| Green
Bay Packers players sit on the bench during the fourth quarter
of an NFC divisional playoff NFL football game against the San
Francisco 49ers in San Francisco on Saturday. |
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SAN FRANCISCO -
When Colin Kaepernick went back to throw, he found open receivers.
When the Green Bay Packers had it covered, he scrambled for
back-breaking gains. When Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers
mixed in the read option, the Packers had no chance.
A week after
holding 2,000-yard rusher Adrian Peterson in check, the Packers were
run over and sent home from the playoffs with a 45-31 loss Saturday
night.
"We just
didn't have an answer," linebacker A.J. Hawk said. "We
couldn't find a way to get off the field on third down. We couldn't
find a way to get off the field ever, really. He did a great job if
he pulled it down to run. On passing plays, he did a good job of
getting it down field. Also, when they were running that option
play, we couldn't get it stopped."
The Packers (12-6)
came into the game brimming with confidence after holding Peterson
to 99 yards in a 24-10 win last week that set up a rematch of a week
one meeting with the 49ers. That confidence only increased after Sam
Shields returned an interception 52 yards for a touchdown on the
opening drive.
That would end up
being about the only bright spot during a historically bad night for
the Green Bay defense that gave up the most total yards (579), yards
rushing (323) and second-most points in the playoffs in franchise
history.
Only one other team
has run for at least 320 yards and four touchdowns in a postseason
game, with Chicago accomplishing the feat in a 73-0 win over
Washington in 1940. Those Bears didn't have a quarterback who could
paralyze a defense with the read-option and scrambles the way
Kaepernick did in gaining 181 yards, a record for a quarterback in
the regular season or playoffs.
"You can't let
him out of there," defensive back Charles Woodson said.
"It's that simple, it seems. You get good rushes on a guy like
that and he finds that one hole, that one gap. When he takes off,
he's out of there. It seems like it's 10 yards a pop every time he
sneaks out of there. When that happens it's hard to defend."
Kaepernick
scrambled for a 20-yard score in the first quarter. Then he set the
rushing record for a quarterback in the playoffs when he faked an
inside handoff to Frank Gore and raced untouched for a 56-yard score
that gave San Francisco a 31-24 lead late in the third quarter.
"We didn't
handle the read option very good and we didn't handle the
quarterback getting out of the pocket," coach Mike McCarthy
said. "You may not have noticed, but we did have a spy on him
at times."
It just didn't
matter.
Then the power
running took over from there with Gore and Anthony Dixon each
running for short scores that turned the tight game into a blowout.
It was another
example of how San Francisco is a completely different team than the
one that beat the Packers in Green Bay in September with the elusive
Kaepernick having replaced Alex Smith at quarterback. The Packers
seemed unprepared for Kaepernick's zone-read plays and scrambles,
and they now will have all offseason to figure out how to handle
them in the future.
"The one thing
it does is it kind of makes you a little bit indecisive in what you
want to do," Woodson said. "You want to shoot in there,
but he may hold the ball and take it outside. If you go outside, he
might give it to the running back and take it up the middle. It's
one of those things that makes you play flat footed a little
bit."
They even struggled
when the Niners went to the air, allowing Kaepernick to throw for
263 yards and two first-half touchdowns to Michael Crabtree.
"To win a
game, you need to make a team one dimensional, take away the run and
make them beat you throwing," Hawk said. "That was our
plan coming in but it didn't work out. It's crazy to end the season
so abruptly like this but we know that's how it works in the
playoffs."
That all proved to
be too much for even last year's NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers to overcome.
He threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns, but also was intercepted
once and couldn't keep up with Kaepernick.
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