I originally thought this was going to be the best game of the weekend, but for that to happen, the teams will have to end regulation tied at 42, go into triple overtime, and play until the Patriots-Texans game starts tomorrow afternoon. Aikman and Buck on the call for Fox.
FIRST QUARTER
What is the temperature in San Francisco? Here's the lovely Erin Andrews again bundled up in a George Costanza Gore-Tex coat that makes her look like the Michelin Man. Weather.com says it's roughly 40 degrees warmer than it was in Denver earlier, where we got to see Solomon Wilcots wearing less. Tough it out, Andrews!
Colin Kaepernick begins the game for the 49ers with a quick hitch to Michael Crabtree for 9. Frank Gore up the middle for 7 for a first down at the 44. Gore up the middle for 3 more, and if he had EVER run like this week 16 up in Seattle, you might not be listening to me whining about losing my FFL championship again.
Speaking of losing, after getting all night in the pocket to throw, Kaepernick makes the worst possible decision, almost the mirror image of Peyton Manning's overtime gaffe earlier. He rolls left, throws against his body for Vernon Davis, who isn't remotely open, and the pass is not only intercepted by Sam Shields, he returns it for a 52-yard TD. Packers 7, 49ers 0
Holy cats, I didn't think it was possible for a QB in this year's playoffs to get off to a worse start than Joe Webb.
49ers will try again from their 20, and Gore gets them off to a good start with 5 up the middle. Kaepernick scrambles for a couple after play-action. Tramon Williams holds Crabtree to spare the 49ers a 3-and-out. He had slipped and would have let Crabtree break away otherwise. Kaepernick throws a terrible pass nowhere near Crabtree on 1st down. Maybe the 49ers should have started Joe Webb. A short pass for Davis is thrown at about 100 mph and broken up by Charles Woodson. The great 49er fans are already booing their team at a home playoff game. Big rush by Clay Matthews flushes Kaepernick on 3rd-10, but he stays composed this time and tosses up the sideline to Gore, beating Woodson and cutting back up the middle of the field for 44. Thanks to Joe Buck not saying how long the play was right away, I have lost about 4 minutes of the 4th quarter. (Don't ask.) Nice hold by Jonathan Goodwin not called on that play, too. Clay Matthews gets inside of Joe Staley with a strong rip move to sack Kaepernick the next play for a loss of 7. Gore gets 9 more up the middle to the GB20, and, yep, he's already done enough that he would have won me my FFL instead of losing it. Not that I'm bitter or anything. Jim Harbaugh calls a timeout before 3rd-and-8, possibly because he's as stunned to see Jerome Boger refereeing a playoff game as I am.
Seriously? Jerome Boger? What, Wayne Elliott wasn't available? I do not believe there is any referee in sports worse than Jerome Boger, let alone the NFL.
The Packers get excellent pressure on Kaepernick with just a four-man rush, but at the cost of containment. Eric Walden and Matthews get blocked behind him, and the secondary almost doesn't react at all as he scrambles in for a 20-yard TD. 49ers 7, Packers 7.
See what I said last week about the Vikings needing to run Joe Webb more? There you go.
And, just like that, ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves a ball game. I say that even though the last time I did the game went on for another four hours.
I don't know why the Packers would ever use play-action, but they do on their first offensive play, a quick out to Greg Jennings for 7. Aaron Rodgers overthrows DuJuan Harris under pressure on 2nd down and misses John Kuhn pretty badly on a flare route on 3rd down. If tonight's supposedly Rodgers' Revenge, he's sure got a funny way of going about it.
A penalty erases a Ted Ginn punt return to midfield, with the 49ers starting at their 13 instead. Kaepernick options around right end for 13 on 3rd-and-2. Packers were faked out completely; nobody even over there. Ryan Pickett (!) stuffs Gore on the right edge for a loss, but Kaepernick hits Randy Moss for 12 to beat that. He then throws a ball that appears to travel end-over-end (may have been tipped), and Moss wins a one-man tip drill to gain another 13. The drive ends outside the GB40, though. They stuff Gore, Kaepernick misses an end zone bomb for Moss, and rushing only three on 3rd down, Shields breaks up a pass for Delanie Walker.
