Without a doubt, the biggest takeaway from the Green Bay Packers' 17-3 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday was that the defense figured out a way to take Colin Kaepernick and the read-option out of the equation.
Green Bay limited San Francisco to just 196 total yards on Sunday, with Kaepernick managing just 160 passing yards and 57 rushing yards.
A decline, or perhaps lack of development, in Kaepernick's play, which has been evident all season, was definitely a factor in his showing, but it's also obvious that Green Bay's defense has made leaps and bounds from the unit that was dominated by the 49ers from 2012-14.
Let's break down five of the biggest takeaways from Green Bay's fourth win of the season and what the team can either work on or keep doing well as we head into Week 5. Though they are not included in the following breakdown, the fact that Aaron Rodgers, Randall Cobb and James Jones, in particular, continue to play at an eye-popping level goes without saying.
Green Bay limited San Francisco to just 196 total yards on Sunday, with Kaepernick managing just 160 passing yards and 57 rushing yards.
A decline, or perhaps lack of development, in Kaepernick's play, which has been evident all season, was definitely a factor in his showing, but it's also obvious that Green Bay's defense has made leaps and bounds from the unit that was dominated by the 49ers from 2012-14.
Let's break down five of the biggest takeaways from Green Bay's fourth win of the season and what the team can either work on or keep doing well as we head into Week 5. Though they are not included in the following breakdown, the fact that Aaron Rodgers, Randall Cobb and James Jones, in particular, continue to play at an eye-popping level goes without saying.
After three straight losses at the hands of Colin Kaepernick—or, more accurately, the legs—the Packers finally managed to shut him and the 49ers down.
And did they ever.
In his last three games against the Packers, Kaepernick averaged 300.7 passing yards per game, 100.3 rushing yards per game, two touchdowns and less than one interception per game.
Against the Packers on Sunday, however, Kaepernick was abysmal, passing for 160 yards and rushing for 57, with no touchdowns and one interception.
And while Kaepernick has exhibited poor play through the 2015 season, showing a lack of development and rushing less than he used to, the Packers held him to his second-lowest passing output on the season and his second-lowest completion rate of just 52 percent.
Part of the issue for Kaepernick was that the Packers took at 14-point lead early and didn't relinquish it, meaning the 49ers needed him to pass from the pocket more and use his legs less.
Hey, whatever it takes to finally get the job done against him.
And did they ever.
In his last three games against the Packers, Kaepernick averaged 300.7 passing yards per game, 100.3 rushing yards per game, two touchdowns and less than one interception per game.
Against the Packers on Sunday, however, Kaepernick was abysmal, passing for 160 yards and rushing for 57, with no touchdowns and one interception.
And while Kaepernick has exhibited poor play through the 2015 season, showing a lack of development and rushing less than he used to, the Packers held him to his second-lowest passing output on the season and his second-lowest completion rate of just 52 percent.
Part of the issue for Kaepernick was that the Packers took at 14-point lead early and didn't relinquish it, meaning the 49ers needed him to pass from the pocket more and use his legs less.
Hey, whatever it takes to finally get the job done against him.
Aaron Rodgers had only taken three sacks, total, heading into
Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers, but he doubled that
amount for the season, going down three times.
It was what Green Bay Press-Gazette writer Ryan Wood called the "worst pass protect of the season" for the Packers offensive line, and he's right.
In addition to his three sacks, Rodgers also took five quarterback hits and averaged seven yards per pass attempt, down from his average of 8.5 yards on the season.
Part of that was due to the way the 49ers defense played the Packers and to his diminished receiving corps, but the offensive line struggled to keep a clean pocket open for him at times.
Four of the Packers' eight penalties also came at the hands of the offensive line: a false start on T.J. Lang, a holding call on David Bakhtiari and two holding calls on Josh Sitton. Especially considering those are members of the first-string starting five, those numbers need to decrease.
That's not to say backup Don Barclay had a good night just because he didn't have a penalty, however. He was completely run over by San Francisco's Aaron Lynch, who had two sacks on Rodgers.
Needless to say, the Packers will be waiting eagerly to get starting right tackle Bryan Bulaga back after this week.
It was what Green Bay Press-Gazette writer Ryan Wood called the "worst pass protect of the season" for the Packers offensive line, and he's right.
In addition to his three sacks, Rodgers also took five quarterback hits and averaged seven yards per pass attempt, down from his average of 8.5 yards on the season.
Part of that was due to the way the 49ers defense played the Packers and to his diminished receiving corps, but the offensive line struggled to keep a clean pocket open for him at times.
