PITTSBURGH – Colin Kaepernick offered perhaps the most succinct observation of the San Francisco 49ers’ 43-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

“We got to our passing game,” Kaepernick said. “We just got to it a little too late today.”

This is true. And then some.

Because while Kaepernick had his fourth career 300-yard passing game with 335 yards, 274 of those yards came after halftime ... when the Steelers led 29-3.

Kaepernick completed 33 of his 46 attempts, with two touchdown passes and a QB rating of 106.7. He also rushed for a team-high 51 yards on eight carries.

But he was also sacked five times and was pressured (sacked or under duress) on 23 of his 53 dropbacks (43.4 percent), the fourth-highest pressure percentage of his career.

Yes, the Niners’ offensive highlights came in the second half.

That’s when Kaepernick connected with Torrey Smith for that long-awaited long score, Smith turning in a 75-yard catch and run for a career-long touchdown. Smith had 120 yards receiving on six catches, his seventh career 100-yard receiving game.

“There’s things in this game that we can take away as positives,” Kaepernick said, “but we don’t play for moral victories. It’s something that we have to look at this week and move on and use it as things to learn from moving forward.”