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Health & Fitness

Why the Latest 49ers Loss was Weirdly Encouraging

Yeah.

It looks awful.

Five hundred yards from the Niners, again. Dominance by Colin Kaepernick, again. A San Francisco wide receiver making corned-beef hash of Green Bay's soft zone coverages and small corners, spinning through tackler after would-be tackler, again. And the third loss in a calendar year to Mike McCarthy's old team, two season-openers sandwiched around a crushing playoff blowout.

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So why do I feel so optimistic?

I'll be honest with you. I didn't expect to win this game. With pretty much the same personnel as last time, I didn't expect it to really even be close.

And it was. There was one drive, the late go-ahead one with the Anquan Boldin catch-and-run that ended with Frank Gore plunging into the end zone, where I thought the Packers just could not stop the 49ers. The rest of the day, they honestly looked evenly matched to me.

Think about it. The 49ers' strength is their big, bad offensive line. Just one of them is under 6'5”, and they're as big and heavy as you'll find in the NFL. Even without Kaepernick running wild (which the Packers, playing contain for most of the day, did not allow), the Niners are used to moving people off the ball and running the back up the gut. I can't think of a single run by a 49ers back that went outside the tackles (although I did come in one drive late). And the Packers stuffed almost every one of them! The 49ers averaged 2.6 yards per carry, with a Pro Bowl back and a super-mobile QB. That's something to be proud of, Packer Nation, when our team was getting pushed off the ball like a bunch of clowns just eight months ago.

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But holding down the running game doesn't mean anything since the Niners dominated through the air, right? Not exactly.

If you go back and read through my posts, you'll notice I rely on stats a whole heck of a lot. I didn't take a single note for this paragraph, or look up a single line, but just watching the game as a pure fan it sure didn't feel like Kaepernick was dominating us. I think the Packers blew a great many coverages--the first Vernon Davis touchdown was one--and missed a great many tackles, most notably the Boldin catch-and-run for 43. To contain Kaepernick's scrambling, the Packers were playing contain with the pass-rush and sitting back in zone coverage for most of the day... without their best zone cornerback and without their communicator, Morgan Burnett, getting everybody lined up.

This isn't to take away from the 49ers, or from Boldin or Kaepernick or Vernon Davis. All had excellent games. Boldin was utterly dominant over the middle, getting open in traffic and after the catch. And Kaepernick hardly made a bad throw all day.

But if you think he wasn't helped out at all by all the blatant blown coverages, I'll sell you the Golden Gate Bridge. The Packers didn't beat themselves, but they sure made it easier for Kaepernick to do it.

As for the offense, I'm hearing way too much negativity and disappointment about the running game. Oh, we didn't get anywhere with our shiny new back, and that's true. But we as fans and they as commentators have become so used to Aaron Rodgers dominating that it's not even remarkable anymore. We shouldn't be overlooking it. He played an amazing game on Sunday. Pinpoint throws down the sidelines to beat man-to-man coverage, working the flats with Jermichael Finley and Eddie Lacy, finding Randall Cobb for an easy 38-yard completion on the game's final drive that was just a beauty. I thought Rodgers played his best game since at least the Texans game last year, and let's not minimize the importance of that. He and McCarthy, even without a running game, know how to beat the Niners' defense. Think about it: the Packers lost the turnover battle 2-0, one of which handed the Niners a gift touchdown from the 14, and they still rolled up 385 yards and were in it until the game's final play.

Worried about the rookie left tackle? He gave up a sack and a half, but never seemed overwhelmed by the presence of two of the best pass-rushers in football. Josh Sitton had three penalties against the incomparable Justin Smith, but his technique will improve as he settles into the left side. The only thing I was unhappy with from the offensive line was letting Rodgers get sacked, essentially, on the final play. How do you let a three-man rush get to the quarterback in about two seconds?

There were plenty of holes. The Lacy fumble, the poor zone coverage, Jeremy Ross's bad decisions on the kickoff must be addressed. And you can bet Clay Matthews got an earful for his late hit out of bounds that, had Joe Staley not let himself be provoked, should have netted the 49ers a new set of downs. (That's why you shouldn't be upset about the dead-ball foul blown call, by the way.) And at the end of the day, positives notwithstanding, the team is still 0-1 for the second straight year.

But the Packers have shown they can hang with the top dogs in the NFC. And if the teams meet again this year, I'm optimistic about our chances.


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