Four of the Packers' eight penalties also came at the hands of the offensive line: a false start on T.J. Lang, a holding call on David Bakhtiari and two holding calls on Josh Sitton. Especially considering those are members of the first-string starting five, those numbers need to decrease.
That's not to say backup Don Barclay had a good night just because he didn't have a penalty, however. He was completely run over by San Francisco's Aaron Lynch, who had two sacks on Rodgers.
Needless to say, the Packers will be waiting eagerly to get starting right tackle Bryan Bulaga back after this week.
It's officially time to acknowledge that outside linebacker Nick
Perry's play this season is not a fluke, but rather it's a legitimate
improvement.
The Packers effectively forced Perry into a contract year this season when they elected not to pick up the fifth-year option on his contract in the offseason.
Given his play through the first four weeks, Perry in turn is effectively saying, "That's fine with me."
On his way to prove he can be a productive player for the Packers in the future, Perry had a sack, a forced fumble and seven combined tackles through the first three games of the season and was an important part of stopping the run.
He stepped that up in Week 4, adding two more sacks, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits and two solo tackles.
With Julius Peppers aging and figuring to cost a big chunk of change against the cap in 2016 and veteran Mike Neal also poised to become a free agent in March, there's a place for Perry in this team's future if he keeps up this level of play.
Rodgers threw for 224 yards, and the Green Bay defense held the 49ers
offense out of the end zone as the Packers moved to 4-0 with a 17-3 win
at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Largely held in check throughout, Rodgers was able to snap his four-game losing streak against San Francisco by avoiding mistakes. He ran his interception-less streak to four games, completing 22 of 32 passes and hitting Richard Rodgers for a first-quarter score.
The reigning MVP has 11 touchdowns without a pick so far in 2015 and is arguably the quarter-season favorite to be the first repeat winner since Peyton Manning in 2008 and 2009.
"I don't know how much better he can play, frankly. But you never know with Aaron," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said prior to Sunday's game, per Daniel Brown of the San Jose Mercury News. "He's very motivated, very detailed in his preparation in trying to improve. He's playing at an extremely high level."
James Jones continued his triumphant return to Green Bay with a team-high 98 yards on five receptions. Jones was one of three Packers (Rodgers, Randall Cobb) tied with five grabs. The Packers were playing without second-year wideout Davante Adams, leaving them without two of their three projected top receivers (Jordy Nelson) from the preseason.
Will Brinson of CBS Sports highlighted the fact the New York Giants made a not-so-great decision regarding Jones:
Eddie Lacy, seemingly back to full health, set a season high with 90 yards. Lacy had 18 carries compared to nine for James Starks, flipping the script on the last two weeks where Starks got a majority of the work. Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus noted what Lacy brings to the table:
On the other side of the field, the 49ers offense continues to be a mess. Colin Kaepernick was sacked six times and threw an interception as San Francisco amounted to only 196 yards of total offense.
Kaepernick has now failed to record a touchdown pass in three of four games this season, and the 49ers have scored a grand total of 48 points through four games.
"That’s not really something I’m concerned with," Kaepernick told the Associated Press' Janie McCauley this week of calls for him to lose his job (via CBS Sacramento). "I have confidence in myself as far as being able to go out and help this team win. What other people think of how I play and how I go about things really isn’t something I worry about.”
HBO's Bill Simmons wondered how Kaepernick has fallen this far:
The Packers effectively forced Perry into a contract year this season when they elected not to pick up the fifth-year option on his contract in the offseason.
Given his play through the first four weeks, Perry in turn is effectively saying, "That's fine with me."
On his way to prove he can be a productive player for the Packers in the future, Perry had a sack, a forced fumble and seven combined tackles through the first three games of the season and was an important part of stopping the run.
He stepped that up in Week 4, adding two more sacks, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits and two solo tackles.
With Julius Peppers aging and figuring to cost a big chunk of change against the cap in 2016 and veteran Mike Neal also poised to become a free agent in March, there's a place for Perry in this team's future if he keeps up this level of play.
Heading into Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers, Packers
punter Tim Masthay was already having a slow start to his season.
In three games, Masthay was averaging 38 net yards per punt, putting him at No. 23 among all punters. Eight of his punts had been returned, which was tied for the sixth-most in the league.
Not much improved on Sunday. By the time his afternoon was finished, Masthay averaged 39.2 yards per punt on six attempts. San Francisco's Jarryd Hayne returned three of them, but Green Bay's special teams kept him in check, allowing just 12 yards.
Masthay admitted to having a mental block last season, when his decline began.
"I allowed too many negative thoughts to distract me; that was one—a big one," Masthay said in August, per ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky. "And two, I felt like I hurried myself a little too much."
