More Banjo - Packers vs 49ers

[Joemailman]

Jordan Love - 194 passing yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, 72.4 passer rating.

Aaron Jones - 108 yards rushing

Romeo Doubs - 4 catches, 83 yards

Packers only 2-5 in red zone

Live and learn game for Love.

Defense gave up 10-16 3rd down conversions.

[ThunderDan]

Tough game to lose. We outplayed the 49ers for almost the whole night.

San Fran out played us in the 4th and it really shouldn’t have mattered. If Carlson makes the FG we have a minute to get in position to kick a FG for the win. Love wouldn’t have had to force the last throw. He could have pulled it down and ran for 10 yards.

We just couldn’t finish the deal.

[Bretsky]

Pondering thoughts

We pretty much outplayed SF for nearly all of the game; I felt like we had a pass to take the win once Deebo Samuel went out for the game.

Gotta get those picks; but you HAVE to have a RELIABLE KICKED if you are going to make the playoffs

[smuggler]

I kinda felt early on we were going to lose because all the lucky breaks were going the 49ers way, and it ended up being the case. Even still, we almost won. We were the better team tonight, except at the end when it mattered most.

[RashanGary]

Defense wore down. And that’s a really tough matchup for Love. SF has some really good, veteran players in the back 7 and they knocked him out of his comfort zone with their coverages.

All those young receivers and tight ends and Love got so many valuable snaps. They’re going to be able to really expand the offense next year. The OL is young and in tact. The offenses arrow is pointing straight up.

As much as we like the receivers, it’s so rare to have two good tight ends. Kraft and Musgrave are so athletic and talented. They’re going to be unstoppable once they know what they’re doing.

Great season!!

[RashanGary]

LVN has a ton of upside.
Brooks is at minimum a good depth piece
Wyatt is a good depth piece
Wooden looks like a good depth piece
Clark hasn’t lost anything
Preston is still playing really well
Gary will be better a year removed from the ACL

With some big jumps from the rookies, we might have an elite front next year. None of them could get better too. Who knows. But there is a lot of reason for optimism there.


Valentine is a good player. He’s likely to be a legit starting corner. Maybe Jaire gets healthy. I’d resign savage. Nixon isn’t bad at nickle. You want to add a safety and a corner though.

I know it’s wishful thinking after two amazing drafts, but if Gute gets one more good one, especially on the defensive side, we’re gonna be fucking beasts.


Great season and a lot of reason for optimism going forward!!

And Gute just keeps adding to that front. Who knows

[Fritz]

Tough game to lose. We outplayed the 49ers for almost the whole night.

San Fran out played us in the 4th and it really shouldn’t have mattered. If Carlson makes the FG we have a minute to get in position to kick a FG for the win. Love wouldn’t have had to force the last throw. He could have pulled it down and ran for 10 yards.

We just couldn’t finish the deal.

Love could've pulled the ball down and run for ten yards anyway. They had the timeouts to do that.

Love did not play a great game. He missed some easy throws.

Defense not being able to haul in those easy interceptions was also a factor.

Carlson's miss a factor, for sure. But was that a shitty snap, too? Was it all on him?

I also think The Flower got away from Jones around the third or fourth quarter. He needed to keep feeding Jones the ball.

Lots of moments that, had a play been made, it'd ended differently. It was a team effort, this loss.

Son of a bitch.

But they played SF tough, not like that 2019 game. It was a solid effort from a young team.

Guter needs to nail this next draft.

And once again, the goddamn defense could NOT get pressure on the opposing QB when it counted. Purdy had too much damn time.

[RashanGary]

Love could've pulled the ball down and run for ten yards anyway. They had the timeouts to do that.

Love did not play a great game. He missed some easy throws.

Defense not being able to haul in those easy interceptions was also a factor.

Carlson's miss a factor, for sure. But was that a shitty snap, too? Was it all on him?

I also think The Flower got away from Jones around the third or fourth quarter. He needed to keep feeding Jones the ball.

Lots of moments that, had a play been made, it'd ended differently. It was a team effort, this loss.

Son of a bitch.

But they played SF tough, not like that 2019 game. It was a solid effort from a young team.

Guter needs to nail this next draft.

And once again, the goddamn defense could NOT get pressure on the opposing QB when it counted. Purdy had too much damn time.

This is definitley what happened from what I saw too. I know at least one person here was mostly sober.