Harris gets stuffed on 1st down, but fires up the middle for 8 on 2nd down, and then gets the Pack 3 more and a 1st. The passing game continues to misfire, though, as Rodgers throws an out and James Jones runs a go. Harris gets outside for 5 and is taken down when Patrick Willis grabs his facemask, and, was there a rule change here? Boger throws the flag and then rules the facemask unintentional and picks the flag back up. I thought it was 15, intent or not. When they had a 5-yard facemask penalty, it would have been 5 for sure. Maybe the league needs to return to that rule. Little matter, as Rodgers gets enough time on 3rd-and-5 to hit Jones with a 44-yard sideline bomb inside the 20. Superb play by Jones, who beat double coverage by Chris Culliver and Dashon Goldson, leaped, highpointed the ball, caught it by one end and corralled it in. The previously-unknown DuJuan Harris makes it back-to-back lightning bolts with a weaving 18-yard TD run, using his blocks perfectly. Packers 14, 49ers 7
Looks like the over's going to have an excellent day, at least.
49ers used a weird formation for them there. They lined up in a 4-3 under look. So there's a big gap in front of LG, which is where Harris ran after Jermichael Finley's effective cut block on Aldon Smith and with guard T.J. Lang leading him through with a steam-roller of a block.
Nice back-shoulder throw to Crabtree for 15 ends the first quarter at the SF35.
SECOND QUARTER
Gore right for 5, then Crabtree runs away for Morgan Burnett for 9 out to midfield. Erin reports that Joe Staley has a right-arm injury. He's basically trying to block Clay Matthews one-handed right now. Next play, there's unsurprisingly heavy pressure over LT, and Walker can't catch a fastball thrown ridiculously hard by Kaepernick. Dezmon Moses smells out the 2nd down option run. Vernon Davis flinches to lose five more. The Packers unsurprisingly caught that before the referees. On 3rd-12, the 49ers settle for a 3-yard flare to Gore. Could they really afford not to score there, down 7 already to the Packers?
Umm, yes they could. Jeremy Ross, a rookie who became the punt returner this week because Randall Cobb had been ineffective, muffs the punt inside the 10, and the 49ers take over.Yeah, let's throw a rookie with 4 punt returns all season back there in the biggest game of the year.
Matthews deflects a pass in the flat for Bruce Miller, saving a TD and nearly getting an INT. We then get our millionth poor shotgun snap of the playoffs. Actually, I don't think the center knew the snap count. I thought only the Rams did that. Both Packer ends come in basically unblocked as Matthews flushes Kaepernick to Walden for the sack.
And it doesn't matter. Crabtree splits far left, runs a drag with the other receivers in trips on his side running clearouts, and is wide open over the middle for a 14-yard TD. 49ers 14, Packers 14
Great route combination drawn up there by Greg Roman. He deserves to become the next Jagwires head coach for play-calling like that.
Wait, so Cobb can return kickoffs? Illegal block by Kuhn on the return puts Green Bay in a hole at their 6. Does Rodgers look right to everyone at this point? He's way off on another sideline throw, but Jordy Nelson draws a DPI at the 23. Aldon Smith flushes him to force a 3rd-and-7 after a throwaway. Then Rodgers, who's two for his first six, overthrows Nelson deep over the middle by a country mile, and the only person close enough to catch it is Tarell Brown for the 49ers, who hauls it in over his shoulder like he was the intended receiver and returns it across midfield. 49ers ball.
Let's make no mistake; Aaron Rodgers is off to a crap start. He's getting happy feet, feeling pressure before it's really getting there, and is throwing with NOTHING resembling his usual laser accuracy.
