Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Negatives ultimately outweigh the positives
The once-promising season of the Green Bay Packers came crashing down on Saturday night, with a disappointing performance from the offense and a meltdown on special teams resulting in a 13-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers at Lambeau Field.
The team’s best players failed given opportunities to win the game, and the role players on special teams made game-changing mistakes.
Here are the stars, studs and duds from the Packers’ divisional round loss to the 49ers:
STARS
OLB Rashan Gary: A spectacular third season ended with another dominant individual performance. Using speed and power, Gary consistently dominated his one-on-one matchup against right tackle Tom Compton. He ended three drives singlehandedly, tallying two sacks, both on third down forcing punts, plus a tackle for loss on fourth down. On one sack, he threatened upfield and then went right through Compton to get to the quarterback in under 2.5 seconds. Overall, he hit Jimmy Garoppolo at least four times, including the sacks, and consistently collapsed the pocket. For the most part, he did an acceptable job setting the edge against the run, but his impact as a pass-rusher was felt by the 49ers from start to finish.
STUDS
RB Aaron Jones: He ran hard and provided valuable impact in the passing game. Of his 41 rushing yards, 33 came after first contact. He nearly changed the game in the first half when he turned upfield in the scramble drill and was wide open, creating a 75-yard play. He finished with nine catches for a gamehigh 129 yards, and 109 of the yards came after the catch. There was a drop and a couple of shaky snaps in pass pro, but 106 of his 170 total yards came on the two scoring drives and the one drive
that should have resulted in points (blocked field goal).
WR Davante Adams: He caught three passes on the opening drive, powering the score that gave the Packers an early 7-0 lead. He also made an incredible catch on a low throw for 25 yards, the second-longest pass play of the contest for the Packers. After his first drive production, the 49ers committed to sending two players at him on every passing down. Adams finished with nine catches on 11 targets for 90 yards, but there wasn’t much else he could do once the 49ers adjusted coverage. In the fourth quarter, Rodgers missed him on a throw against Josh Norman’s single coverage. It could have been a big play.
S Adrian Amos: He made two highimpact plays. The first was obvious. In the red zone, he undercut a late throw from Garoppolo to George Kittle and made a point-saving interception, preserving the first-half shutout. Later, he made an underrated play that almost helped save the game. On 3rd-and-6, Amos crashed down from his safety spot and made a crunching tackle on
Jauan Jennings, who won inside on a slant and had a clear path to a first down. Amos’ tackle stopped him a yard short, and the Packers got off the field a play later on Gary’s tackle for loss. Both plays were point-savers. Amos also had a quarterback hit. He did get fortunate that Kittle dropped what could have been a touchdown in the first half.
DUDS
QB Aaron Rodgers: He completed 20 of 29 passes and didn’t have a turnover, but it was a hugely disappointing performance from the soon-to-be MVP in a huge spot. Pressure affected him early and eventually compounded to force poor decisions in key moments late. He missed open receivers in the second half while forcing the ball to others. On the final drive, he forced a pass to Randall Cobb (nearly resulting in a pick-six) when Josiah Deguara was wide open. A play later, he threw a prayer into double coverage from a clean pocket with Allen Lazard breaking wide open on the deep dig route. Take away the 75-yard completion to Aaron Jones on a busted play, and his other 28 attempts resulted in just 150 yards. Rodgers and the Packers had opportunities to put the game away or re-take the lead in the fourth quarter and the offense went three-and-out both times.
TE Marcedes Lewis: His fumble ending the Packers’ second offensive drive was a game-changer. Green Bay was driving for more points, but the air came out of the balloon once Lewis turned it over. Fred Warner punched it out. He was fine as an inline blocker, but the turnover was a cruel twist for the veteran tight end.
RT Dennis Kelly: For whatever value he provided in the run game, his negative impact as a pass-blocker against Nick Bosa was far more significant. Bosa beat him clean for a strip-sack to end the first half. On most snaps when the Packers didn’t give him help, he had issues with Bosa in the passing game. Would Billy Turner, the team’s preferred starter at right tackle, have fared better?
TE Josiah Deguara: He was open on at least two or three plays where Aaron Rodgers could have checked the ball down to him for an easy completion, but his drop on 2nd-and-10 on the Packers’ opening drive of the second half was a big play.
CB Jaire Alexander: It’s tough to put him here. He was playing his first football in three months and clearly wasn’t 100 percent. But his tackle attempt (and failure) on Deebo Samuel on the game’s deciding third-down late in the fourth quarter was a killer. Alexander was in a good position to make a play and force fourth down, but his tackle attempt just wasn’t good enough against an elite runner. He played just eight snaps, all on obvious passing plays before the final snap. The missed tackle was a huge play in determining the outcome.
DL Tyler Lancaster: It’s probably fair to place some of the blame on the coach for asking a 313-pound defensive lineman to be the outside protector on the field goal team, but Lancaster appeared to line up too wide and then failed in his responsibility to block the inside defender, allowing a crucial blocked field goal.