[call_me_ishmael]

Everyone tightens up at the end of games. I would have hoped JLove not having won anything yet would run and take the hit that ARod didn't do as he got older. Time will tell, but I think he has shown enough that he might be the guy long term. I think he deserves a fair contract and a shot at it, at least.

It's hard not to be optimistic about the future of the team. They're looking up and have a pretty good window here. They need to improve the pass rush and OL. Love was under pressure all night.

[MadtownPacker]

In spite of so many thing going 49ers way Pack had the 1 seed down with 2 minutes left. Both sides of the ball couldn’t get it done at the end. It was still a great season. A little sad yeah but not worried about the future because there will be more chances.

[pittstang5]

Welp, I guess it's safe to post here again. I've been in hiatus since the Pack went back to a winning streak and didn't want to mess up a good thing.

What a season! So close and it figures they lose to the 49ers....again. Packers are the Achilles heel of the Cowboys and the 49ers are the same for the Packers. I think that's my biggest issue with what happened last night; the Packers seem to never be able to get past the 49ers.

This team had so many ups and downs this year, but finally toward the end of the season, I saw enough out of Love and the younger guys, that the Packers should be at least competitive for the next few years.

Moving on, it'll be interesting to see what moves this team makes going forward, specifically:

Defense Coordinator and defensive staff: Barry is gone methinks and there maybe a cleaning of house here.
Kicker: Ugh, that was brutal all year. I don't know what to do here. Is there a better kicker coming out in the draft? Will there be a veteran available that's at least consistent? Seems like Carlson missed at least one kick a game, whether it was an extra point or a FG. Can't have that.
Draft: Packers have proven they can fill in some gaps with the draft. I'm excited to see what they do.
Veterans: It'll be interesting to see what this team does with some of the higher paid, getting older veterans (P. Smith, A. Jones, Bakhtiari, etc.)
Free Agency: Who do they keep, who do they go after? It should be fun to watch.

See ya around Packer Rats

[Vincenzo]

Anders the kicker blew it for us, kid missed 2 FG that killed us.

And Love didn’t play as well as he did in Dallas.

End of story, felt this pain many times over the years.

[Joemailman]

Wendell Ferreira
@wendellfp

Just another classic #Packers season.

- Good QB play
- Bad defense
- Bad special teams
- Swept the Bears
- Split with the Vikings
- Beat the Cowboys
- Lost to the 49ers
- Heartbreaking playoff elimination

[Joemailman]

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/55/0d/57/550d57831b606762a45f1b591482ad2d.gif

[George Cumby]

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/55/0d/57/550d57831b606762a45f1b591482ad2d.gif

This.

Coulda' woulda' shoulda'

Niners beat the Packers with the Packers helping to beat the Packers.

[sharpe1027]

Special teams wasn't bad other than FGs. Conditions were bad, but Carlson's been shaky all year.

Nixon's return was key. Coverage was okay. Punts were solid.

[King Friday]

The loss at least is a likely nail in Barry’s coffin. The defense could not get off the field on third down. We got some pressure on Purdy, but he’s far better than Dak at handling it. The weather was a bit of an equalizer for us, and losing Deebo was a huge blow to SF. There opportunities to win were there, but the young kids couldn’t take advantage. Great learning experience to build on. Love needs to learn when to use his legs. He should be running the ball more often. That should be an emphasis this off season. He seems to rely on throwing too much when chances to grab 5-10 yards are there to run for.

[red]

well, we weren't suppose to make the playoffs, so we shouldn't have even been in this game. so its cool we made it this far with a team so young

on the other hand, we had so many opportunities to win, and we didn't get it done

tough game to lose, but not heart breaking

[MadtownPacker]

Agreed Red. Put a scare in ‘em and likely softened them up for the lions.

[Joemailman]

4 years ago when Packers lost to 49ers in the playoffs, it felt like Packers didn't even belong in the game.

2 years ago, it felt like the end of an era.

This year feels like they're just getting started.

[run pMc]

Boy that Niner D was playing with their hair on fire - especially Lenoir and Greenlaw. Thought the OL was decent enough against a very good and deep defensive front. Love looked a little uncomfortable back there for chunks of the game, I think the Niners had much better coverage than Dallas did. This will be one of those games that Love hopefully reviews like he did his first KC game and learns from.

I felt like SF was the more physical team, but GB wasn't backing down. Savage had a tough game, but in coverage, tackling, and the dropped pick was the cherry on the sundae. Campbell looks a step slow, injury or not. I have to think strengthening the spine of the defense - specifically at LB and S - will be a draft goal.
MLF called a decent game, I felt like GB gave SF all it could handle and showed they belonged. I don't think DAL would have fared better. This was a game of missed chances, and that can kill you in the playoffs.