LaMichael James bursts up the middle for 15 on 3rd-and-2, and the 49ers are already sitting pretty at the Packer 25. Mike Iupati's strong block knocked B.J. Raji back to open the hole, and Goodwin drove DE Mike Neal into the backfield on the other leg of a beautiful "X" block. Crabtree bobbles another Kaepernick fastball on a drag route but stays with it and knocks it down to prevent an INT. Imagine what Kaepernick will be if he starts throwing with any touch at all. Kaepernick sprints away from a 3-man rush on 3rd-and-9 and gains 12 down to the 8. Walden was playing contain on the play, but got caught flat-footed when Kaepernick took off. Kaepernick bails him out by stupidly spiking the ball at M.D. Jennings after the play to get a personal foul. Dumbass.
Once again, though, ends up not mattering. With Green Bay bringing five and covering man-to-man, Crabtree beats Shields on a slant route for a 20-yard TD. Nice illegal pushoff to get open, too. 49ers 21, Packers 14
Rodgers scrambles out of trouble for 8 and luckily recovers his fumble after Aldon Smith hammers the ball loose. After Harris gets the 1st down, Rodgers fires a bullet to Finley across midfield. Goldson gets a justified personal foul the next play for a late, vicious helmet-to-helmet hit on Harris. Harris takes a swing pass for 6 down to the SF25. Justin Smith jumping offsides gives Green Bay another first down, and Rodgers cashes in from there, hitting Jones on a sluggo route for a 20-yard TD. Packers 21, 49ers 21
The bad news for the 49ers? Looks like Rodgers has finally found his groove. The good news? There's just over 2:00 till halftime, so he may cool back off.
Kaepernick gains only 1 on a designed option; the Packers have been all over those tonight. He then beats a blitz by scrambling for 19. The Packers have had no answer for that tonight. 2:00 warning.
Burnett breaks up a deep ball for Vernon Davis. Walker makes an awesome diving effort for a sideline pass but doesn't appear to get his arm in bounds. Two officials disagree on the call; Boger goes with the completion but reviews it, where he sees it wasn't. Packers blitz big on 3rd-and-10, and guess what happens. Kaepernick steps up and through and scrambles for 17. He's already run for 98 yards. As Troy Aikman rightly points out, it's just a terrible call by Packer DC Dom Capers. Kaepernick has beaten you scrambling on just about every blitz. Stop. It. James goes up the middle for another first down. They're at the GB 28 with 0:40 to go. 3rd-and-10 after Walker botches a catch. Kaepernick comes up a yard short on a designed draw. David Akers hits a 36-yard FG to end the half despite Mike McCarthy trying to freeze him with a timeout.
Halftime score: 49ers 24, Packers 21
.jpg)
As well as the Packers started, I didn't expect them to look like a total mess by halftime, even though they're obviously right in this game. Capers is relying far too much on the blitz and is barely doing anything to try to contain Kaepernick on passing plays, and it shows. It's as bad a defensive "plan" as I can think of for taking on the 49ers. They may have taken the option runs away, but San Francisco is killing them with everything else. Not sure San Francisco needs to change a thing on offense. LT Joe Staley looks like he's in a lot of pain, though, that may come to a head in the 2nd half.
The Packer offense doesn't look a whole lot better. Rodgers got off to a slow start. The Niners haven't sacked him, but have pressured him well, and as in their playoff loss to the Giants last year, the Packer wide receivers have almost been non-existent. Jennings, Nelson, Cobb have all done virtually nothing. Only James Jones has shown up. Since Fox as usual has done a poor job cluing us in to what's going on downfield, I can't say what the problem has been for the Packer WRs. My impression is they're looking for too much downfield stuff and need to hit the Niners in the 2nd half with quicker, shorter passes. Gotta loosen that defense up somehow, don't you? The 49ers have not been a big blitzing team, and I don't expect much to change here, not when it's working as well as it has. First score after halftime may be critical.
