Packers play like it’s still the bye week against 49ers

The Packers had two weeks to prepare for a big match-up on national television against the 49ers in a game that could decide the top seed in the NFC Conference, and they played like just woke up and forgot that there was a game they had to play. What an embarrassment; Aaron Rodgers has played some horrible games in his career, and this season’s loss to the Chargers was one his worst games ever. But the first half of this game had to be a new low. Rodgers was 10 of 20 for 41 yards, but it was even worse than that: he was sacked 3 times for losses of 32 yards, meaning the Packers net passing yards for the half was 9-count-them-9 yards, which could be an all-time team low in the “passing” era. On 7 of 8 possessions the Packers advanced the ball no more than 6 yards, and on the one possession that was assisted by WR Allan Lazard’s 21 yard run, the Packers lost the ball on downs. 

The 49ers led 23-0 at halftime. Packer fans may recall that the Packers trailed at Dallas 26-3 at halftime in a game and came back to win; they may also remember that Matt Flynn was filling in for an injured Rodgers. Could the Packers at least come back and make things “respectable” against one of the best defenses in the NFL, not the bend-and-occasionally-break defense of the Packers? The Packers scored a touchdown on their first possession of the second half, helped by an unnecessary roughness penalty on ex-Seahawk Richard Sherman that turned a third down stop into a first-and-goal. But not to get overly optimistic: Jimmy Garoppolo’s 61-yard touchdown pass to George Kittle less than a minute later pretty much sealed the deal, as if there was any deal to seal. 

After the Packers next possession ended on a fourth-down sack, on 38 passing plays that ended in either a pass thrown or a sack, the Packers had 66 net yards passing. Rodgers simply looked as helpless as a new-born babe. Not so Garoppolo against the Packers defense; not considered one of the “elite” quarterbacks, he simply led the 49ers on another easy-does-it touchdown drive to make 37-8. I wasn’t surprised to see Tim Boyle get his first regular season snaps after that, and I was curious to see what he could do. Rodgers finished the game 20 of 33 for 104 yards and a touchdown, and was sacked five times for 38 yards in losses. And yes, he played a worse game statistically than even the Charger game. Remember, this is the guy who against the Raiders completed 25 of 31 for 429 yards and 5 touchdowns—in a game that Davante Adams did not play in. With Boyle under center the Packers drove down to the 49er 15, but chose just to let the clock run out instead of trying to score, probably because it would have been even more embarrassing for Rodgers.

We can certainly surmise that coach Matt LaFleur had the team totally unprepared for this game, and there is this ongoing curse of Davante Adams in the line-up. Whatever is ailing the Packers outside that four-game Davante-less stretch, it is starting to look like the “real” Packers is the team we are looking at right now, one that still hasn’t found its identity under the LaFleur “system,” if that even exists as a coherent strategy. The Packers can still win the division if they can beat the Vikings again, but even then they may be just crawling to the finish line, unless something changes, and fast.