If the opening drive said anything about the Green Bay Packers it seemed like it was going to become a long night for the San Francisco 49ers defense.
The second offensive series for the Packers appeared more of the same. Yet, looks are deceiving. Fred Warner made a tremendous play to knock the ball out of Mercedes Lewis’ hand for a fumble that was recovered by the 49ers. From that point on defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans made great adjustments as a result the defense began to create more pressure on Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay’s offensive line.
The 49ers ended up with five sacks on the night, none bigger than the second sack of the game for Arik Armstead.
As for San Francisco offensively, it was a poor showing throughout. A lot of mistakes got made including Brandon Aiyuk not coming up with an easy catch which nearly resulted in a fumble, the play did go to replay and got ruled incomplete.
Still the most frustrating moment of the game came on the 49ers third series. Jimmy Garoppolo found a wide open George Kittle for an easy touchdown. Still somehow San Francisco’s tight end did not make the easy catch.
It did not get better as the 49ers offense struggled to block the Packers defensive front. There were three straight three and outs before San Francisco completed their first pass of the game. Interestingly enough Kittle made a tremendous catch along the sidelines.
A 16 yard completion to running back Elijah Mitchel got the offense going or so it seemed until left tackle Trent Williams got called for a holding penalty. Once again Green Bay got pressure which forced Garoppolo to inexplicably try to make a risky play.
He seemingly did have Kittle open for a moment and that window closed in a hurry. The result an interception by Packers safety Adrian Amos. Making matters worse was the last real mistake by the 49er defense happened.
Safety Jimmie Ward did not provide help deep for Dontae Johnson leaving running back Aaron Jones wide open for 75 yards.Jacquiski Tartt ran him down to save a touchdown. Nick Bosa though almost forced a turnover, yet the Packers recovered the fumble.
Ward made up for his mistake by blocking the field goal attempt by Mason Crosby. With seemingly a dominant performance by Green Bay, San Francisco only trailed 7-0 at halftime.
Needing a spark offensively Deebo Samuel took the opening kickoff of the second half to midfield. Another penalty took a first and goal situation away after Mitchell got called for a personal foul for grabbing the facemask of the defender.
It did result in the first three points of the game for the 49ers though. As kicker Robbie Gould made the 29-yard field goal.
After both teams punted on their ensuing possessions. The 49ers defense did finally allow some yardage and more importantly for the Packers time off the clock. Still the result for Green Bay a 33-yard field goal by Crosby.
Once again San Francsico trailed by a touchdown.
Another drive by Garoppolo looked good got wasted. After a short completion to Jauan Jennings left the 49ers short by a yard. Kyle Shanahan went to a play that was used in a short yardage situation before. The result this time was not successful as Charlie Woerner did not move down the line in time to block Rashan Gary who stopped Mitchell in the backfield for the turnover on downs.
After Green Bay’s Jones ran for two yards. Rodgers wisely tried to take advantage of Josh Norman replacing the injured Johnson by throwing to Adams. The throw was not good and wound up incomplete.
Rodgers once again got the same opportunity to try to get the football to Adams. This time the pressure got to him and Armstead registered the sack for the defensive play of the season for the 49ers.
The Packers special teams made another huge mistake. Jordan Willis beat his blocker with ease and blocked the punt. Rookie safety Talanoa Hufanga came up with the recovery of the football and scored the only touchdown of the game for San Francisco.
Of course this still left plenty of time for Rodgers and the Packers offense to get down the field. As there was still a little less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Pressure from the 49ers on Rodgers once again caused issues. This time an illegal man down the field penalty. Shanahan elected to accept the penalty to make it first and 15. A four yard completion to Adams made it second and 11. Cornerback K’Waun Williams nearly intercepted the next pass attempt.
Interestingly enough Green Bay elected for the home run as Rodgers went deep to Adams, yet it was perfectly covered by San Francisco’s defense which forced the Packers to punt. A false start penalty on the special teams unit made it 4th and 16, yet punter Corey Bojorquez came up with a 57 yard punt.
This was the last opportunity for the 49ers to put points on the board and keep the Packers offense off the field. The drive started well with Garoppolo finding Kittle for 12 yards. A run by Mitchell for four yards led to the two-minute warning.
Samuel came up huge with a 14 yard reception, he then carried the ball three straight times and came up with a huge first down on the last one which went for nine yards. During this time though the Packers were forced to use their final two timeouts.
One yard runs by Mitchell and Kyle Juszczyk, setup the game-winning 45-yard field goal for Gould.
The 49ers shockingly came out on top for the 13-10 win.