He only trusted Adams to catch those grass cutters he was tossing last nite.
@ZUF posted:Rodgers is always praised for his ability to check down and find the open receiver. Yet last night he only went to Adams. The last play was a perfect example. Lazard was wide open. He also threw a crappy pass to Jones on first and goal
He underperformed again in a playoff game. Playoff games “own” Rodgers. Perhaps SB 45 was a fluke.
I saw at least 3 times where the receiver saved his ass by going low and catching his "worm burners."
And now we know our special teams unit can win games.
AR is praying Tommy Boy doesn’t lead another last minute comeback today.
Stock buyback would be in order by management after the epic fail called 'Special' teams.
I will likely need more vaccines for many ailments to live to see a Super Bowl Champion in Green Bay.
If you can just perform the most basic functions of the game - blocking - on a FG and punt, you win that game
Final thoughts on last night.
Rodgers wasn’t good.
OL was pure raw trash.
Dillon is important to the offense.
Gary is a strong man.
ST were worse than we thought they were.
A couple of random thoughts while clearing off the driveway .... on the third down run conversion on last drive...when they lined up I thought "run to the right side, Shanahan isn't going to let Jimmy G throw it here" ... we were lined up like a typical 3rd and 7 pass down with Z as the inside rusher on that side ... was right there but couldn't get off block to make the tackle. In that situation I thought we would have been better off with a run defense group in there. Listened to Herman who had already watched the game again. Said on the FG block SF made a really good play ... we still should have been able to block what they did, but did give SF some credit. Said that on the punt block, SF did nothing out of the ordianry and the punt protector just didn't block the guy coming right up the middle.
My final thoughts:
- Neither offense was able to score, largely due to the cold, wet conditions. The over/under was 48.5. It was so far under because everyone was having trouble catching the ball.
- Rodgers wasn't really that bad (gasp!). He didn't throw an INT, didn't take a bunch of sacks, and didn't miss a bunch of open receivers.
- The blocked kickoff was a complete mess. If you rewatch the video (not recommended 
) the Packers special teams seemed to not even know the ball was still live. This single play gave the 49ers nearly half their points and cost the Packers the game.
- There were lots of other special teams problems from short kicks to the blocked field goal.
- The defense played superbly. Many of the strengths of the 49ers were neutralized in the game.
- It was the most painful loss in recent memory. It's so hard to get to that point, and I think we match up well with the remaining teams at Lambeau.
- Green and Gold 'til I'm dead and cold.
@vitaflo posted:To all the people saying he was only forcing it to Adams cuz the other WRs weren’t getting open, well…
Adams was doubled right from the start of that play and Rodgers locks in on him anyway. Rodgers wasn’t being pressured. If he just even glances Lazzards way it’s a 40 yard catch and run easily.
God that’s infuriating to watch, especially for an MVP.
Can’t wait to see the ALL 22’s. Who is right? Those who believe Rodgers has shit WRs or those who think he ignored open WRs to force the ball to Adams.
@bdplant posted:Those “shit” WRs have done just fine over the last few seasons in games that Adams missed.
Shhh! They don’t want to hear that.😉 The reason our offense is better without Adams is not an indictment on the ability of of Devante Adams. He’s great, but the QB…
@Goalline posted:Can’t wait to see the ALL 22’s. Who is right? Those who believe Rodgers has shit WRs or those who think he ignored open WRs to force the ball to Adams.
Rodgers himself said in his presser that if he had gone to Lazard instead on that play they would have gotten the ball to at least mid-field. He knows he missed that one.
@bdplant posted:Those “shit” WRs have done just fine over the last few seasons in games that Adams missed.
Yes, in the regular season. It's the same thing with Northwestern. They do "just fine" winning another division title but do squat in the playoffs.
That's what counts, the playoffs.
we will know shortly if AR is in it for the $ or not. he stays, takes a $ cut -- gutey has to sign the ringers, he leaves - its about the $ - max $...f the legacy bs...we blow it up and start again...try to keep who we can and move on - 10 meh, don't think so, but we will have to give him his time to bloom or implode, either way...myself - I don't think 12 can cut it in the playoffs, if he goes to a dome or warm climate, maybe - but he's seeing ghosts that aren't there...
The reality is the defense and offense role in the loss pales in comparison to the utter failure of ST. That's undeniable.
Tough to see from the stands, but I thought the defense was outstanding. Did I miss something?
They would have had the same problem with TB if they get past LAR.
The long pass to Jones was actually the killer. If Jones doesn't have to stop and wait for the ball it is a sure TD. How or why Rodgers threw that one short? He made some bad passes but that one really cost them 7.
@Pakrz posted:Tough to see from the stands, but I thought the defense was outstanding. Did I miss something?
