Tough night: Injuries factor against Green Bay
The skeleton crew got smacked. The 49ers trotted out a lineup Thursday night heavy on backups, some even unrecognizable to diehards, and the comically depleted defending NFC champions lost a laugher, 3417, to Green Bay at Levi’s Stadium in which they trailed by 31 points with just over five minutes left.
Last season, of course, the 49ers swept Green Bay in Santa Clara by a combined score of 7428, the second blowout coming in the NFC title game.
However, after elevating a seasonhigh six players from the practice squad prior to kickoff, the 49ers faced Green Bay on Thursday with their TripleA team. Or was that a rookieball squad? The 49ers were already dealing with severe attrition before three more offensive starters were placed on the reserve COVID19 list Wednesday.
“We knew it was going to be a challenge,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “We knew at the start of the week it was going to be a challenge. And then losing those three guys yesterPACKERS
day was obviously a bigger challenge.”
The offense was missing its starting quarterback, three of its top four running backs, five of its top six pass catchers and Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams. Its wide receivers were Trent Taylor, Richie James, Kevin White and River Cracraft, who arrived with combined totals of nine catches ( all by Taylor) and 199 snaps played this season
The result? The 49ers ( 45) had eight first downs and 131 yards when the Packers ( 62) took a 313 lead with two minutes left in the third quarter.
“I still thought we could have a ( competitive) game,” Shanahan said. “And I still thought we could play better than we did tonight.”
Quarterback Nick Mullens committed two turnovers — an interception and lost fumble — and both came after backup left tackle Justin Skule was badly beaten by outside passrush moves.
Meanwhile, the 49ers’ defense, which lost safety Jaquiski Tartt ( foot) and cornerback K’Waun Williams ( ankle) in the first half, finished the game without six of its seasonopening starters.
That also wasn’t a recipe for success. Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for 305 yards and four touchdowns, with his favorite target, Pro Bowl wide receiver Davante Adams, grabbing 10 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown.
Rodgers was barely touched as the 49ers managed one sack and one QB hit.
“I just think that as a group we just didn’t play well,” defensive end Kerry Hyder said. “I don’t think it matters who’s in, who’s out. There’s no excuses for what we put on tape today.”
The game began as many expected.
Running back Aaron Jones gained 37 yards on two runs and two receptions on the Packers’ first four plays. Then, two plays later, Rodgers lofted a perfect backshoulder throw to Adams, who beat cornerback Emmanuel Moseley for a 36yard touchdown.
The score: Packers 7, 49ers 0.
Time elapsed: three minutes and 19 seconds.
Still, the 49ers initially hung tough — Green Bay led 73 midway through the second quarter — but their lack of firststring talent kept showing up.
In the second quarter, Cracraft nearly made a leaping touchdown catch in the left corner of the end zone … but he couldn’t hold onto the ball when he fell to the ground.
On the next series, Skule was overwhelmed by linebacker Preston Smith and Mullens made an illadvised throw as Smith slammed into him. Mullens’ flutterball was easily intercepted by safety Raven Greene and returned 17 yards to the 49ers’ 38yard line.
That led to a nineplay touchdown drive that was capped by Rodgers’ 1yard scoring pass to tight end Marcedes Lewis that gave Green Bay a 143 lead.
The Packers picked on a secondstringer on their next drive. Moments before strong safety Tartt began hobbling to the locker room with a foot injury, Rodgers targeted his replacement, Marcell Harris, who didn’t come close to covering wide receiver Marquez Valdes Scantling on a tooeasy 52yard TD that pushed the Packers’ lead to 213.
The 49ers’ final play of the first half was fitting: James dropped a perfectly placed pass from Mullens on 3rd and 5.
Despite his bobble, James, who entered with 15 career catches, was a bright spot. The 2018 seventhround pick had nine receptions for 184 yards and a 41yard touchdown catch that cut the deficit to 3410 with five minutes left.
Like so many of his teammates, though, he wasn’t fully healthy: James was playing on ankle injury that had caused him to miss the 49ers’ previous game.
Given the state of his team, it wasn’t surprising that Shanahan’s postgame message, according to nose tackle D. J. Jones, was to “heal up.”
“I’m really looking forward to these days off for our players,” Shanahan said. “I think it’s something that’s needed pretty badly for us.”