Aaron Jones had a monster game. Some of his runs that won't show in the game log as big runs were practically heroic. Play him the 1st 4 games of the year, wrap him in plastic for the next 8, and then unwrap him for the end of season/deep playoff run next year lol. McCafferey is a monster because of his versatility, balance and agility, but you could argue Jones was the better back tonight. He was at least his equal.

SF left me thinking they have real vulnerabilities, and if it's BAL vs. SF in the SB I'd take BAL. Purdy is good but he's a bit of a system guy who can execute that offense better than Garropolo or Tua even though he's less talented than either. I thought he was shaky this game, and I wonder if it was rain or rust or GB's defense.

No idea what this does for Barry. I don't think the loss is on Barry specifically, they didn't give up 200+ yards on the ground, Purdy had to throw more than 8 times etc. I think you have to look at his entire body of work - this game as well as the NYG game, or the game vs. PHI last year when they gave up 300+ or the game vs. TEN last year to an ugly offense, or... plenty of highs and lows. My personal preference is for them to move on and find a new DC, but I don't have a vote in MLF's choices lol

I feel bad about the Carlsson kid. People are going to say all kinds of things about him. Meh. The missed FG was a big deal, but it's not like other plays mattered as much or more. Orzech's snaps haven't been great either. I do think they will bring competition for him into camp, it would be crazy not to.
Nixon as a returner can be wildly entertaining, and terrifying.

Overall a good season with a lot of positives (Love, rookies, sweeping da Bears, playoffs?!, beating DAL) but a loss is always tough. Looking forward to the draft and next season. Roster decision and cap mgmt will be fascinating, after 2024 they should have their major cap hits cleared.

[MadtownPacker]

Great post Run but I have to disagree that SF was more physical. For the first time in a long time it felt like the Packers had energy on their side vs SF. The loss was due to inexperience which this game provided. Walking away with the feeling like they should have got them is positive unlike licking wounds from a beat down.

As for Carlson he had it easy the past month missing extra points without worry because the offense was lighting the scoreboard up. When he was finally needed he let down.

[Fosco33]

My keys to the game (in the Gameday thread):

1. We’re gonna need another big game from Jones - 20 for 120.
2. We’re gonna need a clean game from Jordan and spread it out.
3. We’re gonna need to defend against their 3 receiving threats (Kittle, Deebo, Aiyuk) and contain Christian.
4. We’re gonna need 2+ turnovers and possibly a defensive TD.
5. And we can’t miss any kicks/PATs.

We failed on 2, 4 and 5. It’s too bad that Love had 3 bad series in a row and Carlson missed the FG. I think we were better yesterday but failed to capitalize on early drives, dropping INTs and a few bad calls was a clear difference.

[texaspackerbacker]

I remember that post, Fosco. I replied that if all five happened, we'd win by 4 TDs or so.

If the Packers had played even close to as well as they did against the Cowboys, they would have won easily. I still say the Niners are not near as good as the Cowboys.

Despite all of that, we "coulda/shoulda/woulda" won right down to the end ....... but that's for losers, as APB said in another thread.

I'm convinced that if we had won, it would have been another step down - an easier game next week against the Lions or whoever.

Basically, the football season is over now. I, for one, don't give a shit about any of the teams or games going forward, and I don't expect to even watch them.

Next year, though, and beyond should be something special.

[Bretsky]

I remember that post, Fosco. I replied that if all five happened, we'd win by 4 TDs or so.

If the Packers had played even close to as well as they did against the Cowboys, they would have won easily. I still say the Niners are not near as good as the Cowboys.

Despite all of that, we "coulda/shoulda/woulda" won right down to the end ....... but that's for losers, as APB said in another thread.

I'm convinced that if we had won, it would have been another step down - an easier game next week against the Lions or whoever.

Basically, the football season is over now. I, for one, don't give a shit about any of the teams or games going forward, and I don't expect to even watch them.

Next year, though, and beyond should be something special.


san Fran is way better than Dallas

When is the last time you saw Dallas Kick San Fran's ass like what occured a few weeks ago ?

[texaspackerbacker]

Talent-wise, Dallas is better. I'm not as negative about McCarthy as some, but it's probable that the Niners are better coached. The Packers going forward should be better than either of them.

