Good afternoon, everyone. On Thursday night in Santa Clara, the Green Bay Packers took on the San Francisco 49ers in a game that was not close at all. The Packers dominated this game from start to finish. As always, I am here to give you my thoughts on what exactly transpired in this game. Without further delay, let’s get started.
The Packers started this game on the offensive side of the football. Aaron Jones was back in action after missing a couple of weeks. He was given the ball on the first 4 plays of the 6-play drive that ended with a touchdown. On second and 8 from the San Francisco 36 yard line, Aaron Rodgers threw a ball up to Davante Adams, who made an outstanding catch in the end zone for the score. The officials looked at the play, and they found no evidence to overturn it. Adams’ left elbow landed in bounds, which meant that the touchdown call was upheld. An extra point by Mason Crosby gave Green Bay a 7-0 lead over the 49ers. The defense forced the 49ers offense to go three and out on their first possession. On third and 4 from the San Francisco 37, Nick Mullens found Jordan Reed fir a short completion. Krys Barnes and Chandon Sullivan both stopped Reed short of the first down marker, forcing the 49ers to punt back to Green Bay. The Packers offense tried to go down the field, but the drive stalled after a pass from Rodgers to Adams was deflected incomplete by 49ers CB Emmanuel Moseley (who was holding Adams’ jersey while deflecting the pass). After the JK Scott punt resulted in a touchback, the 49ers started their next possession at their own 20. On the second play, Nick Mullens found a wide open Richie James, who caught the pass at the 42 and ran it all the way to the Green Bay 26. A few plays later, it looked like the 49ers scored a touchdown after Nick Mullens found WR River Cracraft in the back left corner of the end zone (the three-man rush by Green Bay did not work). After review, it was revealed that the receiver did not maintain control of the ball as he fell to the ground. Rather than go for it on fourth down from the 4, San Francisco settled for a 22-yard field goal by Robbie Gould. On the next possession for Green Bay, they went three and out due to Marquez Valdes-Scantling dropping a wide-open pass from Rodgers on third down. After the punt by JK Scott, the 49ers had possession of the ball again. Their drive came up short thanks to a turnover forced by the Packers defense. On third and 16 from midfield, Preston Smith pressured Nick Mullens into throwing a pass that would easily be picked off by Raven Greene. Greene caught the pick at the Green Bay 45 and returned it to the San Francisco 38, where the offense’s next drive would start. During the possession, the Packers faced a fourth and inches from the 49ers’ 18. Rodgers found Adams for the fourth down conversion, keeping the drive alive. After a pass interference penalty gave the Packers the ball at the one, Rodgers found a wide-open Marcedes Lewis for a touchdown in a play that was designed very well by head coach Matt LaFleur. The Packers took a 14-3 lead after the extra point by Mason Crosby. The defense responded with a three-and-out on their next drive. On third and 6 from the 49ers’ 29, Nick Mullens threw a pass that went straight to the hands of Darnell Savage. Savage dropped what easily could have been a pick-six on the play. The punt backed Green Bay’s offense all the way to their own 13 yard line. During the next possession, Rodgers caught the defense with too many men on the field, which wiped off a potential interception by Jason Verrett. A few plays later, Rodgers found an open Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a 52-yard touchdown pass that, with the extra point, gave the Packers a 21-3 lead. After a three and out by the defense, the Packers had yet another chance to put up points with 44 seconds left. On the first play of the drive, Rodgers was sacked by Jordan Willis. After that, the rest of the clock ran out and the first half ended with the Packers leading by a score of 21-3.
