OUTCLASSED
Depleted 49ers predictably routed by Packers in NFC Championship rematch
SANTA CLARA >> No game in 49ers’ history will compare to Thursday night’s, not when four offensive mainstays were isolating at home for COVID-19 precautions amid this year’s pandemic.
There was no way the undermanned 49ers, ravaged by injuries to so many others, would repeat history and rout the Green Bay Packers in this rematch of last season’s NFC Championship game.
Alas, the game went on … and on … and on, until the makeshift 49ers sustained one of their dullest losses under coach Kyle Shanahan, a 34-17 debacle in which Green Bay led 34-3.
The 49ers (4- 5) were no match with no Jimmy Garoppolo, no George Kittle, none of their top running backs, no defensive takeaways, and, as has been the case all season, no fans in a hollow-looking home stadium.
A day earlier, wide receiver Kendrick Bourne got flagged for a positive COVID-19 test and the 49ers’ shuttered their facility. That set off a chain reaction as three highrisk contacts joined Bourne on the NFL’s COVID-19 reserve list: left tackle Trent Williams and wide
receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel. That kept them out of this defeat, even though all the 49ers’ COVID-19 tests came back negative Thursday.
What ensued was the 49ers’ fourth loss in five home games since, well, since last season’s NFC Championship game here, when they tore out to a 27- 0 halftime lead and advanced to the Super Bowl with a 37-20 win over the Packers.
It felt like turn-back-theclock night to, say, those miserable, non-playoff seasons this century when the 49ers lacked star power and any offensive punch.
The Packers (6-2) had plenty, led by grudge-holding quarterback Aaron Rodgers, whose four touchdown passes matched Russell Wilson’s total only four days earlier in the Seattle Seahawks’ 37-27 win over the 49ers.
The 49ers now have only one game in the next 23 days, that being a Nov. 15 visit to the New Orleans Saints before their Week 11 bye and then a Nov. 29 game at the Los Angeles Rams.
Here are the highs, lows and all you need to know from Levi’s Stadium: MONITORING MULLENS >> Nick Mullens, starting a third time this year in place of Garoppolo, did his best to buy time in the pocket and wait until the last second to unload a pass. That strategy backfired with a second- quarter interception and too many incompletions (to too many anonymous targets).
Mullens wasn’t nearly as bad as his Oct. 11 start that got him benched with three turnovers in a loss to Philadelphia. This night, he was 22 of 35 for 291 yards with one touchdown, one interception and one lost fumble on a sack. On the ground, he got stopped for no gain on a fourth-and-1 sneak at the Packers’ 5.
Mullens became the sixth 49ers quarterback to start against Rodgers in the past 12 years. Garoppolo (ankle) went on injured reserve earlier Thursday, along with Kittle (foot).
MOSELEY’S WOES >> Emmanuel Moseley’s attempt to hem in Davante Adams down the sideline proved futile on the opening drive, as Adams caught a 36yard touchdown pass from Rodgers only 3:18 into the game. That pretty much was all Green Bay needed.
When Moseley trailed Adams on a 34-yard reception in the fourth quarter, that capped the Packers star’s total at 173 yards on 10 receptions. Moseley’s highlight: an acrobatic break up of a third- down pass to Adams in the first quarter.
Moseley has become a marked man, having been torched in the season opener by the Arizona Cardinals’ DeAndre Hopkins and last Sunday by the Seattle Seahawks’ D.K. Metcalf. It was Moseley who also lost Tyreek Hill in coverage on a third-and-15, 44yard catch that sparked Kansas City’s Super Bowl comeback.
JAMES’ CAREER NIGHT >> Richie James, mainly a return specialist through 2 1/2 seasons, emerged as the 49ers’ featured offensive weapon, by default. His 41-yard touchdown catch with 5 minutes remaining raised his career-high totals to nine receptions for 184 yards. He entered with 15 career catches for 295 yards.
RODGERS’ NIGHT >> Rodgers, a Chico native and former Cal star, improved to 5- 6 all-time (including 0-3 in playoff action) against the team he grew up rooting for and the one that spurned him in favor of Alex Smith with the 2005 Draft’s No. 1 pick.
Rodgers was 25 of 31 for 305 yards with the four touchdown tosses and a 147.2 passer rating.
NOT SO SAFE >> Marcell Harris, summoned to replace an injured Jaquiski Tartt, let Marquez ValdesScantling race by as Rodgers uncorked a 52-yard touchdown pass for an insurmountable 21-3 lead before halftime. Tartt did not return from a foot injury. He had missed the previous game with a groin injury. Unable to again get off the 49ers’ sideline for meaningful snaps was Tarvarius Moore, who helped spark a win over New England.
MCKINNON RALLIES >> The 49ers’ r ushing attack looked nothing like the unit that totaled 285 yards in the NFC Championship win, including a franchiserecord 220 from Raheem Mostert, who is currently on injured reserve. Jerick McKinnon (52 yards, 12 carries) started at running back and somewhat broke out of a four-game slump.