Colin Kaepernick And The Offense Struggle In Loss To Packers
By David Ochoa
Colin Kaepernick was not able to summon the same magic he used to have against the Packers as the 49ers lost to Green Bay by a score of 17-3. For the third straight game, the San Francisco 49ers could not get anything going on offense. And their third straight loss dropped them to 1-3 on the season.
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The 49ers’ defense played a great game against the league’s best quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. They were able to hold Rodgers and the Packers’ offense to less than 20 points for the first time this season. The defensive line was finally able to supply some pressure, disrupting Rodgers’ rhythm. Aaron Lynch led the charge by getting two of the three sacks on Rodgers.
Despite their overall good play, the defense still gave up 17 points to the Packers, which was ultimately enough to win the game. While not as flashy as his other games, Rodgers still had a very productive game, throwing for 224 yards and one touchdown.
With the offense’s inability to get anything going though, the Packers were able to wear down the 49ers’ defense. As the game progressed, San Francisco’s usual stout defense withered away and allowed Eddie Lacy to come away with 90 yards on 18 carries.
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Unfortunately for the 49ers, the offense hung the defense out to dry. While the offensive line had yet another poor game, Kaepernick looked scared and unsure of himself. He reverted back to his old habit of running if his first read wasn’t open.
Even when his read was open, Kaepernick’s throws were mostly off target as well. He finished the game with just 160 passing yards and an interception.
Just as the line didn’t help much in the pass blocking department, they struggled run blocking as well. Carlos Hyde only carried the ball eight times for 20 yards, most of which came early in the game. Despite only being down by two touchdowns, the 49ers elected to abandon the run game and put the game on Kaepernick’s shoulders.
The frustration among the team mounted with each failed drive as receivers like Torrey Smith showed their displeasure with each sack and incompletion. The pathetic showing by the offense is now becoming a pattern as the 49ers have only scored 10 points over the last eight quarters of football.
With no positive takeaways from this game, fans are beginning to wonder if there is any end to the offense’s mediocrity. The 49ers won their first game of the season, but with the awful performances since then, it’s hard to comfortably say that the 49ers can win another game this season.
Despite having talent on both sides of the ball, the 49ers are most likely not the worst team in the league. A team can have all the talent in the world, but if that team can’t execute, then how much talent they have doesn’t matter.
The 49ers have talent, but they’re not executing and are absolutely playing like the worst team in the league.
Next week, the 49ers take on the New York Giants. While not a great team, the Giants are still dangerous. If the 49ers want to right their ship they absolutely must take the first steps toward doing it next week in New York.