Wow. That game aged the shit out of me. In a game very reminiscent of the 2021 divisional game that the Niners won despite playing bad, the 49ers yesterday played terrible on offense, on defense, special teams, and coaching.
Purdy came out looking like a rusty rookie, and the game-saving play of the game may have been the drop by Darnell Savage in the 1st quarter that would have been a pick 6. Purdy spent most of the game not going deep, and missing his check-downs on the way to a mediocre 86.7 rating and many missed opportunities.
The defense got little pressure, slipped and fell all over the place, left guys wide open, gave up huge pass plays, got hit with penalties, and offered little resistance but for the big 4th down stop in the 2nd quarter.
Special teams? Well, after spending the entire 1st half trying and finally catching Green Bay, the Packers blocked a field goal attempt that looked like Moody would have shanked anyway.
The second half was more of the same. A 3-and-out was followed by a 10 play-all pass drive by GB to take the lead. The offense finally kicked into gear and scored quickly on a 35 yard swing pass and run for Kittle and a 40 yard run by CMC.
Special teams reared their head again, giving up a 75 yard KO return to give GB an easy score and a 7 point lead.
Then, shit started to change. Dre Greenlaw picked off a tipped pass from Love, Nick Moody kicked a 52 yard FG, Green Bay’s own rookie kicker hooked his 41 yard kick, Purdy went 5-6 (Kittle dropped a 1st down pass), and CMC scored on a 9 yard run to take the lead.
Dre Greenlaw sealed the deal with his 2nd pick on a very ill-advised Love pass to close it out.
There you have it. Pretty much outplayed on all sides, but still managed to pull this out. On to next Sunday against the improbable Lions.
Forty Niners Forever 
Since it has been a topic of discussion – There’s this….
How big is Joe Burrow’s hands?
9-inch
Burrow’s 9-inch hand measurement was one of the smallest amongst first-round passers since 2008.
The average hand size for the 39 QBs taken in the first round from 2008 to 2020 is 9.7 inches, according to ESPN Stats & Information. If you consider only the starting quarterbacks from the 2022 NFL season, the average hand size for starting QBs measured at the NFL Combine was 9.53 inches
Alex Smith you ask?
9-3/8″
Jared Goff – 9″
😀
What are nfl.gloves made out of, latex. He took his off early in game
I’d guess something like silicone or latex?
He didn’t wear it for long so I’ll assume it didn’t pass muster for him.
Burrows doesn’t seem bothered in rain with his passing numbers. This needs to get fixed. Burrows OC just got hired as HC for Titans. Will Levis is 6′ 3″ 230 and probably not in the small hands competition.
After I found the hand size comparison between Purdy and Goff I figured we’d have the tiny hands championship clash on Sunday.
Goff plays in a dome. I ever remember weather being a problem for him, but I never paid any attention to it. I do remember that Alex Smith had less than average sized hands. I also remember it cost him a few fumbles. Steve Young had issues in the rain.
And then there’s the age old Dad joke I used on my kids growing up…
Why do gorilla’s have big nostrils?
Tic tic tic…
They have big fingers 😜
Thanks for all the research guys, interesting. Purdy will just have to adapt if we are to play our game.
Berger, thanks for the sounds, I love seeing that the spirit is still alive in some bands.
I guess I could be an NFL QB. 9.5″ hand size.
Kyle is locked into the idea of going on D first, scoring right before halftime and scoring again at the start the second. I’m fine with that, it provides 2 unanswered scores, great. At the end of the half against GB he ran down the clock to such an extent that it didn’t provide enough time to score if his playcalls didn’t work out and in this instance they didnt. My question is, if he trusts the D to do its job at the start of the game, why doesn’t he trust them to hold an opponent with a little time left on the clock to end the half? IMO he needs to adjust that a little to make sure the 9ers have enough time to score even if it leaves some time for the opponent. He played it to tight.
Purdy hasn’t played well in any rain game for the 9ers. He needs to practice a lot with a wet ball. Maybe it’s hand size or maybe it’s mental or both, he needs to work hard on it. Hopefully it won’t matter again this year but they can’t just have a poor showing because it’s raining.
Bosa is a beast of a DE, but he hasn’t had many splash, game changing type plays this year. Perhaps the long holdout set him back? In any event, it’s playoffs, it’s time he showed his value as the highest paid D player in the league. Show up like a Reggie White for instance, who changed outcomes in the biggest games. Time to shine Bosa.
Chase Young started out well but faded once Armstead got hurt. Armstead played last week and did a decent job but obviously was at a minimum a little rusty. Both should play better next week.
Losing Deebo has a big impact no doubt, but with or without him there are enough talented players left on O to operate at a very high level. Kyle has had difficulty making adjustments without Deebo in the mix on a number of occasions. It seems to throw off the playcalling rythym entirely. That’s a head scratcher for me. The same mantra of “next man up” applies to Kyle, find another gear.
Well, my biggest problem with the defensive philosophy is that we start out very vanilla. We haven’t been creating much havoc early in games. As aggressive as Shanny is on offense, we are just praying the D line gets in. It hasn’t been very effective.
Like you said, as much money as we are paying this line, the pass rush is doing little. No sacks vs GB, 2 against the backup Rams, 1 against the woeful Commies, and 2 vs the Ravens.
Wilks needs to dial up more pressure. Watching the base D do nothing will be very bad against Goff. Give him time and he can hit shit. Rattle him early and he flails.
I’m gonna be pissed if we play our prevent defense early.
New thread is up.