49ers report card: Run game, led by Mostert’s 4 TDs, is the year’s first A-plus grade
The 49ers are going to the Super Bowl.
San Francisco in the NFC Championship Game throttled the Green Bay Packers 37-20 behind a historic performance from running back Raheem Mostert, and a strong performance from the defense for three quarters before Aaron Rodgers made things somewhat interesting in the second half when he trimmed a 27-point halftime deficit to 14.
It didn’t matter. The 49ers will take on the Kansas City Chiefs in two weeks for the Lombari Trophy. In the meantime, here are our grades from the last game at Levi’s Stadium this season.
Passing offense: n/a
The 49ers in the first half ran the ball 22 times and had just six passes. Jimmy Garoppolo completed just 4 of 6 for 48 yards. He took a bad third-down sack on the edge of field goal range that led to a long field goal attempt. Garoppolo didn’t attempt a passing attempt in the third quarter and finally found George Kittle for his first catch midway through the fourth quarter on a key 19-yard pickup after the Packers trimmed it to a two-score game. Garoppolo finished with 57 yards on 5 of 7 completions, good for a 104.7 rating, while San Francisco became the fourth team in postseason ever to have fewer than 10 pass attempts. There’s no grade here because Garoppolo wasn’t good or bad. The game was all about the rushing attack. And it was good enough to win in mostly blowout fashion.
Rushing offense: A+
The 49ers got on the board midway through the first quarter with a 36-yard run from Mostert on a third-and-8 when he sped by the right side of the Packers defense and through the secondary for his 11th touchdown of the season. Then San Francisco orchestrated six-play scoring drive, all runs, which ended with Mostert’s second touchdown. Rookie receiver Deebo Samuel got into the act with a pair of reverses in the third quarter, before Mostert had his fourth touchdown of the game.
Mostert had 220 yards on 29 carries. He finished second in postseason history with 28 yards behind Eric Dickerson, who had 248 for the Rams during a win over the Cowboys in the Wild Card round in 1986. It was the the most prolific rushing performance in 49ers postseason history.
Passing defense: C
Emmanuel Moseley, starting in place of Ahkello Witherspoon, intercepted Aaron Rodgers with just over a minute remaining in the first half. Rodgers completed 8 of 10 passes at halftime, but had just 66 yards and was sacked on two third downs. He also fumbled twice, with San Francisco recovering one. Rodgers completed a 65-yard pass to Davante Adams, beating Richard Sherman, on a third down early in the fourth quarter while the Packers scored on three straight possessions after halftime, cutting a 27-point lead to 14.
Rodgers finished with 326 yards, 262 coming after halftime, two touchdowns, two interceptions and a 97.2 rating. Sherman ended the night with an interception on a long pass near the goal line.
Rushing defense: B
The Packers ran the ball effectively in the first half, recording 52 yards on 11 carries (4.7-yard average). But it didn’t do much to impact the way the first half went as San Francisco throttled Green Bay’s passing attack. The running game became moot in the second half as the Packers had to come back from a massive deficit. They finished with 58 yards on 15 carries, good for a 3.9-yard average.
Special teams: B+
Richie James had a 26-yard punt return in first quarter. Robbie Gould opened the second with a long 54-yard field goal taking Garoppolo off the hook for a bad sack on third down. Gould hit another field goal from 27 yards just after the 2-minute warning in the first half. Gould effectively sealed the game with a 42-yard field goal with 3:31 remaining to make it 37-20.
Coaching: B+
Kyle Shanahan’s biggest mistake of the day was deciding not to go for it on a fourth-and-1 early in the fourth quarter while his running game was dominating. The Packers drove the length of the field following the punt and made it a 14-point game. Shanahan could have effectively ended the game by going for it there and potentially putting more points on the board.
Otherwise, the 49ers did what they did against the Vikings: push the defense around with a strong rushing attack. Only this time, it included a record-setting performance from Mostert.
The 49ers will play the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl after going 4-12 last season. Shanahan’s fourth-down mistake aside, Shanahan has been outstanding all season.
This story was originally published January 19, 2020 at 7:06 PM.
