SANTA CLARA—The 49ers’ struggles continued Sunday as they fell 17-3 to the undefeated Green Bay Packers at Levi’s Stadium.
San Francisco’s offense was stagnant with the lone score coming off a 33-yard field goal from Phil Dawson late in the second quarter.
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick left a lot to be desired, going 13 for 25 for 160 yards with an interception. He also had 10 carries for 57 yards.
San Francisco has lost its last three straight and has been outscored by opponents 110-48. Kaepernick has yet to find his groove as well and has tallied five interceptions through the first four game. He mustered just 67 yards in Week 3 against Arizona and thrown for over 165 yards just once in his 335 yard performance in the Week 2 loss at Pittsburgh.
After the game, Kaepernick he’ll be studying and working hard in an effort to right the ship offensively.
“…we have to find our rhythm,” the 49ers quarterback said. “We have to get back on track and string plays together. When we do that, we have produced successful drives. It’s getting those plays to string together where we’ve struggled thus far.”
Despite his quarterback’s struggles, San Francisco head coach Jim Tomsula said he hasn’t given up on Kaepernick just yet.
“I won’t even go into that discussion,” Tomsula said when asked if it’s time for QB change. “It’s not on my mind.”
The offensive line didn’t help its quarterback either. Kaepernick was sacked six times in the game—twice by Nick Perry and once by Jayrone Elliott, Mike Neal, Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews. Matthews added insult to injury by “Kaepernicking”—flexing his right arm and kissing his bicep—after tossing the QB to the ground.
“Speaking on behalf of the defense, we did a great job of shutting down the type of offense they like to run,” Matthews said. “…We have a very good pass rush unit. I think you saw the sacks, quarterback hits and the pressures. It was not just one guy but it was several.”
Aaron Rodgers was as lethal as ever, completing 22 of his 32 attempts for 224 yards and a touchdown. But the ‘9ers defense gave him fits, sacking the Packer three times. It was the most sacks against Rodgers since the Packers played New England on Nov. 30, 2014.
Aaron Lynch administered two of those sacks, marking the first multi-sack game of his career. Lynch has registered at least one sack in six of his last seven games at home. Ahmad Brooks notched the third sack of the day for his first of the season and the 42nd of his career.
“With a defensive mind, if we score three they need to score none,” Tomsula said. “But the effort that went into the defense, the way we played on defense, the way the guys played, how hard they played, we can see a lot of improvement there.”
Green Bay got on the board first as Richard Rodgers scored on a 9-yard pass from Aaron Rodgers with 9:02 left in the first. John Kuhn widened the Packers’ lead as he punched the ball in from 1-yard with 7:10 left in the third. Mason Crosby capped off scoring with a 31-yard field goal with 45 ticks left in the third.
“It was a grind out there,” Aaron Rodgers said after the game. “We had a good first drive and kind of stalled for a little while. The defense played incredible and I thought we ran the ball pretty well.”
The 49ers (1-3) look to right the ship when they take on Eli Manning and the Giants at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey.
“(I’m going to) study as much as I can. Work as much as I can,” Kaepernick said. “That’s the only way I know how to fix things is go back to work…at the end of the day you have to work to get better.”
