49ers vs Packers Week 1 Recap

By Kalen Patrick

The San Francisco 49ers left Lambeau Field with a BIG 30-22 win to open up the 2012 Season. In my opinion, this was the most impressive win of Jim Harbaugh's tenure as the 49ers Head Coach. To go in to Green Bay and beat Aaron Rodgers is one of the most, (if not the most) difficult thing to do in the NFL today. The 49ers beat the Packers from start to finish on both sides of the ball. Lets take a closer look at the game.

To me the game ball should go to 49ers Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman. The whole game the 49ers were able to find great mismatches and called the right plays at the right time. Of course, so much credit needs to go to the players who pulled off the plays with excellent execution and precision. The plays that stood out to me were:

1. Randy Moss' Touchdown Reception. Green Bay was weak defending the middle of the field, and especially more so when Desmond Bishop went down with injury. The 49ers motioned Delanie Walker right before the snap, confusing the coverage down the middle and left Randy Moss wide open for an easy TD Reception. 
2. 4:40 left in 2nd quarter, Alex Smith pass to Mario Manningham for 11 yard completion for 1st down. The 49ers motioned Bruce Miller out to the far right leaving Manningham in the slot. This motion caused Green Bay to put a CB on Bruce Miller, leaving a slow LB on Manningham, which resulted in an easy 1st down completion. 
3. 18 seconds left in the 1st half, bring in Kaepernick for a design run play. In a potentially pivotal moment of the game, the 49ers go with Colin Kaepernick, catches the defense off guard and picks up 17 yards and puts the 49ers in position to score at the end of the 1st half.

ALEX SMITH AND RANDY MOSS CONNECT FOR A TD

These are just some examples of how the 49ers exploited the Green Bay defense. Alex Smith finished the game with a 125.6 QB rating, going 20/26 and throwing for 211 yards with 2 TD's 0 INT's. Smith looked comfortable throughout the entire game despite taking 4 sacks. The 49ers also gashed the Packers for 186 rushing yards with 5.8 YPC. Gore did the most damage getting 112 yards on 16 carries with a TD, and seemingly always picking up big chunks of yards each and every time he had the ball. In summary, Greg Roman and the 49ers offense made Dom Capers Green Bay defense look pretty bad.

TARELL BROWN DENIES JAMES JONES

The 49ers defense did a great job on Aaron Rodgers all day long and only gave up 14 points to the Green Bay offense (Packers scored a TD on a punt return, obviously the defense isn't at fault for that). The 49ers shut down the Packers run game from the get go. The only real rushing yards the Packers got was when Rodgers had to scramble. NaVorro Bowman picked off Aaron Rodgers once and the defense had 3 sacks on Rodgers which is very difficult considering his ability to release the ball so quickly. I have to give 2 specific players shout outs:

1. NaVorro Bowman - Not only did Bowman pick off Rodgers at an extremely pivotal moment of the game, but he was also EVERYWHERE on the field. Bowman lead the 49ers with 11 tackles and had 2 more defended passes. He was sensational the entire game and in my opinion has emerged as the best Linebacker for the 49ers. Yes, you read that right. 
2. Tarrell Brown - Brown has turned in to a shut down corner, and never was this more evident than when Brown denied James Jones on a deep pass from Aaron Rodgers that would have put the Packers within the 49ers 5 yard line. In man to man coverage Brown was lock down all game long, the only times I saw him get "beat" were in zone coverage when the 49ers were only rushing 3. Chris Culliver and the rest of the 49ers secondary deserve an honorable mention too.

ALEX SMITH AND AARON RODGERS MEET IN MIDFIELD

The 49ers did what many football experts considered the impossible and took a game from Green Bay at Lambeau Field. This was a complete win in all 3 phases of the game (really harsh take up the flag when Anthony Dixon got clearly blocked from behind on the return that lead to a Packers TD). On to week 2 where the 49ers face another big challenge when they host Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football. Go Niners!


Next on the SF Sports Cave: 49ers vs Lions Preview. Buster Posey and the San Francisco Giants race to the playoffs.

Over and Out