Middle of the Dline letting the run game of the 9ers stay on the field. Lowry washed out, Lancaster land locked. Difference being the Packers finally have ILB to stop massive, gashing run plays. Point being they played great but then couldn't get off the field just like the offense couldn't stay on.
The D definitely was the most competent unit and made excellent plays but it's the same damn thing, players not good enough for the playoffs and can't hold up in the end.
@ammo posted:The long pass to Jones was actually the killer. If Jones doesn't have to stop and wait for the ball it is a sure TD. How or why Rodgers threw that one short? He made some bad passes but that one really cost them 7.
Jones was just as much a killer on that play. If he just turns on the jets and runs as fast as he can he gets tackled out of bounds and the clock stops and we don't burn a timeout. Instead he tries to juke the defender to the inside (?) doesn't get as many yards, and gets tackled in bounds. Horrible awareness of the position they were in with the clock there.
So that's why the 9ers drove the field for a game winning FG.
Championship defense.
See Tampa Bay last year. That's championship defense.
All three units need to perform well in order to win. If you have a great offense and defense, you can get away with 32nd ranked ST.
Defense played balls out in the first half…in the face of the offense not controlling the ball enough. Had the offense been able to sustain some drives, had ST been able to block correctly and score points, maybe the D wouldn’t have been getting gashed in Q4.
ST is the shiniest turd in bowl of failure…they didn’t have to be spectacular, they just had to be basic…and they couldn’t even do that. If they were basic, we would have won the game.
@Herschel posted:"More than their share" would have been making a stop on the final drive and the offense or special teams giving up a TD in overtime. They had a chance to bail the team out and they failed.
Half the people on this board were calling for a pick 6 throughout the second half. Is it because they had such confidence in Rodgers and the offense? Or maybe cuz the defense was the only unit that appeared remotely capable last night? Again, six points. You really want to dispute that six points is too much for a defense to allow in a home playoff game?
@vitaflo posted:Jones was just as much a killer on that play. If he just turns on the jets and runs as fast as he can he gets tackled out of bounds and the clock stops and we don't burn a timeout. Instead he tries to juke the defender to the inside (?) doesn't get as many yards, and gets tackled in bounds. Horrible awareness of the position they were in with the clock there.
I was thinking the same thing. Choke move by Jones.
Also, it's hard not to wonder what the O would have looked like in the second half with Dillon.
@artis posted:Half the people on this board were calling for a pick 6 throughout the second half. Is it because they had such confidence in Rodgers and the offense? Or maybe cuz the defense was the only unit that appeared remotely capable last night? Again, six points. You really want to dispute that six points is too much for a defense to allow in a home playoff game?
I just think it was because Jimmy was serving up ducks all over the place in the first half that could have been pick 6s.
@vitaflo posted:Jones was just as much a killer on that play. If he just turns on the jets and runs as fast as he can he gets tackled out of bounds and the clock stops and we don't burn a timeout. Instead he tries to juke the defender to the inside (?) doesn't get as many yards, and gets tackled in bounds. Horrible awareness of the position they were in with the clock there.
Again, if AR puts the ball where it should have been Jones doesn't even have to think about going OOB. He's in the end zone.
He was either a bit off all night or he was being ultra conservative all night.
PFF Bottom 5 grades
Defense
1. CB Jaire Alexander, 36.9
2. OLB Whitney Mercilus, 47.2
3. S Darnell Savage, 47.4
4. OLB Za’Darius Smith, 54.8
5. CB Eric Stokes, 54.8
Alexander played only eight snaps, but he missed a crucial tackle on Deebo Samuel on the final third down of the contest.
Mercilus didn’t have a pressure and graded out poorly against the run.
Savage missed a tackle and didn’t make a play during his 34 snaps before departing with an injury.
Smith had a sack, but he struggled against the run and didn’t have another pressure over his other 11 pass-rushing snaps.
Stokes gave up two catches for a team-high 42 yards, including a big 24-yard completion to George Kittle on the final series.
Offense
1. TE Marcedes Lewis, 32.3
2. TE Josiah Deguara, 40.2
3. C Josh Myers, 48.0
4. WR Equanimeous St. Brown, 49.6
5. WR Randall Cobb, 50.4
Lewis turned the ball over with a fumble in the first quarter, a pivotal play in the game.
Deguara had a big drop and struggled as a run blocker. He didn’t have a catch despite running 20 routes.
Myers earned the offensive line’s worst run-blocking grade, and he gave up a pressure as a pass-blocker.
St. Brown wasn’t targeted despite running 10 routes, and his one carry gained marginal yardage.
Cobb ran 24 routes but had only one target and zero catches.
I do recall Jaire whiffing on that run. He was in a perfect spot to stop it.
