, and the prototypical Chip Kelly back in that Hyde has size, physicality and he can execute all the protection packages when he doesn’t get the ball.  Harris is smaller, a capable runner, and less of protector.  Davis, also a smaller back, maybe quicker, but not a physical guy, and clearly not the team’s first option in short yardage situations, or protection packages.

But Davis came on for Harris, and played well.  First, the young back ran for four yards on second and 10, then on third and 6 from the Saints 34-yard line, Davis picked up a blitz up the middle, allowing Kaepernick to complete a pass to Jeremy Kerley for a 17-yard gain.

On the next play, Kaepernick spotted Davis circling out of the backfield and the smaller back made the catch and stuck his helmet in the fray for a nine-yard gain.

But on the next play, second and one from the Saints’ 8-yard line, Davis found a crease and ran to the one-yard line.  There he was leg tackled by safety Jairus Byrd, then a split second later, impacted around his chest by linebacker Nate Stupar.  Typical of NFL defenders as the second-engaged tackler, Stupar reached around Davis and executed a picture-perfect strip, allowing the Saints to recover a fumble at the most critical point on the field.

The point?  The 49ers would have preferred Hyde or Harris at that juncture of the game, and that place on the field.  Neither was available. Davis was off the bench cold, then suddenly involved heavily in a fourth consecutive play.  Under Kelly, the 49ers no longer employ a fullback, key for short yardage and goal line situations.

And Kaepernick, while having a good game, has never been a good, red zone-passing quarterback.  Reference the Super Bowl, and his throwing style which lacks a lofting, lower mileage option, and his overall lack of success in scoring opportunities near the goal line.