The Packers continued to pile it on San Francisco in the second half, after starting slow to begin the game. The 49ers netted three points on their opening possession with the first of three Jeff Reed field goals. Reed was brought in when Joe Nedney's injury further bothered him and Shane Andrus couldn't get the job done. They got three more in the second half, but were greeted by a pair of Green Bay touchdowns to put it at 14-6. With about two minutes left to go, the 49ers showed some fight.
Troy Smith fired off a great 66-yard touchdown pass to tight end Vernon Davis to bring the 49ers within one point of the Pack going into the third quarter. The air was sucked out of the stadium. Things did not get better than that for the 49ers, however. The third quarter saw Donald Driver make several 49ers players look silly, breaking and dodging three tackles en route to a 61-yard touchdown reception to put the Packers up more. The 49ers showed some signs of life on their next drive, getting down into the red zone, but eventually had to settle for three points on Jeff Reed's third field goal.
Aaron Rodgers didn't let up after that, this time it was Greg Jennings who took the Packers down to the three-yard line, then Jennings again who caught the touchdown reception on third down with nobody around him. Two field goals for the Packers and a lot of uninspired play from the 49ers, and you have your final score.
Rodgers was able to utilize the no-huddle to get the 49ers offsides at least twice, once getting Aubrayo Franklin for encroachment and the other getting Ahmad Brooks offsides. This was to help even out the penalty numbers, which saw the Packers get called for quite a few that were pretty questionable. An intentional grounding call earlier in the game wasn't called the second time the exact same thing happened. An early whistle negated a big Green Bay pass play, even though the penalty was on the defense (a neutral zone infraction).
It wasn't all bad for San Francisco, tight end Vernon Davis had a big day, in line with my previous fantasy projections despite a big drop in the third quarter off of a beautiful Troy Smith pass. Linebacker Takeo Spikes was in on seventeen tackles total, thirteen solo with four assists. Spikes has never made the playoffs in his long career, and was playing his heart out there for San Francisco.
Rookie offensive tackle Anthony Davis held up well on the right side. He largely negated Clay Matthews when he lined up at the left outside linebacker or left defensive end position. Matthews entered the game as the NFL's sack leader. It was probably Anthony Davis's best game to date, following a stellar performance against the Arizona Cardinals a week ago.
Troy Smith didn't have a great game, but it was a middle-of-the-pack performance. He only completed 40% of his passes at 10-for-25 with 194 yards and a touchdown against one interception, but he'll likely remain the starter going forward.