[Fritz]

Lots of good points here. King Friday, for one, makes a good point that Love needs to use his legs once in a while. I don't know if he thinks he still has to prove he's a QB and is not just going to pull the ball down and run whenever things get dicey, but he had some field in front of him on that last drive, and on another play, a third down, I think, he threw badly to Jones six yards away when he could've run the ball. And Jones was going to get hit immediately.

Joe's post is good. Spot on. This does feel like the beginning of something.

So many missed opportunities, you can't blame only Carlson. The two dropped picks were huge, huge, huge. Both were right in the defender's hands.

The lack of pressure on Purdy at the end of the game was a problem.

Love, as mentioned above, did not have a great game. He was mostly pretty good, but he missed badly on some easy throws and should've tucked and run a couple of times.

I feel badly for Devondre Campbell. It's reminding me a leetle bit of Ray Nitschke's last two years or so. Not that Campbell is Nitschke, but just seeing a guy who just has lost a step. Or two. And is running in sand, can no longer get the job done. Sad.

I think MLF also strayed from Jones toward the end of the game, to the team's detriment.

Yet, all in all, it seems that with a "shoring up of the middle," as Run suggested (I think), this team is positioned to be in the mix next season. Safety or two, a corner, an inside linebacker - geez, we're talking defense AGAIN, a new defensive coordinator, a couple of offensive linemen (one being a center, please), a running back or two. That's all on the wish list. And maybe a nose tackle to compete with Slaton.

I was heartened to see Colby Wooden make a play or two, as I think did Brooks. With an offseason of work, it'll be fun to see them next year. And maybe Wyatt can up his game another notch. I hope so.

[run pMc]

san Fran is way better than Dallas

When is the last time you saw Dallas Kick San Fran's ass like what occured a few weeks ago ?

Agree. SF is better at the majority of positional groups, in some cases by a wide margin. Not to say DAL lacks talent, just that SF is stacked.
McCarthy has led them to double digit wins 3 straight years and they won the division over the Eagles. It would have been a bad move IMO to fire him, and I suspect after calming down Jerrah realized it. If anything, the GB beatdown was Dan Quinn's (and Dak's) fault. MLF had Quinn defense figured out. Not hard for GB to run Aaron Jones against a dime defense.

[Bretsky]

Agree. SF is better at the majority of positional groups, in some cases by a wide margin. Not to say DAL lacks talent, just that SF is stacked.
McCarthy has led them to double digit wins 3 straight years and they won the division over the Eagles. It would have been a bad move IMO to fire him, and I suspect after calming down Jerrah realized it. If anything, the GB beatdown was Dan Quinn's (and Dak's) fault. MLF had Quinn defense figured out. Not hard for GB to run Aaron Jones against a dime defense.


I think the talent of SF is way better than Dallas...that....and San Fran seems to own us

[King Friday]

Who did Dallas play this year? No one. Their 12 wins came against trash. The one good team they beat, the Lions, was controversial.

SF is a way better team top to bottom. The media just fawns over the Cowboys to get clicks.

[texaspackerbacker]

hahahahahaha the usual suspects

[Sparkey]

The 49ers have great talent in a lot of areas. Much of it because Purdy has such a low cap number. It allows them to have such a wealth of talent.

With that said, I truly believe if Tom doesn't have to leave the game it is a different outcome.

[ThunderDan]

hahahahahaha the usual suspects

How so? King Friday pointed out a fact. Let's look at it in depth rather than your "the usual suspects."

Wins:
Giants x2 6-11
Jets 7-10
New England 4-13
Chargers 5-12
Rams 10-7
Carolina 2-15
Washington x2 4-13
Seattle 9-8
Phi (beat during the 6 game complete meltdown of the Eagles) 11-6
Det (a game they really didn't win) 12-5

Losses:
ARI
SF
PHI
BUF
Miami
GB

[ThunderDan]

So really the Cowboys only beat the Rams and Seattle. The DET game was handed to them, and they crushed PHI during their collapse in Dallas. Everyone else has a losing record. They got 7 of their wins against really bad teams. Giants, New England, Chargers, Carolina and Washington.

[Joemailman]

Going into 2024 the 3 best teams in the NFC are the 49ers, Packers and Lions. Then Cowboys and maybe Eagles, if they can recover from their second half collapse.

[ThunderDan]

The problem for the Packers is going to be that we are going to finally clear out our cap issues and then we are going to have to sign Love to a big deal.