Though Masthay told Demovsky he didn't plan on making the same mistakes this season, especially given that he won the training-camp competition against Cody Mandell, it appears he's still struggling with confidence and technique.
In three games, Masthay was averaging 38 net yards per punt, putting him at No. 23 among all punters. Eight of his punts had been returned, which was tied for the sixth-most in the league.
Not much improved on Sunday. By the time his afternoon was finished, Masthay averaged 39.2 yards per punt on six attempts. San Francisco's Jarryd Hayne returned three of them, but Green Bay's special teams kept him in check, allowing just 12 yards.
Masthay admitted to having a mental block last season, when his decline began.
"I allowed too many negative thoughts to distract me; that was one—a big one," Masthay said in August, per ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky. "And two, I felt like I hurried myself a little too much."
Though Masthay told Demovsky he didn't plan on making the same mistakes this season, especially given that he won the training-camp competition against Cody Mandell, it appears he's still struggling with confidence and technique.
As the Packers advance to 4-0 on the season, with a defense that is
finally playing at a high level and featuring the usual high-octane
offense, it's hard to imagine there is anything they could do to
improve.
Especially given that the mighty Arizona Cardinals fell to the St. Louis Rams on Sunday, the Packers are looking like the NFC's best team.
Still, there's one area in which the Packers could improve to become even more unstoppable, and that's in third-down conversions.
Heading into Sunday's game, the Packers had a third-down conversion percentage of 43.75, which was 11th in the league. That's not horrible, but it definitely left room for improvement.
Against the 49ers, however, the Packers only converted five of 15 third downs, giving them a conversion rate of just 33.33 percent. (They did, however, go 2-of-2 on fourth-down attempts.)
Part of the improvement will come from improved offensive line play. If the unit can both limit the sacks Rodgers takes on third downs and open up passable lanes for Eddie Lacy in short-yardage conversion attempts, the percentage should improve.
Especially given that the mighty Arizona Cardinals fell to the St. Louis Rams on Sunday, the Packers are looking like the NFC's best team.
Still, there's one area in which the Packers could improve to become even more unstoppable, and that's in third-down conversions.
Heading into Sunday's game, the Packers had a third-down conversion percentage of 43.75, which was 11th in the league. That's not horrible, but it definitely left room for improvement.
Against the 49ers, however, the Packers only converted five of 15 third downs, giving them a conversion rate of just 33.33 percent. (They did, however, go 2-of-2 on fourth-down attempts.)
Part of the improvement will come from improved offensive line play. If the unit can both limit the sacks Rodgers takes on third downs and open up passable lanes for Eddie Lacy in short-yardage conversion attempts, the percentage should improve.
There weren't five touchdowns for Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers this week. Luckily, his one was more than enough against a spiraling San Francisco 49ers team.
Largely held in check throughout, Rodgers was able to snap his four-game losing streak against San Francisco by avoiding mistakes. He ran his interception-less streak to four games, completing 22 of 32 passes and hitting Richard Rodgers for a first-quarter score.
The reigning MVP has 11 touchdowns without a pick so far in 2015 and is arguably the quarter-season favorite to be the first repeat winner since Peyton Manning in 2008 and 2009.
"I don't know how much better he can play, frankly. But you never know with Aaron," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said prior to Sunday's game, per Daniel Brown of the San Jose Mercury News. "He's very motivated, very detailed in his preparation in trying to improve. He's playing at an extremely high level."
James Jones continued his triumphant return to Green Bay with a team-high 98 yards on five receptions. Jones was one of three Packers (Rodgers, Randall Cobb) tied with five grabs. The Packers were playing without second-year wideout Davante Adams, leaving them without two of their three projected top receivers (Jordy Nelson) from the preseason.
Will Brinson of CBS Sports highlighted the fact the New York Giants made a not-so-great decision regarding Jones:
Eddie Lacy, seemingly back to full health, set a season high with 90 yards. Lacy had 18 carries compared to nine for James Starks, flipping the script on the last two weeks where Starks got a majority of the work. Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus noted what Lacy brings to the table:
On the other side of the field, the 49ers offense continues to be a mess. Colin Kaepernick was sacked six times and threw an interception as San Francisco amounted to only 196 yards of total offense.
Kaepernick has now failed to record a touchdown pass in three of four games this season, and the 49ers have scored a grand total of 48 points through four games.
"That’s not really something I’m concerned with," Kaepernick told the Associated Press' Janie McCauley this week of calls for him to lose his job (via CBS Sacramento). "I have confidence in myself as far as being able to go out and help this team win. What other people think of how I play and how I go about things really isn’t something I worry about.”
HBO's Bill Simmons wondered how Kaepernick has fallen this far:
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