Brock Purdy made the trip to Green Bay as the San Francisco 49ers visited the Packers Sunday afternoon. Though, he was in street clothes as the star quarterback deals with a shoulder injury.
EDGE rusher Nick Bosa joined star left tackle Trent Williams in also being sidelined for this all-important NFC matchup. Meanwhile, Pro Bowl cornerback Charvarius Ward missed his third consecutive game as he continues to mourn the death of his child.
These were the major backdrops as the 5-5 49ers faced a must-win game against Green Bay.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan and Co. knew that they were going to be up against it. Green Bay entered this game riding high and boasting a 7-3 record. It was a near-touchdown favorite against the reigning NFC champions. Jordan Love and Co. also wanted to exact revenge after losing to San Francisco in the playoffs last season.
From pretty much the get, Green Bay was the vastly superior squad. It dominated in the first quarter, taking a 10-0 lead after 15 minutes. That first quarter saw the Packers tally 87 rushing yards while the 49ers’ offense ran three plays. Their defense also missed a whopping 10 tackles in the opening stanza.
Relying on veteran journeyman Brandon Allen under center, the 49ers were able to somewhat make this a game for a while. Allen connected with George Kittle on a touchdown in the second quarter to make it 17-7. San Francisco was also driving in the third quarter in an attempt to make this a one-score game.
That’s when Deebo Samuel dropped a perfect pass from Allen, leading to an interception by Packers safety Xavier McKinney. This was pretty much all she wrote as the 49ers fell by the score of 38-10. Here’s a look at some takeaways from the 49ers’ latest loss.
Missed Tackles Plague San Francisco 49ers
Josh Jacobs ran roughshod through San Francisco 49ers defense. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
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All said, the 49ers missed 15 tackles in the first half alone on Sunday. That’s just not going to cut it in today’s NFL.
Packers running back Josh Jacobs did most of the work in this regard, going for 106 yards on 26 attempts while scoring three touchdowns. That masked an otherwise pedestrian game from quarterback Jordan Love. He completed 13-of-23 passes for 163 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions.
At the very least, San Francisco’s injury-plagued secondary held its own in this one. However, those missed tackles played a major role as San Francisco fell to 5-6 on the season via a 28-point blowout loss.
San Francisco 49ers Couldn’t Overcome Injuries
The absence of Brock Purdy proved huge for the San Francisco 49ers. (AP Photo/Jeff Lewis)
Being without six Pro Bowl performers already had San Francisco behind the proverbial eight-ball in this one. Obviously, Purdy not being able to go was going to make this a tough task. Allen did hold his own, completing 17-of-29 passes for 199 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Those other absences were even more glaring. Allen was sacked just twice in the game. That’s a testament to how Jaylon Moore performed in replacing the injured Trent Williams as the quarterback’s blindside protector. Even then, San Francisco was forced to rely a bit more on the quick passing game than it would have liked. The second sack also resulted in Allen losing a fumble. A few plays later, Jacobs scored his third touchdown of the game to put it away.
As we saw last week when he exited San Francisco’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Bosa not being able to go played a major role. Jordan Love was sacked two times and hit three times. He had a clean pocket throughout the game.
San Francisco 49ers Season On The Verge
San Francisco now holds sole possession of last place in the NFC West. It is one game behind both the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks after the latter defeated the former on Sunday.
Regardless of the injuries, these 49ers now find themselves in must-win mode heading into Buffalo to take on the streaking Bills next week. The hope is that Purdy, Williams and Bosa will be able to go in that one.
But it does not get easier for the 49ers from there. They must contend with the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams at home following the Thanksgiving weekend holiday. After that, the 49ers close up their season with outings against the Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions and Arizona Cardinals.
At 5-6, the 49ers need to win five of these games in order to even have a legitimate shot in the NFC Playoff race.
That’s magnified with just how great the NFC North have been this season. That division will likely field three playoff teams. The trio of the Detroit Lions (10-1), Minnesota Vikings (9-2) and Green Bay Packers (8-3) are all at least three games ahead of San Francsico in the win column. Minnesota and Green Bay have already defeated the 49ers this season, meaning they also hold the tiebreaker.
From there, the Washington Commanders find themselves at 7-5 and would be the final playoff team if the season ended today.
The easiest road to earning a spot in the playoffs for San Francisco will likely come via the NFC West. However, the team is now 1-3 within the division.
This isn’t to say that the San Francisco 49ers’ season is over. But it certainly is on the verge. That’s for sure. Sunday’s loss to Green Bay adds another layer to this.