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Bubba Franks had a
key 19-yard TD catch
in the Packers' win
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Favre vs. Warner, Green vs. Faulk. … I can’t wait!
Here’s a look at random thoughts and comments accumulated throughout a memorable
playoff game:
First quarter
Fox play-by-play man Pat Summerall says Green Bay is "a balmy 28 degrees."
Color commentator John Madden asks, "Pat, did you ever think you’d call 28
degrees ‘balmy’?" Somehow I don’t think so.
Welcome back, Gilbert Brown! The first play of the game sees Brown, the huge defensive
tackle for the Packers, sack Niners QB Jeff Garcia. It’s Brown’s first sack
since the 1997 season. How important is Brown to the Packers? He was out four games with a
shoulder injury. In those four games, the Packers’ defense gave up an average of 170
rushing yards.
DT Cletidus Hunt comes up with great penetration to stuff Garrison Hearst for a big
loss. The Packers’ rush defense looks much, much better. Before the game, Niners head
coach Steve Mariucci predicted that whichever team does better running and stopping the
run would win. We’ll see.
Garcia gets a cut on his cheek on Brown’s sack when Brown’s helmet gets
driven into his cheek. He gets treatment on the sideline but doesn’t miss any action.
The Packers look downfield on their second play, and WR Bill Schroeder shows why
he’s not exactly QB Brett Favre’s favorite: He drops a relatively easy catch.
When RB Ahman Green is stuffed on 3rd-and-1 on the next play and the Packers
have to punt, the drop looks even worse. Don’t look for Schroeder to be back with
Green Bay next season; there have been rumors this season that Favre is fed up with
Schroeder’s inconsistent hands.
The 49ers are lining up Pro Bowl DT Bryant Young at left defensive end; it’ll be
interesting to see if that’s a surprise to the Packers.
Niners TE Eric Johnson grabs a couple of catches over the middle. The rookie from Yale
has had a solid year with 40 catches for 362 yards and three touchdowns. Mariucci thinks
he’ll be a great one.
Another injured Packer returns to pay dividends when PR Allen Rossum makes a big punt
return to the Niners’ 40-yard line. He had knee surgery in midseason and missed
several weeks.
Favre to Schroeder, Green ahead for 10 yards, Favre to Green … Packers are in sync
offensively and driving.
Bryant Young stuffs Green with a perfect tackle for no gain. The next play, Favre hits
WR Antonio Freeman for a six-yard TD pass. That looked easy enough.
The PAT gets blocked! Boy, Packers PK Ryan Longwell has had a poor season, and he
proved it by hitting a low kick on the extra point that gets blocked by Niners DT Dana
Stubblefield. 6-0 Packers. I wonder if that will cost the Packers at some point.
Gilbert Brown and the Packers stop the Niners on three downs, and Green Bay takes over.
Favre then floats a terrible pass down the middle of the field, and CB Ahmed Plummer makes
the interception, giving S.F. the ball at the Green Bay 44. Bryant Young was bearing down
on Favre when he let go of the ball. The interception was Favre’s first in his last
115 passes.
Garcia completes a couple of passes to finally get some momentum generated.
Second quarter
Garcia leads the Niners into the red zone, where he has been awfully good the last two
seasons — he has 39 passing touchdowns, nine rushing touchdowns and only two
turnovers. Pretty impressive.
Down at the Packers’ five, S Darren Sharper comes on a blitz untouched and sacks
Garcia back at the 17. What a big play! PK Jose Cortez comes on for a 34-yard field goal,
and it gets blocked by Hunt. S.F. comes up with no points after their first positive
drive; that’s something that can’t happen when you’re on the road in the
playoffs.
The 49ers’ run defense comes up big, stuffing Green on 2nd- and 3rd-and-short and
forcing the Packers to punt. Got to give the Niners’ rush defense the edge right now.
Packers challenge the ruling on the field on the punt because they feel the punt grazed
PR Vinny Sutherland’s foot. Replays clearly show it did not, and the Packers lose the
challenge AND a timeout. Dumb challenge. Head coach Mike Sherman’s got to be upset
about that.
Garcia completes his eighth straight pass, this one to WR Tai Streets for a first down.
Garcia finally throws an incompletion, and he should’ve been called for
intentional grounding since LB Bernardo Harris was bearing down on him and he just threw
the ball away while still in the pocket. No call, however.
S.F. is building something now: Garcia hits Streets on a quick slant for a first down,
then makes a bootleg pass to Johnson for another first down as the two-minute warning
comes.
Following the two-minute warning, Garcia hits RB Terry Jackson in the flat, and he runs
for another first down. Hearst runs to the Packers’ five, then WR J.J. Stokes drops a
TD pass in the endzone. It was a tough catch, but it hit both of his hands.
It’s 2nd-and-goal at the Packers three. Garcia hands off to Hearst, and
he knifes his way through the line and stretches the ball over the goal line for a
touchdown. There are 11 seconds left in the half — what a HUGE play. Cortez boots the
extra point, and it’s 7-6 S.F. Hearst made a great effort to get to the endzone.
He’s truly a wonder and well-deserving of the NFL Comeback Player of the Year honor.
San Francisco had 53 total yards on their first four drives. This drive covered 86
yards in 15 plays and took 6:55 off the clock. A dominating, time-consuming playoff drive
that has to make Mariucci happy.
