The week after San Francisco dominated the Arizona Cardinals they headed to Lambeau Field to wage a battle against the Green Bay Packers. In some ways San Francisco was riding high after jumping back into the playoff race a week earlier. However, they also knew that Green Bay was a different opponent, Lambeau was a tougher place to play, and Frank Gore would be missing the rest of the season.
I know many of us proclaimed that the 49ers would go into Green Bay and win, forcing the hands of both Seattle and St. Louis, however, in retrospect it was a much taller order.....
Green Bay came into this week 12 match-up following a tough road loss against the Atlanta Falcons. Both teams were battling for their playoff lives, but obviously in different directions. The Packers were playing in the newly re-defined "black and blue division", and well our 49ers in the NFC West. Now, onto the action..........
Green Bay won the toss and elected to recieve; the 49ers would get the ball first. After Delanie Walker returned the opening kick-off to the 29 Troy Smith threw an irrant pass to Michael Crabtree that luckily fell incomplete. Anthony Dixon took the next play off of left tackle for a nice gain of 5 yards. On 3rd down Smith hit Crabtree on the right seem for 39 yards down to the 29, San Francisco was on the move. Brian Westbrook picks up minimal yards on 1st down, and Troy Smith hit Crabtree on a bubble screen, but Charlie Peprah tipped the pass forcing a yard loss. Troy Smith missed Michael Crabtree on a 3rd down pass attempt. Newly signed Jeff Reed hit a 44 yard FG to give the 49ers the lead (3-0 San Francisco)
Green Bay took control of the game on their next drive, at least via the time of possession battle. On first down, Aaron Rodgers hit Brandon Jackson for 11 on a screen and Greg Jennings for 5 yards. Rookie, James Starks, ran for 2 yards, Donald Driver caught a pass from Rodgers for 6 yards, setting up a 3rd down. On the next play, Rodgers hit Korey Hall for 6 and another Packers 1st down. Eventually, the drive would end short of the end zone because of great plays by Patrick Willis and Takeo Spikes. Consequently, Mason Crosby missed a 29 yard FG off of the left upright.
Neither team did much on their next drives, and San Francisco began their next drive inside Green Bay territory after Ted Ginn returned the punt for 14 yards and former 49er Dyrell Briggs was called for an illegal motion penalty. (3-0 San Francisco, End of 1st Quarter)
Troy Smith hit Vernon Davis for 25 yards down to the Packers 2 on 1st down. After Anthony Dixon gained nothing, Troy Smith was sacked by Cullen Jenkins for a loss of 8 yards, setting up 3rd down; Troy Smith gained 2 on a sneak and the 49ers were forced into a FG. Jeff Reed nailed the 26 yard attempt (6-0 San Francisco)
Both Green Bay and San Francisco went three and out before Green Bay would get their "mojo" going. After short gains on the first few plays of the drive, in which the Packers did gain a 1st down, Greg Jennings would burn Shawntae Spencer deep down the left has and Aaron Rodgers would throw a perfect pass; 57 yards later the Packers had their first score of the game (7-6 Green Bay)
Once again, San Francisco went three and out; and once again the Packers took advantage. Three straight rushing plays gained a 1st down. Rodgers hit Jennings for 6 and Jackson for 37, Green Bay was not at the 49ers 1. John Kuhn, took it from there for a TD (14-6 Green Bay)
San Francisco did not take long to respond. After an incomplete pass to Brian Westbrook, Troy Smith connected with Vernon Davis on a 66 yard TD pass defeating the entire secondary of the Green Bay Packers; San Francisco was back in the game. (14-13 Green Bay)
The half ended without any drama, and the 49ers were right in the game (14-13 Green Bay, End of 1st Quarter)
The 2nd half was not friendly to the 49ers, but lets run it down a bit. Green Bay began the initial possession of the 2nd half at their own 31. Four plays later Aaron Rodgers hit Donald Driver for 61 yards and a TD, Green Bay extended their lead (21-6 Green Bay)
San Francisco would once again get down inside the Packers 10 yard line, and not convert a TD. This drive was pretty much the Anthony Dixon "show" he gained 29 yards on five carries, apparently the 49ers decided to ignore Brian Westbrook on those 8 plays. 3 plays later Troy Smith threw a horrible pass to Michael Crabtree, a pass that fell incomplete, forcing a 49er punt
Starks ran for 5 off of the right side before Rodgers hit Jennings for 48 (what was Claments doing) some may ask? Not covering Jennings! Two plays later Jennings caught a TD pass (28-16 Green Bay, End of 3rd Quarter)
I am not going to get into too much detail in regards to the 4th quarter, but here goes. After Green Bay opened up the 4th quarter with a few marginal plays and a FG by Mason Crosby to make it 31-13, the game was pretty much over. San Francisco went three and out, giving the ball back to the Packers. The home team took full advantage of San Francisco's ability to get a 1st down, and ran the clock down to under 3:30 with their next drive. It was a 17 play, 74 yard drive that consumed 8:35. The Packers converted on three 1st downs, and Mason Crosby capped off the drive with a 24 Yard FG (34-16 Green Bay, End of Regulation)
Niner Community Quotes
Hard to tell at which point in the game Sing had decided to give the game away Was it when we ran out the end of the first half, or was it punting from inside Green Bay territory on the second to last drive? (We hit people in the mouth, 12/5/10)
It's hard to showcase the talent when either coordinator are not using that talent. Too many soft zones and no blitzes at all on defense, and not enough throws to Crabtree, Davis, or even Walker. (Rocky63215, 12/5/10)
The defense may have just missed another tackle in Packers win, (Fooch 12/5/10)
As much as I want Luck next year... It's obvious they need to fire everyone in coaching, and bring in someone who knows football. With the right coach, any Smith could be a legit QB. It amazes me how they have someone like B. Westbrook at RB, and they can't even utilize him the right way. It amazes me they don't even TRY to score with a minute w/ 2timeouts before the half. Puking joke these Niners under Sing+Nolan era. I want the last 8-10 years of my life back! (Giants49war, 12/5/10)
" I have to look at the game film in order to best understand exactly what happened on the play" (Mike Singletary, 12/6/10 responding to a question in regards to a mis-communication in the 4th quarter)
Analysis
This was a difficult game to watch. Despite the 49ers inability to make a tackle, or closely resembe a well coached team, they were in the game up until the end of the 1st half. My frustration level in regards to coaching, play calling, time-out usage, defensive scheme and offensive scheme reached a boiling point during this game. In fact, it is my opinion that the 49ers handed the game to Green Bay on a nice sharp chedder chesse platter!