THIRD QUARTER
Pam Oliver reports Cobb got his punt returner job back, while Erin Andrews continues to wear a ridiculously bulky winter coat. Harris gets 5 on a couple of runs. I know time of possession is way against the Packers, but you can eat up clock with a control passing game, too, and the Packer passing game really has had no rhythm tonight. Which we see on third down as Kuhn fails on a blitz pickup and Patrick Willis sacks Rodgers for an opening 3-and-out. Not how the Packers needed to start.
Kaepernick misses Moss deep on 2nd down and Woodson breaks up a pass to Davis for Green Bay's first three-and-out of the night. Neither offense out of the gate strong!
Cobb doesn't help the Packers much on special teams, either, getting tackled for no gain on the punt return by C.J. Spillman. Rodgers follows a quick hitch to Jennings with a great deep back shoulder throw to him for 30. Packers have come back out in quick-tempo and are mixing it up already. Now here's Nelson with a couple of 9-yard sideline catches. And now here's Cobb, taking an inside handoff inside Josh Sitton's block for 19 to the SF21. And they repeat that play, too, for 4 more. Pressure by Ahmad Brooks flushes Rodgers and forces a throwaway, though. Packers call timeout on 3rd-6. Cobb takes a dumpoff, is stopped short, nearly fumbles the ball away. Surprising that ended up being Rodgers' best option. Mason Crosby re-levels the score from 31. Packers 24, 49ers 24
ANOTHER back shoulder sideline throw to Crabtree for 18, and look out, Staley is using both arms now.
And now Green Bay can't even stop the option run. Kaepernick fools Walden (there goes containment), Brad Jones (there goes the second level), Woodson (there goes the third level) and Burnett (there goes the deep safety help) completely with the play-fake, hopping around right end and scoring in a blink with a 56-yard run. Colin Kaepernick has run for 163 yards. 49ers 31, Packers 24
Who was that unusually perceptive analyst, who, instead of focusing on some ridiculous Rodgers' Revenge angle, expressed deep concern about Green Bay's ability to contain Kaepernick last week already?
The Packers look sunk, falling quickly to 3rd-and-10, before Rodgers scrambles for 17. NOBODY wants to contain the QB scramble tonight. That momentum doesn't last long. Cobb only gets 3 on a swing pass and 1 on a shovel pass before Goldson breaks up a pass for Finley down the middle. The Packers punt and need to stop San Francisco right now, backed up at their 6.
The Pack stops Gore, but Pickett, who made the tackle, has been hurting all night and hobbles off the field. On 3rd-and-2, Crabtree continues to abuse Tramon Williams like he's playing the Rams or something. 14 yards to the 31. Williams continues to struggle, biting hard on Davis' double move and forced to commit a hold. And now Kaepernick hits Davis deep down the seam for 44 with a beautiful throw. A.J. Hawk was game in coverage but just doesn't have the speed. Gore barrels for 12 to the 2 to close out the third quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER
Gore runs through Burnett for the TD, and were it anyone but the Packers, I'd say this game is over. And it still may be. 49ers 38, Packers 24
Slipping by me unnoticed, the over has been crushed for the second time today.
Cobb bobbles the kickoff and gets smeared at the 11 by Michael Wilhoite. Cobb has been one of the Packers' many busts today. Tramon Williams has been terrible, Clay Matthews has done little that's been Fathead-worthy, Nelson has done nothing, Jennings hasn't done much. Rodgers strings several passes together for Finley and Jennings, then hits Nelson for 9 at the 43. Willis again forces Rodgers into a throwaway, and you can see Aaron's pissed off that he's not getting blocked here in the 2nd half. I hate to mention this, but you know who's good at blitz pickup, don't you? Steven Jackson. Rodgers half-rolls and fires a pretty, deep ball for Jennings that clangs off his fingertips. And Mike McCarthy opts for a punt here, which I don't think he could afford to do. 4th-and-4, down 14, little doubt here he should have gone for it.