SF still has a couple more years of Purdy on the cheap before they are going to have to pony up serious money if he keeps performing.

[run pMc]

Tex, I'd be curious. What positional groups does DAL have that you think are better than SF's?


Deebo + Aiyuk > CeeDee + Cooks. It's close bc CeeDee is so good I'd give the nod to SF. Cooks is cooked and Gallup is no better than Jennings.

Kittle >> Ferguson
McCaffrey >> Pollard

DAL OL overall is better, but Trent Williams is the best OT in football. Not a big edge.
SF's DL (including Edge rushers) are better. DAL has Micah and Demarcus, SF has Chase, Bosa, Hargraves, Armstead
SF's LBs are better. Fred Warner is better than anybody DAL has by far.

DAL CBs are better
DAL S are a wash, possibly worse

Dak is better than Purdy, but Dak's variance is much much higher than Purdy's. Dak could go off for 4TDs or throw 4 picks.

SF is top to bottom a better team.

[texaspackerbacker]

run pMc, I generally respect your posting, unlike those "usual suspects" hahahahaha.

To answer your question: Dak is infinitely better than Purdy (you were apparently thinking of last year's Dak); Pollard is only slightly below McCaffrey and I think Dowdle is better than whoever the Niner backup is; Ferguson is at least equal to Kittle plus the Cowboys have a couple other quality TEs; Lamb is enough better than anybody the Niners have to make Cowboy WRs better. Cooks hasn't been too bad, Gallup is certainly no worse than Jennings, and they have a guy named Tolbert who is damn good too; The Cowboy O Line is reputed to be damn good, so I'll give them that group even though I, of course, downplay the importance of O Line; I give D Line and Edge Rushers to Dallas. Parsons is way better than Bosa, Chase Young is not near the factor that Lawrence is, Odigizua and Hankins > than the Niner guys you mentioned; Yes, the Niner ILBs are better and the Cowboys Corners are way better and the Safetys are probably a wash.

Talent-wise the Cowboys are clearly better IMO.

Coaching-wise, I'm gonna call it a wash, as I'm not a McCarthy hater like some in here, and Shanahan may be a little overrated.

[Bretsky]

Mccaffrey "slightly" better than Pollard ? Who cares about Dowdle; I'm not sure who he's better or worse than.

Ferguson at least "equal " to Kittle ?

D Line of Dallas "better"

TEX, the calls coming from upstairs for you to be sent to the concussion protocol tent to test your senses :)

[RashanGary]

I watched quite a bit of the 49ers. This isn’t the physically dominant group from a few years ago. Bosa is overrated. He disappears. Deforest Buckner was their best player and he’s gone. Their OL used to be dominant and now they’re just above average thanks to their all pro LT. But average everywhere else.

This is a team with experience at skill positions and in the back end of the defense. They’re very smart, disciplined, steady. They can be bullied though.

They’re a really good team. They’re good enough to win a SB, but they’ll be declining with age.

The Lions will probably rough them up and beat their ass, but if they don’t, the Ravens surely will.

They have a chance to beat the Lions and probably would beat the chiefs. They have a chance, but I don’t like their chances.

[run pMc]

Yeah I gotta disagree with you tex.

If I had to choose between the two, I'd take Dak over Purdy because of the talent, but that pick Dak threw to Savage was terrible, and he has a habit of doing that. McCarthy got a very good season out of him, better than last year for sure, but he still has those choker moments.

Rashan, I agree SF ain't what they used to be, but they still have a lot of good players on their team - their backups would start other places. Randy Gregory for example. They have a starting QB on about as cheap a salary as you could possibly find, so they have a few years where they can spend elsewhere. I do think they have a number of players who will be getting long in the tooth and more expensive/injury prone (ex. Deebo, CMC) but they are still the best team in the NFC

I'll part by providing a few scores:
42 SF, 10 DAL (Oct 8)
48 GB, 32 DAL (Jan 14)
24 SF, 21 GB (Jan 20).

If DAL is the more talented team, why are they giving up 40 burgers to other teams.

[texaspackerbacker]

Purdy, of course, threw one just as straight to Savage as the one Dak threw, the bad play/bad luck/whatever arguably being the difference in the Niner game. Dak didn't do that very much at all throughout the season. Purdy gets paid just about what he is worth IMO.

I stand by it, Cowboys > Niners.

[call_me_ishmael]

I'm really sick of the Kelce's, but low key it is sweet as hell that Jason held up a little girl and her sign to make sure Taylor saw it.