Mixed messages: Packers rolled the 49ers in a game that should have been delayed
This was a rematch in logo and team colors only.
The draw to Thursday night’s 49ers-Packers game at Levi’s Stadium was there, but the substance was not. Storied franchises met again, Aaron Rodgers back in his Northern California roots, where he grew up a 49ers fan, all packaged as a grand way to kick off the second half of the NFL’s regular season.
Green Bay showed up. The 49ers were there largely in spirit, undermanned and wholly overwhelmed. They got hammered 34-17 in slumping to 1-4 at home.
Rodgers in the first half carved up the 49ers by firing three touchdown passes. He had four total. It helped that there was no pass rush to dirty Rodgers up, unlike two meetings in 2019 when he was devoured. In this one, it was 31-3 two minutes into the second half.
The Packers looked like contenders again at 6-2 and the 49ers are slowly bleeding out at 4-5, looking nothing like the outfit that bullied the Packers in the NFC Championship game.
“There’s no excuses for what we put on tape today,” 49ers defensive end Kerry Hyder said afterward.
But really, why was this one even played?
The walkup to this one captured the COVID-19 year in general, dripping of uncertainty. San Francisco receiver Kendrick Bourne on Wednesday was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. That prompted the club to shut down their facilities. In any other year, a missed practice would send shock waves.
We have become conditioned to anticipate COVID-19 delays, in any sport, at any level, anywhere in the country. Tackle Trent Williams and receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel were also placed on that reserve/COVID-19 list due to the NFL’s contact tracing, adding to the chaos and thinning the roster to the bone.
Hours before this kickoff, just up the bay from Levi’s Stadium, the Cal football announced a positive coronavirus test on its roster. The Pac-12 on Thursday pulled the plug on Saturday’s season opener in Berkeley against Washington. No delays, no postponement later in the season. Canceled. The game was declared a no contest.
Cal officials announced it could not field a competitive team, tied to others sidelined with contact tracing. But the 49ers took the field with a practice squad unit? It sends a mixed message. Be safe and diligent but get those games in; there’s a TV deal to fulfill.
The 49ers made history here but it was blah history. They became the first club since the 1970 NFL merger to play a non-strike season game without its starting quarterback and six of its top seven players in yards from scrimmage.
“It hit everybody out of nowhere, but we adjusted,” San Francisco nose tackle D.J. Jones said.
The 49ers didn’t adjust as much as they showed up to work.
San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game via Zoom, “It was never brought up, pushing the game back. We knew it was going to be a challenge. We knew at the start of the week it would be a challenge. Losing those three guys (Wednesday) would be a bigger challenge. I still thought we could have a (competitive) game.”
That the 49ers offered no defensive resistance beyond the relentless play of linebacker Fred Warner remains a concern.
A week after Russell Wilson had four touchdown passes to lead Seattle easily past the 49ers, Rodgers continued his own historic march. He has 24 touchdown passes and two interceptions on the season in joining Tom Brady as the only two in league history to have that many scoring tosses and that few picks through eight games of a season. Brady did it in 2007 when the Patriots went 16-0 in the regular season.
The 49ers now have time to regroup and lick their many wounds, a good many of them packed under ice. The next contest is Nov. 15 at New Orleans, where a defeat would crash the season.
Last-place teams do not earn playoff berths, and last is where the 49ers sit in the NFC West.
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 7:12 AM.