After first drive, Niners’ defense turned in a gem
Middle linebacker Fred Warner was angry. Warner is the 49ers’ defensive leader and has turned into the kind of spiritual voice that Ronnie Lott used to be when the 49ers were winning Super Bowls under
Bill Walsh and
George Seifert.
The root of Warner’s anger was what had happened at the start of the 49ers’ game Saturday night. Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers had taken the opening kick and driven 69 yards for a 7-0 lead.
“I’m not going to lie. I was pretty upset,” Warner said. “Everyone was going around saying, ‘We’re good, we’re good,’ and I had to just try to light a fire under everybody. I had to let them know, they’re not better than us. We need to buckle down and dial in. They are a great offense but I know we’re a great defense too.’ That was unacceptable for sure.’ “
What followed was a defensive masterpiece that ranks with anything in the history of a storied franchise. Rodgers, a first-team All-Pro and likely Most Valuable Player, got the ball nine more times with the following results: fumble; punt; punt; punt; end of half, punt; field goal; blocked punt and punt.
The temperature was in the low teens, which is just the way Rodgers says he likes it. Slows everybody else down. But the 49ers stayed after Rodgers throughout and did what seemed to be the impossible. Rodgers himself wasn’t entirely sure what to make of what happened in what he conceded might be his last game in a Green Bay uniform.
“A little numb for sure,” Rodgers told reporters following the game. “Didn’t think it was going to end like this. Disappointed in the offense. Ten points is not enough. The defense was outstanding, special teams hurt us.”
Rodgers was talking about the Green Bay defense, but it was the one on the opposite sideline that came up big when it mattered most.
Of all the pathways to victory for the 49ers, bottling up Rodgers was the most unlikely. He was coming off what might be his best season, with 37 touchdown passes against four interceptions after leading Green Bay to a 13-4 record and the top seed in the NFC. Rodgers finished 20 of 29 for 225 yards, but much of the damage came on the opening drive and a 75-yard pass to Aaron Jones late in the half that set up a 39-yard Mason Crosby field goal attempt that was blocked by Jimmie Ward.
Leading 7-0, the Packers were moving on their second possession too, reaching the 49ers’ 42. It was then that Warner chopped the ball free from tight end Marcedes Lewis. The fumble was recovered by teammate Dre Greenlaw.
The 49ers, meanwhile, were flailing on offense. At the end of the half, Green Bay had a 205-to-58 advantage in total offense but led only 7-0.
“That first drive, the way it started out, didn’t seem like it was too hard on them with the elements,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “But after that, the defense was unbelievable.”
In the second half, the Packers ran 22 plays and gained 55 yards. Rodgers was sacked five times in all, twice by defensive tackle Arik Armstread, twice by Nick Bosa and once by end Samson Ebukam. The Packers averaged 3.7 yards per carry on the ground and gained 106 yards.
While Warner said “there was some yelling going on” after the opening drive, Ward explained it as being completely rational rather than manic.
“Fred being the defensive leader, he calmed everybody down and told them, ‘All right, that’s the best drive they’re going to have this whole game,’ “Ward said. “And I feel like it was.”
Rodgers, a quarterback who has seen every coverage and pressure, has seldom looked as confused and ineffective as he did in the second half. Ward credited defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, who is building himself a nice resume for potential head coaching opportunities.
“DeMeco called some great calls and we were disguising pretty well, and we confused him,” Ward said.
For much of the season, it didn’t appear the 49ers would approach a 2019 unit on an NFC championship season that made it to the Super Bowl. Turns out they might be better. Armstead, since moving inside, has played at the level of DeForest Buckner, traded to Indianapolis following the 2019 season.
When Green Bay reached the 49ers’ 8-yard line early in the fourth quarter, it was Armstead who sacked Rodgers and forced Crosby’s 33-yard field goal when a touchdown would have put the Packers up 14-3.
“We were playing the hottest team in the league,” Armstead said. “It took a lot of grit and relentlessness to get the ‘W.’ They got a good drive on us and we didn’t blink. We knew we were going to have to go out there and get stops to win this game and it was going to be on us defensively. We just kept playing, then settled in and started playing good defense.”
The final word, like the first word, belonged to Warner.
“We come into Lambeau against the No. 1 seed in the NFC, it’s snowing, MVP quarterback, one of the best receivers playing the game, high powered offense,” Warner said. “We hold them to 10 points. That’s incredible, especially the way it’s started. I don’t know if everyone knows the gravity of it now, but it’s something.”