The Packers ran seven plays for 24 yards in the second quarter. The Niners are keeping
Favre off the field — always a great strategy.
Third quarter
The Packers come out throwing, and rightfully so. Favre is their best player;
they’ve got to allow him to take control of this game. He hits Schroeder for a first
down, then FB William Henderson for another first down. A reverse by WR Donald Driver nets
nine, and then Green surges ahead for six yards and another first down.
Favre hits a play-action pass to Freeman to the S.F. 19, then to Freeman again to the
nine. The drive stalls, however, and Longwell comes on to kick a 26-yard field goal to
make it 9-7. It was a 12-play, 72-yard drive. The Packers had 76 total yards in the first
half.
After the 49ers are quickly stopped, the Packers strike even more quickly. Favre hits
Henderson for 12 yards, Green is stopped for minus-1 yard, then Favre goes deep to WR
Corey Bradford for 51 yards to the S.F. 19. Favre just threw it up for grabs, and Bradford
outdueled Niners CB Jason Webster for the ball.
The next play, Favre goes to TE Bubba Franks over the middle for a 19-yard touchdown.
That was too easy! It’s 15-7.
I don’t agree with the Packers going for two this early in the game (3:26 left in
the third quarter), and they don’t convert as Favre completes a pass to Driver, but
he’s stopped short of the endzone.
The Niners again do nothing, and the Packers take over. Deep in his own territory,
Favre throws a pass to Franks, and it appears that he catches it and gets stripped —
the Niners recover. However, the officials rule that the pass was incomplete (a bad call),
and when Mariucci wants to challenge the call, he’s told he can’t. The Packers
catch a break.
Fourth quarter
Hearst catches a screen pass and sprints downfield for 22 yards, thanks to a great
block by OG Ray Brown on Bernardo Harris. Kudos to the 39-year-old Brown for making the
Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.
Hearst goes ahead for 10 yards and is starting to heat up. Garcia’s pass into the
endzone to WR Terrell Owens (who’s been awfully quiet thus far) is batted down by CB
Mike McKenzie, who obviously is doing a heckuva job defending Owens.
Garcia burns a Green Bay blitz by finding Tai Streets over the middle for a 16-yard
touchdown. A wide-open Streets then catches the two-point conversion pass to make it 15-15
with tons of time left on the clock (12 minutes).
Like good teams do, the Packers respond to the 49ers’ score, marching down the
field. The drive stalls at the Niners’ 28 when Favre’s pass to Freeman skips on
the ground before Freeman catches it. It would’ve been enough for a first down.
Longwell comes on and kicks a clutch 45-yard field goal to make it 18-15.
You know, it dawns on me that Green Bay should be ahead by four points. That stupid
two-point conversion attempt could still cost them the game. Now, they’re only up by
a field goal with seven minutes left for San Fran to drive for the game-tying field goal.
If the Niners were forced to score a touchdown, it could be a much different story. Poor
decision by head coach Mike Sherman on that one.
Garcia comes onto the field with a spectacular 100.5 passer rating on the day (20-of-29
for 205 yards). He hits Stokes for nine yards, then finds Streets over the middle for a
first down as he once again burns the Packers’ blitz.
The Niners go for it all, and Garcia’s pass deep down the sideline for Owens is
perfectly defended by McKenzie, who’s having a great game. McKenzie reaches out and
bats the pass away, right into the arms of teammate Tyrone Williams, who’s coming
over to help in coverage. Williams makes the interception and gets tackled at the
Packers’ seven. The first turnover of the game is a huge one. That was the first
interception for Garcia in his last 148 passes.
Green Bay’s not out of the woods yet. If they’re stopped deep in their own
territory, the Niners could get the ball back in great field position.
On first down, Green comes up big, bursting ahead for 13 yards, then gets a 15-yard
facemask penalty tacked on, moving the ball out of harm’s way to the Packers’
35.
On 3rd-and-7, Favre zings a pass to Freeman over the middle, and Freeman
rumbles to the San Francisco 25. The play goes for 38 yards. Vintage Favre. Freeman
hotdogs it a bit by holding the ball out in front of him before being tackled.
Another key third down: Favre pumps left, pumps right, then zips a pass in traffic to
Driver for a first down at the San Francisco nine. What a great play — he felt the
pressure, stepped up and found Driver to keep the drive alive. Favre is an incredible
16-of-21 for 226 yards in the second half. Awesome.
I think that play demoralized the Niners’ young defense as Green bursts ahead for
a tough nine-yard touchdown run. On the last four yards he’s engaged with Niners
defenders and he rolls into the endzone with 1:55 left. The extra point (Longwell’s
first of the day) makes it 25-15.
On the ensuing kickoff, Bradford makes another big play (he’s had a great game),
stripping KR Paul Smith and then recovering the fumble at the Niners’ 26.
Green gets six more yards but gets up limping. Henderson signals to the sideline to get
Green out of the game. The outcome is decided; it would be stupid to keep Green in the
game. He wisely is replaced.
After Favre kneels twice to run out the clock, he immediately gets up, hands the ball
to the official and runs to the Niners’ sideline to hug his former QB coach and
friend, Mariucci. How do you not like Favre? A great player, and he always shows such
great respect for the game. I don’t care what the critics say about his gift sack for
Michael Strahan in the regular-season finale. I thought it was a classy move by a great
player and a great friend.
Look out St. Louis — Favre looks as though he’s playing as well as he ever
has. |
