Green Bay marched down the field with ease to begin the game
The San Francisco 49ers won the toss and elected to defer. The Green Bay Packers gained 18 yards on the second play from scrimmage after Ji’Ayir Brown missed a tackle, allowing Josh Jacobs to run for a long gain. Jacobs found plenty of space two plays later for ten more yards.
On 3rd & 4, Love completed an out route to Jayden Reed, who created space against Renardo Green for a first down. Another nine-yard gain by Jacobs put the Packers inside the red zone after Fred Warner missed a tackle.
The Packers were flagged for a holding call, which really helped the Niners. Green Bay was moving the ball at will, and that penalty was a lifeline for the defense.
It did not matter.
Love connected with Reed for 13 yards, then Tucker Kraft for 11 yards for a touchdown pass to give Green Bay an early 7-0 lead. It was a 12-play, 67-yard drive that took over seven minutes off the clock.
The first series for the offense did not go much better. George Kittle caught a pass from Brandon Allen for nine yards, but Dominck Puni had a false start, Christian McCaffrey only ran for one yard on 2nd & 6, and Allen took a bad sack on 3rd & 5. He had Ricky Pearsall wide open over the middle for a first down.
Green Bay had another successful drive on its second series. A 10-play, 49-yard drive tookk 4:44 off the clock. They ran all over San Francisco, with gains of 7, 8, 0, and 19. The Niners held the Packers to a field goal on the drive after Sam Okuayinonu got pressure on third down. That made it 10-0.
The Packers had 126 yards in the 1st quarter. The 49ers had eight. The Niners had more penalties (2) than rushing yards (1).
Second quarter
Update, 2:21 p.m. PT: Unsurprisingly, the 49ers went three-and-out. Puni had another penalty, this time of the holding variety. Allen was fortunate to avoid a turnover, and the offense couldn’t overcome a 3rd & 15.
The defense had an opportunity to get off the field thanks to a big hit by Malik Mustapha. But Sorensen elected to play coverage on 3rd & 11 instead of heating Love up, and he found a void in the zone for a gain of 29 yards. Another third down led to the same result. This time, Romeo Doubs beat Isaac Yiadom.
According to the broadcast, the 49ers had missed ten tackles up to this point. In a game where they needed a herculean effort on this side of the ball, it was anything but.
Sorensen would get another opportunity to pressure Love on 3rd & 10. Green Bay was 5-of-6 on third downs up to this point and faced little resistance. Sorensen blitzed, but Doubs beat Green this time for a fist down.
The 49ers had an interception negated after having 12 men on the field. They had 12 on the field on consecutive plays. A Josh Jacobs one-yard touchdown run made it 17-0, and the rout was on.
Update, 2:45 p.m. PT: The offense picked up its first first down of the game after Allen found Kyle Juszczyk in the flat for 14 yards. An 8-yard reception by Jauan Jennings made it 3rd & 2, but the offense had a false start. Christian McCaffrey came through on 3rd & 8 to give the offense another first down.
Kyle Shanahan picked a great time to call a trick play. A double reverse pass to Deebo Samuel gained 21 yards. Puni would have yet another penalty on 3rd & short. It looked as though Brendel The four penalties by the offensive line matched their total against Seattle in Week 11.
But the offense once again overcame penalties, as Allen found Kittle for a first down. That wouldn’t be the last time the two connected, as Allen threw it to Kittle for a touchdown, and that made it 17-7. That was Kittle’s eighth touchdown of the season.
It was an 11-play, 65-yard drive that took over five minutes off the clock. The offense looked like they had life. Could they carry that over into the second half?
Isaac Yiadom was burned for a touchdown, but Christian Watson dropped it. That was the break the Niners needed.
Third quarter
Deebo Samuel gave the 49ers the spark they needed with an electric kick return, but the ticky-tack holding call negated the long return.
We got a glimpse of Jordan Mason for the first time, and he had a 16-yard run. After throwing it three consecutive times, the offense faced a 4th & 2. Allen’s pass to McCaffrey was incomplete, and the offense turned it over on downs.
The defense forced a three-and-out after Leonard Floyd had the first sack of the game. Shanahan turned around and ran the ball with McCaffrey on the first two plays of the ensuing drive, and they picked up a first down. Then, Kittle gained 31 yards to put the offense into Green Bay territory.
Update, 3:22 p.m. PT: A promising drive came to a screeching halt after Allen threw a dime to Deebo, but Samuel let the pass go right through his hands for an interception.