@Henry posted:Middle of the Dline letting the run game of the 9ers stay on the field. Lowry washed out, Lancaster land locked. Difference being the Packers finally have ILB to stop massive, gashing run plays. Point being they played great but then couldn't get off the field just like the offense couldn't stay on.
The D definitely was the most competent unit and made excellent plays but it's the same damn thing, players not good enough for the playoffs and can't hold up in the end.
Without question, the Pack had nobody on the D-Line other than Kenny Clark that was an above average run down player. It was a problem for the Pack even when they were winning games.
The D played well, but once San Fran stopped dropping passes, getting dumb penalties, they did move the ball much better against the Pack’s D than the Packers’ offense did vs. the 9ers defense.
@FLPACKER posted:PFF Bottom 5 grades
Defense
1. CB Jaire Alexander, 36.9
2. OLB Whitney Mercilus, 47.2
3. S Darnell Savage, 47.4
4. OLB Za’Darius Smith, 54.8
5. CB Eric Stokes, 54.8Alexander played only eight snaps, but he missed a crucial tackle on Deebo Samuel on the final third down of the contest.
Mercilus didn’t have a pressure and graded out poorly against the run.
Savage missed a tackle and didn’t make a play during his 34 snaps before departing with an injury.
Smith had a sack, but he struggled against the run and didn’t have another pressure over his other 11 pass-rushing snaps.
Stokes gave up two catches for a team-high 42 yards, including a big 24-yard completion to George Kittle on the final series.
Offense
1. TE Marcedes Lewis, 32.3
2. TE Josiah Deguara, 40.2
3. C Josh Myers, 48.0
4. WR Equanimeous St. Brown, 49.6
5. WR Randall Cobb, 50.4Lewis turned the ball over with a fumble in the first quarter, a pivotal play in the game.
Deguara had a big drop and struggled as a run blocker. He didn’t have a catch despite running 20 routes.
Myers earned the offensive line’s worst run-blocking grade, and he gave up a pressure as a pass-blocker.
St. Brown wasn’t targeted despite running 10 routes, and his one carry gained marginal yardage.
Cobb ran 24 routes but had only one target and zero catches.
Not surprising that a bunch of guys who hadn't played in months struggled. 3 of their 4 worst defensive grades went to guys that hadn't hit anyone in a live game in three months or longer.
The reason Alexander was probably in was that Savage got hurt.
Savage has been a disappointment. With his speed at safety, you'd expect some Nick Collins-type plays. But he's just sort of there most of the time. He's not terrible, but he plays like someone you could have drafted in the 4th or 5th round or picked up for near the vet minimum, not the top safety picked in the draft that year. He's playing next to a very assignment sure, solid veteran in Amos too, so it's not like he has to worry about playing alongside a weak link.
@ammo posted:The long pass to Jones was actually the killer. If Jones doesn't have to stop and wait for the ball it is a sure TD. How or why Rodgers threw that one short? He made some bad passes but that one really cost them 7.
I'll give Rodgers a little bit of a pass on that one. He threw the ball about 50 yards downfield while on a dead run and hit Jones where he could catch it and stay upright. The Niners safety had the angle on him even if he hits him in stride (although an absolutely perfect pass gives him a shot to get 5 or so yards further).
The other thing is that as good as Jones has been, he is not really a fast guy. He gets caught from behind a lot. It's probably why he lasted into the 5th round of the draft. He ran a 4.56 40, so it's not like he's Ahman Green in the open field.
@Pikes Peak posted:Till it wasn’t
I wonder how many defenses have been blamed after giving up 6 points. SIX!
@DH13 posted:I just think it was because Jimmy was serving up ducks all over the place in the first half that could have been pick 6s.
The defense, like it has many times over in the past three years, made plenty of stops and got the ball back to the undisputed strength of the team. We knew long ago that a team like SF presents unique matchup problems. They dodged the bullet on the Kittle drop and one or two other plays. They pressured Jimmy G and had some timely sacks. They played the run as well as they were going to, until Shanahan really dug in and started wearing them down.
They have obvious flaws. They've spent years ignoring vital positions on defense. Yet time and time again, they have been forced to defend leads of less than one score when one drive by the offense would completely change the complexion of the game. SF got no pick 6's either. But it was pretty clear that Rodgers and company had zero answers after the opening td drive.
It's talked about daily how Rodgers covers up the warts on this team, and he does. How about the many games where it's in HIS control and they end up three and out? How many close games has this team won by 7 or less and the defense had to finish what the offense could not? They barely scraped by against the Cardinals solely because the defense finally made a play after the offense came up short. For all the shit they get, they allowed SIX fucking points.
I'd say we fielded a championship level defense in that game.
Imagine if someone said before the game that the 49ers offense would not score a single TD in the game. They would have been laughed at by many here (including myself, probably) and in the sports media.