(Santa Clara, CA) For two weeks they couldn't wait to measure up against the NFC's front running San Francisco 49ers. The Green Bay Packers soberly flew home after not coming close to living up to conference contending standards after getting routed at Levi's Stadium in front of a national television audience Sunday night 37-8.
Matt LaFleur's team was soundly beaten in every phase as the Packers (8-3) fell two games behind San Francisco (10-1) and dropped into a first place tie in the North Division with the idle Minnesota Vikings.
What is it about the Pacific Time Zone? This rivaled the 26-11 trip to Los Angeles a month ago and the listless effort against the Chargers.
How bad was it?
Aaron Rodgers had his worst game ever as a starter, throwing for 104 yards on 33 attempts. He fumbled after getting sacked on the game's fifth play and the 49ers scored on the sixth when Tevin Coleman smashed in from two yards out and a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. Rodgers was sacked five times and he was hit on 10 other dropbacks. His longest completion was a scant 14 yards. The offense incredibly went 0 for 13 on third down before he ultimately gave way to Tim Boyle for the final series. They finished 1 for 15 for the game.
The defense can't stop the rash of explosive plays by an opponent. The 49er offense produced a dozen big runs or pass completions. San Francisco gained 339 yards on only 45 snaps. Jimmy Garoppolo found Deebo Samuel on a 42 yard deep crossing route, running away from Tramon Williams for a touchdown. And after the Packers finally got on the board in the third quarter, Garoppolo hit a wide open George Kittle who turned Kevin King around and he cruised in for a 61 yard touchdown that put an exclamation point on the rout.
At least Za'Darius Smith came to play. He applied constant pressure, recording a sack and a half with three quarterback hits and two tackles for losses. Smith was sporting a T-shirt under his jersey with the words "We love you Eileen." It was a tribute to the mother of a Packer equipment assistant who has been battling health issues.
Then there's the almost comical special teams. J.K. Scott's leg has gone dead. He punted six times and none of them traveled more than 41 yards. The punt return game has become laughably historic. Tremon Smith fielded two punts and lost one yard and two more. The Packers for the season have now returned punts for negative 11 yards! The NFL record for fewest yards gained on punt returns is 27 by the St. Louis Cardinals which tells you how old that embarrasing mark has stood and appears destined to be demolished by Green Bay's return unit.
The Charger game was stunning but this performance was even more disheartening because it appears the Packers are more than 29 points beneath the 49ers.
Granted, right tackle Bryan Bulaga left the game early with a knee injury leaving second year free agent Alex Light in to face one of the league's best pass rushing fronts. Five different players got at least a share of a sack, Arik Armstead had a pair so it wasn't just on Light.
Poor first down production or penalties kept pushing the offense behind the chains and San Francisco pinned the ears back and poured in. Behind the rush, the secondary played more man than usual and locked up the receivers.
Davante Adams caught his first touchdown pass of the year but it was a two yard shovel pass around the left end. Adams also pulled down the two point conversion on a fade route. He caught 7 balls in all, on a dozen targets, for a mere 43 yards.
The ground game never got traction in fact the longest rush came from receiver Allen Lazard on a 21 yard end around. Aaron Jones managed 38 yards on 13 carries and he was stuffed for no gain on a 4th and 1 snap at the San Francisco 28 yard line. LaFleur passed on a 45 yard field goal try from Mason Crosby down only 10-0, trusting his short yardage offense which came up short again.
If not for a couple of penalties against Richard Sherman, the Packers might not have scored at all. On a third down throwaway by Rodgers at the San Francisco 9 yard line, a hold on Light was negated by Sherman's illegal contact flag. Rodgers scrambled for five on third and 8 but Sherman was hit with an unnecessary roughness penalty which put the ball at the two where the Packers finally scored.
With five games left, the Packers currently hold the number three seed in the NFC behind the 49ers and the Saints, who reached 9-2 by holding off Carolina at home 34-31. Dallas dropped to 6-5 after losing to New England in rainy Foxboro 13-9. Seattle holds the top wild card at 9-2 after winning in Philadelphia 17-9 while the Vikings are the sixth seed.
Thanksgiving week has arrived and the Packers are thankful they'll be traveling east following the holiday to meet the New York Giants.
