Crosby gains redemption as Packers get past 49ers
Much-maligned PK nails game-winner as time expires
GREEN BAY, Wis. — A pick, a penalty and a game-winning kick.
Quite a final minute for the Green Bay Packers.
Mason Crosby kicked a 27yard field goal as time expired to cap an 81-yard drive set up by Kevin King’s interception with 1:07 left, and the Packers outlasted the San Francisco 49ers for a 33-30 win on Monday night.
The final drive was extended after 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman was called for an illegal contact penalty on third-and-15 that wiped out a sack of Rodgers with 43 seconds left.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers rushed up the middle for a 21-yard gain on the next play. The two-time NFL MVP completed two more passes for 19 yards to set up Crosby’s game-winner for Green Bay (3-2-1).
The veteran kicker was perfect a week after missing four field goals in a loss at Detroit.
“It’s very appropriate, what he went through last week, (for) the team to stick with him,” Rodgers said. “And then he responded.”
Rodgers threw for 425 yards and two scores.
C.J. Beathard passed for 245 yards and two touchdowns for the 49ers (1-5).
Beathard connected with speedy receiver Marquise Goodwin for two long scores, and for a while it looked like the 49ers might hold on for their first victory since quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was lost for the year in Week 3 with a torn ACL.
Turnovers hurt them again — three more on Monday night, but none bigger than King’s pick at the Packers 10.
“Very disappointed. We had a chance to win that game,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “It hurts.”
The second-year cornerback was locked in 1-on-1 coverage with Goodwin, who had burned the secondary all night. This time, King kept up and pulled in a ball that looked slightly underthrown by Beathard.
Then Rodgers went to work, aided by the penalty on Sherman, who was covering Davante Adams.
Rodgers was 25 of 46. Adams had 10 catches for 132 yards, one of three Packers receivers to go over 100 yards.