Packers Report Card: Grades From Victory Over 49ers

The Green Bay Packers have no reason to apologize for a blowout victory over the San Francisco 49ers, who were missing a bunch of high-quality starters. Here are the grades from a 38-10 victory.

Jacob Westendorf | Nov 24, 2024

Green Bay Packers receivers Malik Heath (18) and Dontayvion Wicks (13) celebrate after Wicks' first-down reception vs. the 49ers. / Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Matt LaFleur always says a team does not have to apologize for winning in the NFL.

The Green Bay Packers surely were not going to apologize for beating the San Francisco 49ers, who were missing eight of its starters before the ball was kicked off at Lambeau Field on Sunday.

“We didn’t have our quarterback, and we won three games. It’s not an excuse,” Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon said.

The Packers took an early 17-point lead before a couple of big plays late in the game helped them turn the game into a blowout.

Overall, the Packers did what they were supposed to do. They beat a shorthanded team that has bullied them in years past. They did so in blowout fashion.

The Packers are 8-3, sitting pretty in the NFC playoff picture, with the teeth of their schedule coming up.

Next up on the agenda, is a Thanksgiving night showdown with the red-hot Miami Dolphins, who have won three consecutive games.

Before then, let’s dive into this week’s Packers report card.

Pass Offense

Jordan Love’s final numbers were 13-of-23 passing for 163 yards with two touchdown passes.

Those numbers would have looked better if not for two drops, including a big one by Christian Watson that should have been a 49-yard touchdown before halftime.

Love’s pocket presence at times was poor. He ran into two sacks from pockets that looked relatively clean.

For one reason or another, Green Bay’s passing offense has yet to find its stride. If it is not Love turning over the ball, it’s the receivers dropping passes. If the receivers are not dropping passes, penalties are killing drives.

With Josh Jacobs and the ground game performing as well as it has, theoretically things should be easier for Green Bay’s passing offense.

That has not happened.

They’ll need to find it with the high-scoring Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions up next on the schedule.

For today, it was good enough, but it’s not going to be good enough against a better team.

Grade: C

Rush Offense

Remember the days when the start of free agency was a dormant period for the Packers?

Where would this team be without their two big free-agent acquisitions of the offseason?

On offense, that was Josh Jacobs, who was brought in to replace the beloved Aaron Jones.

Jones is having a good season in Minnesota, but there’s no doubt left that Jacobs was a better fit for the type of offense Matt LaFleur wants to run.

Jacobs was a workhorse again, rumbling for 106 yards on 26 carries and three touchdowns, tying his career high.

There were days in the not-so-distant past when the 49ers were the team that bullied the Packers into oblivion.

On this day, however, it was Jacobs and the Packers punching the bully back.

They asked Jacobs to carry their team to victory, and he delivered.

Grade: A

Pass Defense

This phase of defense got much easier after Brock Purdy was ruled out with a shoulder injury.

Nonetheless, after last week’s dismal performance against the Bears’ Caleb Williams, this team needed a bounce-back game.

Brandon Allen had some nice moments, but ultimately was not nearly consistent enough to get things going against Jeff Hafley’s defense.

Xavier McKinney had an interception. Lukas Van Ness and Rashan Gary stripped the ball from Allen. Quay Walker nearly hauled in an interception.

Anytime a defense holds a team to 10 points, it’s a good day at the office.

Allen finished with 199 yards on 29 passes and a passer rating of 76.7 with one touchdown and the McKinney interception. On the touchdown – his first since 2021 – it looked to be a coverage bust between Walker and Evan Williams.

Ultimately, the Packers mostly shut down a backup quarterback and took the ball away from him twice. That’s always going to earn high marks.

Grade: B

Rush Defense

Keisean Nixon probably said it best.

“We knew they were going to run the ball, because they didn’t have their quarterback.”

Based on that, the mandate from Green Bay’s defense had to be pretty simple once Brock Purdy was ruled out with a shoulder injury.

Do not let Christian McCaffery beat you.

The Packers, to their credit, did not.

Maybe McCaffery is working his way back from two lower-body injuries that have shortened his season, but he did not look like the same explosive force the Packers saw 10 months ago in the playoff loss in Santa Clara.

He finished this game with 31 yards on 11 carries. He also had a fumble on a reception that was forced by Nixon and recovered by Karl Brooks late in the fourth quarter.

“God rewards those who run to the ball,” Nixon said of his forced fumble in the fourth quarter. It’s a phrase coined by linebackers coach Anthony Campanile.

That fumble all but closed out Sunday’s game.

There was one phase of the game that could not be the reason they lost the game.

They were not just good, they were dominant.

Grade: A

Special Teams

Green Bay’s 17-7 lead looked like it was going to be tenuous at best after Deebo Samuel returned the opening kickoff of the second half 82 yards deep into Green Bay territory.

Yes, it was wiped out by a holding penalty that was questionable at best, but it’s curious why a team playing against a backup quarterback would risk losing any field position to a returner as dangerous as Samuel has been during his career.

The decision-making there was odd to say the least.

Apart from that, it was a relatively nondescript day for this group, which was the hero of last week’s game. Some of which is thanks to the level of futility that was reached by San Francisco’s return team.

They had penalties wipe out Samuel’s big kickoff return as well as two nice punt returns from rookie Ricky Pearsall.

Brandon McManus made all his kicks, including the first attempt from more than 50 yards this season by a Packers kicker. He’s been a stabilizing presence at a spot that had been a rollercoaster since Mason Crosby’s departure.

Grade: B

Coaching

The previously mentioned concern about the kickoff unit falls on the coaching staff.

When Brandon Allen, who hadn’t started a game since 2021, is the opposing quarterback, you don’t put any risk on kicking the ball to someone like Deebo Samuel or Jordan Mason, both of whom have been dangerous with the ball in their hands.

The approach to player rotation has been odd on both sides of the ball, as well.

With the game at 17-0, the Packers had a package that included Corey Ballentine getting a coverage snap on third down.

Ty’Ron Hopper, who has not played defensive snaps all season, got some snaps at linebacker.

Getting players experience is understandable when the game is in hand. This game was not.

Ultimately, the offense scored 38 points and the defense only gave up 10. It’s hard to complain too much about the way the coaching staff handled the game, but it certainly could have been better.

Grade: B

Latest Green Bay Packers News

From keys to the game and player of the game, to a look at the playoff picture and what's ahead on Thursday, here's @hibbard_casey's quick-hitting look at the #Packers victory.https://t.co/no9ndlYnEd
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) November 25, 2024

Published Nov 24, 2024

JACOB WESTENDORF