Packers 30, 49ers 28: 2-minute drill

September 27, 2021
|In Packers
|By Zach Heilprin

Mason Crosby hit a 51-yard field goal as time expired to push Green Bay past San Francisco 30-28 on Sunday night.

Game Balls

Offense: QB Aaron Rodgers

Rodgers was good throughout the night, going 9-for-9 in the first quarter and eventually getting the Packers out to a 17-0 lead. But the 49ers fought back and eventually took a 28-27 lead with 37 seconds left. While the fans celebrated, Rodgers took the field with no timeouts and calmly led the Packers down the field with a pair of completions to Davante Adams, including one on a play they had designed just days earlier at practice.

Since his disaster start against New Orleans in Week 1, Rodgers has six touchdowns and no interceptions over the last two weeks and Green Bay has won both games.

Defense: LB De’Vondre Campbell

What an addition Campbell has been to the Packers defense. He’s been in the double digits in tackles in each of the last two games, including 11 against the 49ers. Campbell also came away with a turnover in both games as well. On Monday against the Lions, it was an interception and on Sunday he got on top of a Jimmy Garoppolo fumble late in the fourth quarter. The linebacker never comes off the field and seems to have been a steadying force in the middle of the defense.

Special Teams: K Mason Crosby

Adams said he already knew the game was over when Crosby lined up from 51 yards for the game-winning kick and he was right. The 15-year veteran split the uprights and sent the entire team into a frenzy. It was his third field goal of the night, and he has now hit 22 straight kicks.

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In Case You Missed It

— Starting cornerback Kevin King was inactive due to a non-Covid-19 illness. Rookie Eric Stokes started in his place.

— Yosh Nijman got his first career start at left tackle in place of the injured Elgton Jenkins and David Bakhtiari.

— Packers linebacker Khrys Barnes suffered a concussion in the second quarter and did not return. Ty Summers and Oren Burks each took turns as his replacement.

— Wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling was knocked from the game in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury and did not return.

— San Francisco scored its first points just before the half on a Trey Lance 1-yard run. On the previous play, Jimmy Garoppolo appeared to intentionally ground the ball so as to avoid a sack. The rulebook states it can’t be grounding if the quarterback starts his throwing motion before being contacted by the defensive player, but it looked like linebacker Preston Smith got to him and then he started his motion. If the penalty had been called, the 10-second runoff that comes with it would have ended the half and the Packers would have gone into the locker room leading 17-0.

— There was a scary moment midway through the fourth quarter when Rodgers looked for Adams on a deep post and the wide receiver appeared to take a direct hit to the helmet from safety Jimmy Ward. No penalty was called, and Adams stayed down on the field for a few minutes. The belief was he had a head injury, but he said afterwards that he just got the wind knocked out of him. It was why he was allowed to return to the game so quickly after being checked out in the medical tent.

— There was a report prior to the game that there was some friction between Packers coach Matt LaFleur and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan over the situation with Aaron Rodgers in the offseason. Both men said there was nothing to it, but the post-game handshake seemed a little cold from Shanahan’s side.

What They Said

“The energy in the locker room post game that felt like a win. It felt like there was such a growth moment for us and I’m really happy for the guys to feel that. It feels like, Okay, now we’re on our way now. Now we can get into this, now we know how to win, and we can get this thing moving in the right direction.”

Aaron Rodgers on what the win meant for the team

“I’m different”

— That was Adams’ answer when asked how he was able to return to the field so soon after taking a vicious shot to the head and chest in the fourth quarter.

Inside the Numbers

9 – That’s how many wins in a row Aaron Rodgers has in primetime. It’s one short of the all-time record held by Ben Roethlisberger.

23-1 – That’s Green Bay’s record under Matt LaFleur when Aaron Jones gets at least 15 touches in a game. He hit that mark against the 49ers, carrying 19 times for 82 yards and catching two more passes for 14 yards. When Jones gets less than 15 touches, the Packers are just 5-5.

12 – That’s how many catches Davante Adams had. It’s the third-most he’s had in his career. He turned those opportunities into 132 yards and a touchdown, along with two monster catches to setup the game-winning field goal.

What’s Next

The Packers (2-1) will return to Green Bay next Sunday to face the Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2)