San Francisco 49ers Week 1 semi-live recap

ACLB 2012 WEEK 1 NOTES

FIRST QUARTER:

49ers get the ball first and kneel the opening kickoff.  Two good running plays, first pass is a sack on 3rd and 1 as Clay Matthews makes Joe Staley look bad.  Andy Lee punts like a boss, punt is muffed then recovered for a nominal return. The Scab Refs are already confused at 13:03 left in the 1st Quarter.  Somehow the KICKING team blocks in the back during the return?  Hoo boy.   Aldon Smith does a great job of chasing down Rodgers on a bootleg for a sack, and immediately, idiotically, takes his helmet off.  Unsportsmanlike and 15.  UGH.  Packers can't run, 49ers can't stop the 12 yard pass.  After Harbaugh burns challenge #1 unsuccessfully, the Packers stall themselves with a false start, and Carlos Rogers stops the drive with a CB blitz sack followed by the heads up play of actually keeping his helmet on.  Kyle Williams lets it bounce into the end zone.  Slot slant to Crabtree on first down for a first down.  Crabtree moves the chains again, then a play action to Moss gets 20+ more.  Hunter with more carries than Gore so far.  Alex throws too high for Delany Walker to stall the drive in "easy" Akers FG range.  40 yarder right down the throat, 3-0 49ers as we go the first commerical break with 4:53 left in the first.  Apparently FOX isn't in regular season form yet.

Akers launches a bomb just wide of the goalposts on the kickoff.  Commercial break.  THERE WE GO.

Packers still trying to establish the run, which is about the only thing slowing them down right now.   Rodgers hits the short passes and they just have to tackle immediately.  First shot deep is defended by Terrell Brown. Jennings manages to escape the arms of WILLIS but the second wave tackles him short to force a punt from midfield.  Williams fair catch.

Gore runs twice for 7 yards and the rest of the first quarter clock.

SECOND QUARTER:

Williams draws PI to move the chains.  "68 and 67 are reporting eligible", 49ers are like to confuse and overwhelm the scab refs with this reporting lineman thing they do so much as this game goes on.  Smith rolls out from the blitz and Clay Matthews gets a roughing the passer call, probably because he left his feet right as/after Smith threw it.  Gore right for a first.  Davis at the sticks on the right sideline for another first.  Crabtree slant puts them in their nemesis red zone.  Hunter runs for nothing, then Randy Moss TOUCHDOWN, 15 yards.  10-0 49ers with 11:10 left.

Akers just short of the crossbar on the kickoff.

Packers now short passing even more in lieu of actual running plays.  Culliver gets away with a hold on a play Aldon was offside on anyway.  Aldon draws a hold with his rush up the middle.  OPI for a pushoff that the real refs probably wouldn't call saves the 49ers from first and goal.  Packers still move the ball into the red zone and eventually score. 10-7 with 4:40 left.

Kickoff through the end zone.

Manningham, Moss, Gore run for 5, drive stalls but a defensive hold of Davis extends it.  Two minute warning.

Staley gets away with a false start, first down to Manningham.  Crabtree catch just short, 3rd and 1 at the 25, timeout with one minute left.

Short Yardage still not any better than last year, jumbo package gets the anti-push and Gore loses a yard.  GB time out.

Akers lines up from 43 yards out.   RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE.  13-7 49ers with :55 seconds left.  He puts the ensuing kickoff in the seats.  AKERS IS A BOSS.  False start, Aldon just misses a sack only because grounding/grasp does not exist outside the tackle box.  The short completion over the middle can't hurt them much right now as the 49ers drift in to prevent and GB burns another time out with :39 left.  Rodgers again blatantly throws it away just outside the tackle box.  Williams returns to the 39 as they just avoid running themselves into an illegal block in the back.  KAEPERNICK SIGHTING.  QB draw out of the spread to the QB 45 as they call their last time out.  Then GB uses theirs.  Nothing open on two short attempts to whittle the distance down, Akers comes out for a 63 yarder with :02 left.  OFF THE CROSSBAR AND IN!  DAVID AKERS FOR MVP! 16-7 49ers at halftime.

THIRD QUARTER

Akers is short on the kickoff and it's returned from the end zone to just past the 20.  Packers burn an early time out on a 3rd and 1 to exasperate their home crowd.

Deep bomb (70 yards on the fly!) is overthrown, Dashon Goldson stayed at home.  Kyle Williams takes a fair catch.

Charles Woodson blitzes and sacks Alex, WR screen to Manningham only gets a few, Crabtree hushes the crowd by catching a cross and making a move to get the first and then some.  Gore sweeps right for 20, and the crowd goes milder.  Vernon Davis wide open on play action and gets just inside the 10.  First play in the red zone is... a time out.  Some things never change even when things are going so well.