Ah, here's those 4 minutes I lost during the first game. Technical difficulties with my DVD burners. The play-by-play tells me I missed the 49ers kicking the rest of the life out of the Packers. Even though they started out pinned at their 7, Kaepernick continued to torture Green Bay on the ground, with a 16-yard run, and through the air, with a 17-yard pass. And Gore ripped off a 26-yard run to put Frisco in scoring range. This is pretty classically what happens to a team that punts behind two TDs in the 4th quarter, ain't it? 3rd-and-15 at the GB32, it's Crabtree killing the Packers again, turning a 1-yard drag route into a 14-yard gain. Harbaugh lines up to go for 4th-and-1, and Raji and Pickett jump offside. That series of thuds you just heard? Remote controls being thrown around the state of Wisconsin. Gore drives up the middle for 10 more, down to the 2, and Anthony Dixon vultures the TD from him and sticks the final knife in the Packers. Dixon had to corkscrew to reach the goal line without being down, which is confirmed on replay. 49ers 45, Packers 24
Green Bay drives for a last TD in fairly meaningless fashion, but Mike Iupati clearly runs off the bench at one point to try to join a minor skirmish between the teams. He has to get in serious trouble for that action.
Wait a minute. Did Joe Buck say at the end of the game that Jerome Boger, the worst referee in sports, is THE EXPECTED SUPER BOWL REFEREE? Who the hell is grading NFL referees this year? Snooki? Lindsay Lohan? Todd Akin? Harold and Kumar? The unemployed monkey from that failed NBC sitcom?
I'll just start prepping my "Worst Call in Super Bowl History" and "Worst-Officiated Super Bowl EVER" posts now. I am astonished the NFL considers Jerome Boger its best referee. That'd be like considering Paula Deen your best Miss America candidate, or Chuck Hagel your best Secretary of Defense candidate. Oh, yeah, right.
Honorable mentions to Crabtree (9-119, 2 TDs) and Staley, who gutted out a painful arm or shoulder injury and shut down Clay Matthews, but the POTG, and POTPSF (postseason so far) has to be Colin Kaepernick. Look at this freaking line: 17-for-31, 263 yards, 2 TDs, 94.7 PR, oh, and, 16 carries for 181 yards and 2 more TDs. In my leagues, that's around a 50-point fantasy performance. Wow. Just wow. Goat of the game is Dom Capers for his Three Mile Island-quality containment scheme.
I don't see how the Falcons, the Seahawks, the '86 Bears, the '72 Dolphins, the '75 Steelers, or a team of alien cyborgs from the future are going to be able to handle what the 49ers are bringing right now. Even the Greatest Show on Turf would have to beat them 52-49 in an overtime shootout. But I'll have to digest tomorrow's NFC playoff to know for sure.
This game was a triple-win for my fictional gambling account, so I'm 1-1 SU, 1-1 ATS and 2-0 O/U today, 4-2, 4-2, 3-3 for the playoffs so far.
The Packers surprisingly have more than a few areas for offseason improvement. They have a lot of talent that underachieved tonight, so knuckling down and re-dedicating themselves is a start. That secondary's better than it played. So is Raji, so are the WRs. Pickett's on his last legs, though, and Walden isn't enough help on the other side for Matthews. The offensive line needs shoring up at a minimum, and they'll likely look for a new kicker. Should Steven Jackson go running there over returning to the Rams? I'm not so sure. Either team would only expect to have him a couple of more years to groom young talent. I doubt the Packers would even put him on the field more. I also think that team's a lot farther from the Super Bowl than many people think. Closer than the Rams, but if it's not for much bigger $, I'd tell Steven to stay home if he gets the choice.
Seattle-Atlanta to start tomorrow's festivities at noon, assuming I recover from today in time.
No comments:
Post a Comment