The defense got off to a great start in the second half, forcing the 49ers to punt after a short possession (despite a pass interference penalty against Josh Jackson). The offense then took possession of the ball, looking for another score on their next drive. On third and 7 from the Green Bay 23, Aaron Rodgers found Davante Adams for the third down conversion. It would have been a touchdown had Adams stayed in bounds during his run. Instead, it only resulted in a 49-yard catch and run for Adams. A few plays later, they had another goal line situation at the one yard line of San Francisco. On that play, Rodgers rolled to his right and found Valdes-Scantling in the back right corner of the end zone for a touchdown that (with the extra point) gave the Packers a 28-3 lead. The Packers defense got their second turnover on the 49ers’ next offensive possession. After an unnecessary roughness penalty on Josh Jackson gave San Francisco good field position at the Green Bay 44 yard line, Za’Darius Smith strip-sacked Nick Mullens and recovered the fumble himself. The fumble recovery gave the Packers the ball at the SF 47. The offense then went down the field for another potential touchdown. They got all the way to the one before an incomplete pass on third and goal (Rodgers was pressured and threw it away) forced Green Bay to settle for a field goal. The 49ers were at the doorstep on getting a touchdown to decrease the 28-point lead. They got all the way to the Green Bay 5 yard line before the defense stopped them from going any further. On fourth and 1 from the 5, Nick Mullens was stuffed by Ty Summers, resulting in a turnover on downs. During the next drive for Green Bay, Rodgers found Adams for another third down conversion. On third and 4 from the Green Bay 11, Rodgers found Adams for a 34-yard catch and run that kept the drive alive. After a second third down conversion put Green Bay in field goal range, pretty much nothing happened. An illegal formation penalty against Elgton Jenkins and three runs that gained nothing forced the Packers to bring out the kicking unit. Crosby nailed it from 53 yards out, giving the Packers a 34-3 lead and ending Rodgers’ night on the field. The 49ers did score a couple of touchdowns in garbage time, but the Packers still prevailed by a final score of 34-17.
It was great to see the Packers win against the 49ers on their home field. Aaron Rodgers had a great game on Thursday night, going 25/31 for 305 yards and 4 touchdowns (1 to Davante Adams, 1 to Marcedes Lewis, and 2 to Marquez Valdes-Scantling). In particular, Davante Adams had his third game of the season with at least 10 catches and 150 receiving yards (10 catches for 173 yards and a touchdown against the 49ers). MVS redeemed himself after the third down drop with 2 touchdown catches against San Francisco (his only catches on the night). After missing a couple of games, Aaron Jones had a total of 79 yards against the 49ers (58 rushing, 21 receiving). Tyler Ervin had 8 carries for 24 yards and 4 catches for 48 yards on the night (72 total yards). The play design was outstanding on the goal line touchdown pass to Marcedes Lewis (kudos to Matt LaFleur for that). Overall, I thought the offense played well given the fact that 2 of their running backs were out due to COVID-19 policies (AJ Dillon tested positive and Jamaal Williams was a close contact). There was also the situation of mixing up the offensive line due to David Bakhtiari being out. Elgton Jenkins, in particular, played 3 positions total during the game on the O-Line. Hopefully the 10-day rest gives the missing pieces time to recover and return to action.
For the most part, the Packers defense was much better than the previous game. Outside of the 2 garbage time touchdowns, the defense kept the 49ers offense in check. Za’Darius Smith got the lone sack of Nick Mullens, which was also one of the 2 turnovers the Packers defense forced. Preston Smith made a couple of great plays, including pressuring Mullens into throwing an interception and almost getting a pick himself. Darnell Savage helped with a tackle for a loss, while Ty Summers made the key stop on Nick Mullens’ QB sneak attempt. There were a couple of injures on defense, including Krys Barnes with a shoulder/biceps injury (plus testing positive for COVID-19 on Friday) and Jaire Alexander with a concussion. I was glad to see the defense rebound on Thursday night. Hopefully they continue to improve over the next few weeks. On Special Teams, the Packers did not make crucial mistakes against the 49ers. There were no turnovers or penalties against Green Bay. There were also no big returns or blocked kicks that could have given the 49ers momentum. Mason Crosby made each kick, including 2 field goals (one from 53 yards out) and 4 extra points. JK Scott only punted 3 times on Thursday night, including one that was unfortunately a touchback. At least there were no big mistakes by Green Bay on this side of the ball. As long as that continues to happen, they will be fine.
Overall, it was a good win for the Packers as they improved to 6-2 on the season. Their next game will not be until Sunday November 15, when they will face the Jacksonville Jaguars at Lambeau Field. In the meantime, I am celebrating another Packers victory. Have a good night, everyone. Go Pack Go!
(Here are the highlights of the game, provided by the NFL's YouTube page.)
Comments