Packers Foil Another San Francisco Comeback Bid

NFL News - November 22nd, 2009 - Written by John

Michael Crabtree caught his first professional touchdown on Sunday, and Alex Smith nearly orchestrated an impressive comeback win. But again, San Francisco came up short in a 30-24 loss when the Green Bay Packers ate up the final six minutes of the game and sat on the ball to win SU and preserve the 4 1/2-point spread. Hoping to get a spark by changing quarterbacks, the San Francisco 49ers have gone 1-3 with Alex Smith under center, including Sunday, falling in three of their last four losses by a combined 11 points.

Smith almost brought his team back against the Houston Texans in Week Seven, but lost 24-21, then lost late to the Indianapolis Colts, 14-12, in Week Eight.

He's done most of his damage in the second half, and was great there again, throwing three touchdown passes in the span of about 12 minutes. But it wasn't enough to erase a miserable first half in which Smith completed only nine of 21 passes. He finished with 227 yards and three touchdowns. Vernon Davis had one of those late scores, and broke the 100-yard mark for the second time this season.

Crabtree had 77 yards to go along with the score, the second-highest total all year.

No quarterbacking issues in Green Bay, though. Aaron Rodgers was magnificent throughout, completing 32 passes for 344 yards and two touchdowns, and will remain among the leaders in pass efficiency.

What's more important was that Rodgers wasn't roughed up nearly as much as he had been all year. At the start of the fourth quarter, the offensive line hadn't allowed a single sack, thanks to a new approach that asked Rodgers to use shorter dropbacks before passing. It worked to perfection, allowing a season-low two sacks total.

Seven different receivers had multiple catches, including Greg Jennings who caught five balls for 126 yards and a score. He had the team's first touchdown grab in the second quarter, hauling in a 64-yard bomb from Rodgers to make it 13-3.

Two drives later, Rodgers struck again with a seven-yard strike to Jordy Nelson that seemed to break the game wide open.

But after halftime, head coach Mike Singletary seemed to light a fire into his team, and the Niners outscored the Packers 21-7 in the final 30 minutes.

Down 30-10, Davis went across the middle and gobbled up a 24-yard pass for a touchdown with 10 minutes to go.

On the next drive, it was Frank Gore who caught a ball out of the backfield and found the endzone from the 10 to reach the six-point margin. But with just under six minutes left, the Packers were able to gain four first downs and run the clock all the way down to zero.

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