The Good
Wasn't too much of this in the game. San Francisco did only have 32 yards on penalties in the game; if that isn't reaching for positives than I have no idea what is. I am not going to try to sugar coat it, the 49ers played a horrible game. San Francisco did get 4 sacks on Aaron Rodgers.
The Bad
Where to start? When your secondary combines for 27 tackles, it means that the other team was in your defensive back field way too much. San Francisco couldn't tackle a stoned Dave Chappelle in this game! Accordingly, Troy Smith was sacked 4 times, hit another 7 times, and hurried a total of 10 times; San Fracnsco's offensive line was completely dominated. The 49ers defense allowed Green Bay to go 9/15 on 3rd down conversions, let the Packers run 68 plays and were -14:38 on the time of possession battle, nearly an entire quarter. Greg Jennings repeatedly beat 49er defenders on his way to 122 yards receving and a 20.3 average to go a long with 2 TDs. Oh, and Green Bay didn't turn the ball over a single time. Missed tackles by my count is as folllows: NaVorro Bowman (3), Nate Clements (3), Ahmad Brooks (2), Dashon Goldson (2), Takeo Spikes (2), and Travis Laboy (2). Yes folks, that is at least 14 missed tackles by my count.
Standout Performance(s)
Takeo Spikes racked up 17 tackles, and in a day where the 49ers couldn't tackle, he only missed two. Spikes played with a great motor and passion in attempting to bring the 49ers closer to the division lead. Vernon Davis had 126 yards receiving and over 30.0 yard per catch average, including the 49ers only TD.
Game Changing Plays
Not really a whole bunch here, but I am going to go with a sequence of plays near the end of the 1st half. The 49ers were down by a single point with just under 1:00 remaining in the first half. Taking over at their own 17, San Francisco ran a draw up the middle for 11 yards and the 49ers used a time-out. However, following the stoppage the coaching staff decided to shut the drive down. Two more Westbrook runs, and the half was over. The 49ers had an opportunity to go into the half with the lead and some momentum, but Singletary threw that out the door with attrocious mangagement of the game.
Conclusion
Lets be honest, this game bordered on horrible and the coaching wasn't up to the level of my Novato High School JV football team. You cannot win a game when you allow the other team to have nearly a quarter time of possesion advantage, miss more than 20 tackles and play way too conservative. Absolutely pathetic performance by nearly every member of the 49ers 53 man roster.
Stats
Troy Smith: 10/25-194 Yards- TD- INT- 4 Sacks (64.4 Rating)
Anthony Dixon: 9 Rush- 33 Yards- 3.7 AVG
Brian Westbrook: 9 Rush- 31 Yards- 3.4 AVG
Vernon Davis: 4 Receptions- 126 Yards- 1 TD
Michael Crabtree: 3 Receptions- 45 Yards
Aaron Rodgers: 21/30- 298 Yards- 3 TD- 0 INT- 4 Sacks (135.1 Rating)
James Starks: 18 Rush- 73 Yards- 4.1 AVG
Greg Jennings: 6 Receptions- 122 Yards- 2 TD
Donald Driver: 4 Receptions- 73 Yards- TD
Box Score
| 1st Downs | 11 | 21 |
|
Passing 1st downs
|
7 | 9 |
|
Rushing 1st downs
|
4 | 11 |
|
1st downs from Penalties
|
0 | 1 |
|
3rd down efficiency
|
3-12 | 9-15 |
|
4th down efficiency
|
1-1 | 0-0 |
| Total Plays | 51 | 68 |
| Total Yards | 269 | 410 |
| Passing | 172 | 274 |
|
Comp-Att
|
10-25 | 21-30 |
|
Yards per pass
|
6.9 | 9.1 |
| Rushing | 97 | 136 |
|
Rushing Attempts
|
22 | 34 |
|
Yards per rush
|
4.4 | 4.0 |
| Red Zone (Made-Att) | 0-2 | 2-5 |
| Penalties | 6-32 | 5-40 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 0 |
|
Fumbles lost
|
0 | 0 |
|
Interceptions thrown
|
1 | 0 |
| Defensive / Special Teams TDs | 0 | 0 |
| Possession | 22:49 | 37:11 |