49ers Garoppolo hits perfect combination
San Francisco 49ers rout Green Bay Packers 37-8
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (10) and tight end George Kittle (85) celebrates after scoring against the Green Bay Packers during an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
2019.11.24 – The 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo hit the perfect combination with a 42-yard touchdown strike to Deebo Samuel and a 61-yarder to George Kittle to lead the San Francisco 49ers to a 37- 8 rout of the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football.
Sunday’s win effectively guaranteed the 49ers a spot in the 2019 NFL playoff tournament — their first postseason berth since 2013. It was also a game that made a statement to a massive national television audience that Kyle Shanahan’s team can, in fact, beat an elite opponent and that the 49ers are a team with staying power that should be feared, coast-to-coast.
Following this game against the Packers (8-3), the 49ers will travel to Baltimore (8-2) and New Orleans (9-2) the next two weeks in a stretch that will go a long way to determining whether San Francisco will be able to hold off Seattle (9-2) in a tight NFC West race.
A 49ers strip sack on the opening drive set up a touchdown that got San Francisco off to a rousing start to a grueling three-game stretch.
A near flawless performance by Garoppolo and a dominant performance by the 49ers defense finished off Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.
Garoppolo threw two long touchdown passes and the San Francisco harassed Rodgers into one of the worst performances of his brilliant career, leading the 49ers to a victory over the Packers in the first of three straight games against first-place teams.
“Apparently nobody has to play us. We just have to play everybody. We’re just the punching bag people come punch on,” said cornerback Richard Sherman, clearly piqued by the talk of how difficult San Francisco’s upcoming opponents are.
“We don’t worry about the outside noise. We understand what kind of team we have and we don’t worry about the opponent because you can’t control what they do.”
2019.11.29 – 49ers vs. Packers ‘Niners Embarrassed Aaron Rodgers‘ (Video)
2019.11.29 – 49ers vs. Packers ‘Niners Embarrassed Aaron Rodgers‘ (Video)
2019.11.24 – San Francisco 49ers vs. Green Bay Packers (Video)
2019.11.24 – San Francisco 49ers vs. Green Bay Packers (Video)
“We crave every single game,” defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said. “Every week is a new challenge. The good thing about this team is we don’t get scared of who our next opponent is or ‘Oh this team is supposed to be a top team.’ It’s just another team. We know how good we are. We just have to show it every chance we get.”
Rodgers lost a fumble on the opening drive one of the five sacks he took and failed to convert a single third down on 13 tries before getting pulled late in the fourth quarter. He finished 20 for 33 for 104 yards and Green Bay averaged an anemic 1.7 yards per pass play when he was in the game.
“There wasn’t a whole lot positive tonight,” Rodgers said. “A lot of the stuff we talked about during the week, eliminating negative yardage plays, obviously we didn’t do that. They got after us up front, and the coverage was good on the back end.”
After allowing 78 points the past three weeks in two games against Arizona’s Kyler Murray and one against Seattle’s Russell Wilson, the Niners’ defense was back to its dominant form.
San Francisco allowed 198 yards on 70 plays, didn’t allow a single completion longer than 15 yards and got a key stop against Aaron Jones on a fourth-and-1 run in the first half when the outcome was still in doubt.
Garoppolo then put it away with the two long touchdowns, part of a day when he went 14 for 20 for 253 yards and most importantly committed no turnovers.
He was helped by Kittle, making his much-anticipated return from a two-game absence, he answered the Packers’ first points with a 61-yard touchdown catch and- run (26 yards after the catch) in the third quarter. That gave Kittle 129 yards on his comeback night with six receptions on six targets. He had 18- and 22-yard receptions on back-to-back plays in the first quarter. Earlier Sunday, ESPN reported that Kittle sustained a broken bone in his ankle amid the Oct. 21 knee injury that sidelined him for two weeks.
“Our guys aren’t just in there pumped about where we’re at,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “They’re pumped about the possibilities where we can go.”
2019.11.24 – San Francisco 49ers vs. Green Bay Packers (Video)
2019.11.24 – San Francisco 49ers vs. Green Bay Packers (Video)
PULLING AWAY
The 49ers broke it open late in the first half after forcing the Packers to punt following the two-minute warning. Garoppolo threw a 42-yard TD pass to Samuel that put the 49ers ahead 20-0 with 58 seconds until halftime, and 29 of those yards came after Garoppolo’s pass hit him in stride across the middle. Samuel, coming off back-to-back 100-yard games, caught his other target for 8 yards.
The Niners then forced a three-and-out and took over at their 48 with 24 seconds left. Garoppolo completed a 22-yard pass to Kittle that set up Chase McLaughlin’s 48-yard field goal.
In his first prime-time attempts since an overtime miss against Seattle, McLaughlin made field goals from 29, 27 and 48 yards.
ROUGH START
The Packers got into an early hole when Fred Warner sacked Rodgers on the opening drive, forcing a fumble that Nick Bosa recovered at the 2. Warner and Buckner later shared a 5-yard tackle-for loss. Warner finished with 11 tackles. It was the first opening-drive turnover for Green Bay since the 2017 season finale when Brett Hundley threw an interception against Detroit. The last time it happened with Rodgers at quarterback came in the 2017 opener when he threw an interception against Seattle.
49ers RUNNING BACKS
Tevin Coleman took the 49ers’ first snap in for a 2-yard touchdown run, on the ensuing snap after Rodgers’ first-series fumble. It was Coleman’s team-leading sixth rushing touchdown this season. Jeff Wilson Jr. had a 25-yard run in first touch since last Sunday’s go-ahead touchdown catch. And Raheem Mostert’s 15-yard touchdown run put the 49ers over the 100-yard rushing mark for the game.
Coleman’s play, marked the second time this season San Francisco scored on its first play. Matt Breida scored on an 83-yard run last month against Cleveland. The Niners were the first team since the 2013 Raiders to score twice on the opening play in a single season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
INJURIES
Packers: RT Bryan Bulaga left in the first quarter with a knee injury.
49ers: G Mike Person left in the fourth quarter with a stinger. … DT Jullian Taylor left late in the game with a jaw injury.
Related: San Francisco 49ers rally past Cardinals 36-26
UP NEXT
Packers: At New York Giants on Sunday.
49ers: At Baltimore on Sunday.
Read more at: San Francisco 49ers Media Services / More AP NFL: www.apnews.com/tag/NFL
JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
For more on the San Francisco 49ers, see the blog at www.EMIsportsCentral.com
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