49ers x Week 11 x Timing is Key

This past Sunday, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers had a bone to pick with the San Francisco 49ers, as they were the team that let him fall to the 24th overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft. The 49ers decided to pass on him and instead pick QB Alex Smith as the number 1 overall draft pick. The decision then resulted in Rodgers falling late in the draft. Rodgers, who went to school and set many records at Cal Berkeley, grew up a huge 49er fan and was projected to go a lot earlier in the draft & quite possibly land into the arms of his favorite childhood team. However that couldn't have been any further from the outcome as Rodgers would seek revenge.

After the first half, Green Bay headed into the locker room with a 23-3 lead, highlighted by Rodgers' 274 yards and 2 touchdowns. What looked like a potential record setting day for the Packer offense, soon became a non factor in the second half, as the 49ers then began to show some light of a possible comeback. Alex Smith who had the slowest start of his career in the first half, went on to throw three second half touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter to narrow the Packer lead to only 6 points. Clock management then became key, as the Packers were able to run out the remaining 5 minutes and 56 seconds. In addition to Aaron Rodgers' stellar performance, Packers running back Ryan Grant was too much to handle for the league's sixth leading rush defense. Although the Packers won the game by a score of 24-30, it would cost them two key defense men as both LB Aaron Kampman and CB Al Harris went down with knee injuries. Both players are reported to be out for the rest of the season.

Green Bay finished the game with twice as much time of possession as San Francisco -- 41:39 to 18:21, as the use of the clock became the deciding factor. Another stat worth mentioning was the number of first downs both teams had. Green Bay finished with 26, opposed to only 10 49er first downs. With the win, Green Bay improves to 6-4 on the season. As for San Francisco, the loss drops them to 4-6 overall and their playoff hopes begin to slowly vanish with another win from Arizona (7-3). Each quarterback finished the game with respective numbers, Alex Smith 227 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Aaron Rodgers 344 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Noteworthy: Rookie WR Michael Crabtree caught his first career touchdown reception. & TE Vernon Davis added to his team leading touchdown total with his 8th touchdown reception of the season. The Packers head to Detroit(2-9) for a Thanksgiving showdown, as the 49ers host the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars(6-4) on Sunday.