49ers upset Green Bay with 4th quarter comeback; 5 Burning questions answered

The San Francisco 49ers are moving on to the NFC Championship Game.

The 49ers 13-10 defeat of the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field perfectly encapsulated their entire 2021 season in one three-hour game.

After allowing Green Bay to drive right down the field on the opening possession of the game the San Francisco defense tightened up, holding the Packers to only three points over the final 54 minutes.  

Offensively it was a struggle. Dropped passes on perfect throws, missed blocks and an interception from Jimmy Garoppolo in the redzone kept San Francisco off the scoreboard throughout the first half.

Deebo Samuel, the 49ers most explosive weapon this season, opened the second half by returning the kickoff all the way out to midfield.

As they had done throughout the first half, the offense would once again shoot itself in the foot when it looked primed to tie the game. As Elijah Mitchell broke off the right side on a run that looked like it would set the 49ers up inside the Green Bay five yard line, a flag flew. Mitchell had grabbed the facemask of the defender. This pushed San Francisco back to their own 19. An illegal formation penalty on the next play pushed them back again to the 24 and instead of tying the game, the 49ers would be forced to settle for a Robbie Gould field goal.

The San Francisco defense continued to hold Green Bay out of the endzone and another offensive drive would stall inside the redzone when Mitchell was dropped for loss on fourth and one.

With time running out on their season, the San Francisco defense would do what they’ve done so many times over the second half of the year, coming up with a stop when Arik Armstead sacked Aaron Rodgers on third down.

That’s when everything changed. San Francisco’s special teams has been a source of frustration throughout the year, just last week in Dallas the punt return unit allowed the Cowboys to continue two possessions due to a roughing the punter penalty and a successful fake punt.

Tonight, it was that unit that turned the game around when Jordan Willis burst through the middle of the line and got his hand on the ball, blocking the punt and sending it nearly straight up into the air. Talanoa Hufanga scooped the ball up and carried it into the endzone to tie the game.

The 49ers defense came right back on to the field and got the ball back for the offense by forcing a quick three and out.

From there the offense did what they’ve done repeatedly over the second half of the year. Two passes from Jimmy Garoppolo, one to George Kittle and one to Deebo Samuel helped the offense quickly get into Green Bay territory.

Three runs from Samuel moved the ball inside the Green Bay 30 before Elijah Mitchell and Kyle Juszczyk gained two more yards to set up a 45-yard field goal attempt from Robbie Gould.

As they have done all year, the 49ers overcame adversity and kept battling for their teammates, leaving everything they had on the field until the ball split the uprights as the last seconds ticked off the clock.

Let’s take a quick look at how the answers to the five questions for this week:

1. Will the 49ers be able to get the run game going? YES

The 49ers run game struggled to get going early, but they kept going back to it and in the second half it began to click.

San Francisco finished with 106 yards on 29 rushing attempts. Elijah Mitchell led the way on Saturday night with 53 yards on 17 carries and Deebo Samuel had 39 yards on 10 very tough carries.

Samuel showed his toughness, shaking off an injury suffered on a third quarter screen to set the 49ers up in position for Robbie Gould’s game winning field goal.

2. Can the 49ers defense make the Green Bay offense one dimensional? Kind of

San Francisco held Green Bay to only 67 yards on 20 rushing attempts.

The Packers did a good job of sticking with the run early on, but after losing AJ Dillon to an injury they were unable to keep it up late in the fourth quarter.

On their final two possessions, Green Bay ran the ball only once on six plays.

3. Will San Francisco be able to contain Aaron Rodgers? YES

Aaron Rodgers started the game off hot, leading Green Bay to a touchdown on the opening possession and finished the first half 12 of 16 for 170 yards.

The second half was a different story as Rodgers would complete only 6 of 13 attempts for 65 yards.

The 49ers pass rush had a lot to do with this, consistently forcing Rodgers to move around and get rid of the ball faster than he wanted to.

Although San Francisco’s secondary struggled to stop Davante Adams at times, they were able to limit him to only 90 yards on 9 receptions by having their safeties help in coverage.

Of Rodgers’ 20 completions, only two went to a receiver other than Adams or running back Aaron Jones.

4. Can the 49ers get a complete game out of Jimmy Garoppolo? NO

Garoppolo was strong early, but his receivers let him down as Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle and Jauan Jennings dropped the first three passes of the game.

When the 49ers offense finally found a rhythm late in the first half, a mistake by Garoppolo cost them points.

With the ball at the Green Bay 19, Garoppolo was forced to move to his right. George Kittle was open, but Garoppolo was late with the throw and Packers defensive back Adrian Amos was able to step in front of the tight end for an interception.

While he received plenty of help from his running game and defense, Garoppolo was good in the fourth quarter, completing 5 of his 6 passes for 55 yards.

Garoppolo’s numbers weren’t anything to write home about, 11-19, 133 yards and one interception, but he drew praise from defensive end Nick Bosa following the game.

“A lot of people give him crap for whatever, but he’s as cool and collected of a quarterback that I’ve ever had,” said Bosa. “He’s the perfect guy to lead us to where we want to go.”

Bosa wasn’t the only 49ers teammate to recognize Garoppolo’s leadership. George Kittle talked about Garoppolo’s ability to lead as well.

“Jimmy, can’t say enough about that guy. The stuff that he takes, consistently people try to pull him down, consistently all he does is deliver,” said Kittle. “He leads the team. He’s the sense of calm in the huddle. He allows us to play football at a high level.”

5. Can the 49ers hold on to the football? NO

The 49ers turned the ball over once, Garoppolo’s interception late in the first half, however Green Bay faltered as well.

Packers tight end Marcedes Lewis fumbled the ball after making a reception from Rodgers in the first quarter, but the 49ers offense could not make Green Bay pay.

Two of the biggest plays in the game weren’t officially turnovers, but they may as well have been.

Green Bay had both a field goal and a punt blocked, and Jordan Willis was a key part of both plays.

On the final play of the first half, Willis chopped down the arm of a Packers lineman allowing Jimmie Ward to break through to block the Mason Crosby field goal attempt.

In the late moments of the fourth quarter, it was Willis who once again came up big, blocking a Packers punt that Talanoa Hufanga would scoop up and carry into the endzone to tie the game at 10.

Prediction:

49ers 27 Packers 24