Hunter sweeps left, just short of the goal line, they belatedly call him in, which means they'll review and see he stepped out at the 2.  REVIEW BREAK.

2nd and goal at the 2, FALSE START.  Bah.  Nothing slant to Moss for 2 instead of a wide open Crabs in the end zone.  Davis holds on for the TOUCHDOWN on the next pass.   He tries to dunk over the crossbar -- which was supposed to become a penalty this year, I think -- and gets completely stuffed by the crossbar.   Hah.  One more reason to no longer do that shit.  23-7 49ers with 8:16 left in the 3rd.  Kickoff is returned shy of the 25.  Packers pass for first downs and slow progress while still vainly trying to run.  Rodgers hits Finley in the hands for the first but Finley drops it and the drive stalls at midfield again instead.  Williams runs away from the punt, which is a wise play considering history, but it rolls out at their own 4.

Gore left slowly for 7 to get out of the shadow of the goal line, mostly. Hunter runs for the first.  Alex takes a sack, but Gore compensates with 16 on a sweep.  Hunter right, and  49ers are running the Sweep all over the Packers in Lombardi's stadium.  49ers eventually punt when a swing pass to Crabtree is caught short of the sticks.  Lee's punt is fair caught at the 20.

Packers get just shy of midfield before the quarter ends.

FOURTH QUARTER

Aikman pointing out that WILLIS has been subbing in and out atypically.  That could be a point of concern, consistent with some of the Packers being able to make guys miss tackles.  DASHON GOLDSON puts a lick on Jennings to make sure he drops the ball and ends the drive.  Williams fair catch at the 9 as Joe Buck has taken to saying "no flag" after every passing play, which is slightly irksome.

A hold on Staley hamstrings their attempts to get out from deep in their own territory, running conservatively on 3rd and 12 and settling for a punt and consumed time.   Three blocks in the back spring the Packers for a punt return TD before the scabs finally ca...WHAT?  Somehow they pick up the flag.  Idiots.  Apparent touchdown pending review.

Touchdown holds up. 2pt conversion is good.  23-15.  Ugh.  Touchback.  11:16 left.  Gore catches a screen pass and may be short of a first pending challenge #2 of 2 as we go to break, staring another 3 and out in the face.

Challenge denied, 4th down it is.  1 time out and no challenges left.  Andy Lee on to punt, fair caught at the 25.  MISTER NAVORRO BOWMAN leaps and intercepts Rodgers on the first play right in the middle of the field,  hell yeah!  Takeaways and short fields, this is the 49ers in their element Gore sweeps and goes all 23 yards for goal, getting knocked forward for the final yard by a nasty helmet to helmet hit by #38.  30-15 49ers with 8:41 left.

Akers kickoff is short and returned, Packers starting to get chippy during the return.  Very late flag on Carlos Rogers for PI.  All the ones they miss and they call that?  Even Aikman calling bullshit on the PI in this game, albeit in more diplomatic diction, now.  Rodgers hits his first real big pass of the game on a third down, in the red zone with 7:00 left.  Jones is wide open for a TD.  30-22 with 6:05 left.

Kendall Hunter returns it from the end zone to the 25.  NICE bootleg out of the jumbo, lob pass to FB Bruce Miller for a first down.  49ers have to burn their final time out while they're tryin to run out the clock.  Ugh.  4:01 left, 2nd and long, just shy of midfield.  And after all that, Matthews sacks Alex again.  GB timeout.  Alex slides and almost draws a flag out of the scab ref's pocket.  GB final time out.  This time Cobb is tackled after one yard.   16 yard line, 3:37 left.  1st down, Whitner jumps the route perfectly but drops the INT.  Ahmad Brooks tackles Rodgers just head of the line of scrimmage, 3rd and 9, converted.  Short pass for 5, short pass for a first and the two minute warning.

Ahmad Brooks, what an ill time for his usual encroachment.  Rodgers scrambles for another first.  Aw hell.  Incomplete, then a leap and a sack by Ahmad Brooks!  Short pass caught, 4th and 10 wih the clock running.  Rodgers throws deep down the sideline and Chris Culliver knocks it away!  YES.  Alex runs the victory formation and this will be the first 49er win in Lambeau since 1990; i.e. since Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, et al.   Didn't count on getting this one when the season started.  This is Big.  Beating Green Bay in Green Bay makes it seem like anything is possible.  And by the way, Alex Smith extends his streak of NOT throwing for 300 yds in a game.

FINAL:  49ers 30, Green Bay 22