Studs and duds from Packers’ 37-8 loss to 49ers in Week 12

Breaking down the studs and duds from the Packers’ 37-8 loss to the 49ers in Week 12 of the 2019 season.

The San Francisco 49ers turned the Green Bay Packers from a contender into a pretender on Sunday night at Levi’s Stadium, the site of a complete dismantling of Matt LaFleur’s team on Sunday night.

The Packers are now 8-3, with two complete meltdowns in the last four weeks.

Here are the studs and duds from the Packers’ 37-8 loss to the 49ers:

Studs

OLB Za’Darius Smith: Credit Smith for taking advantage of one of the Packers’ few favorable matchups. He gave backup left tackle Justin Skule a lot of trouble on the edge. The Packers defensive captain beat Skule clean for a sack in the first half, which eventually led to a rare punt. Twice, he helped the Packers get off the field with quick pressures and hits on Jimmy Garoppolo. He helped provide a second of hope in the second half when he beat a double team and wrestled Garoppolo down to force a stop to start the third quarter. There was no quit in No. 55.

Duds

C Corey Linsley: The Packers’ veteran center is one of the team’s most consistent players, but he had a really tough night in San Francisco. He was at least partially responsible for three of offense’s bad runs. D.J. Jones beat him clean for a run stuff on the second series. Later, on fourth down in 49ers territory, Linsley couldn’t get movement and Aaron Jones got stuffed for no gain. The interior of the 49ers defensive line just overpowered him at times. The struggles leaked into his distribution. On several shotgun snaps, Linsley forced Aaron Rodgers into making really tough catches at his shoetops. A few times, blitzing 49ers linebackers planted him on the ground in the passing game.

QB Aaron Rodgers: It feels cruel to put Rodgers in the “duds” category, given the constant pressure in the pocket and disappearing act from the secondary options in the passing game. But a quarterback can’t drop back to pass 41 times and deliver only 66 net passing yards without shouldering at least some of the blame. The pressure got to Rodgers early and it affected him the rest of the way. Remember when the Patriots made Sam Darnold see ghosts? The 49ers did the same to Rodgers. Even once the game was decided, the offense showed no urgency and Rodgers took no risks to create a big play. If there’s any tangible trust in a receiver not named Davante Adams, Rodgers didn’t show it Sunday night. When it’s all said and done, it’s possible this game will go down as the worst statistical performance of Rodgers’ Hall of Fame career.

LG Elgton Jenkins: The first few series were ugly for the rookie left guard. He’s been fantastic as a pass blocker this season, but he really struggled with the size and speed of DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead. The first series was a nightmare. On the third play of the game, Buckner blew past him and was in position to light up Aaron Rodgers. On the very next play, Buckner beat him to the inside and stuffed Aaron Jones. On third down, Buckner beat him to the outside and forced Rodgers up into the pocket for the strip-sack. Armstead knocked him to the ground on a stunt on third down on the second series.

RT Alex Light: The second Bryan Bulaga went out of the game, Bosa moved to the left side of the defense and went to work on the inexperienced backup. A brutal matchup on paper played out exactly that way on the field. Bosa was too fast and too strong for Light. The Packers tried at times to give him help, mostly with chips from running backs and tight ends, but the 49ers did a good job of scheming up one-on-one matchups. Stunts gave Light and Billy Turner a lot of trouble, although the 49ers were doing a lot of holding. On one third down sack, Bosa held Light and allowed Armstead to stunt to the outside and make the play on Rodgers in the pocket.

P JK Scott: It’s tough to figure out what’s happened to Scott, the Packers’ streaky second-year punter. He hit six punts and didn’t have a single kick over 41 yards. This was a game where the Packers absolutely needed a big night from their punter, both to help a struggling offense and flip the field for the defense. Even in perfect conditions, Scott failed to get lift and distance in his kicks and often put the defense in bad spots.

WR Geronimo Allison: He has a lot of fans inside Lambeau Field but Allison is just about unplayable at this point. His third-down drop on the first drive helped set the tone for the nightmare on offense. His three catches gained all of nine yards, with a long of just four yards. Who knows why the Packers keep keeping him the ball at the line of scrimmage and asking him to get yards after the catch. He’s not fast or slippery. It was a tough call, but he got flagged for blocking in the back, short-circuiting another drive.

KR/PR Tremon Smith: He returned two punts for -3 yards and two kicks for 41 yards. On both punt returns, he went backwards and got caught from behind. His second return was a risky play after catching the ball on the bounce. In the second half, Smith let a kickoff bounce at the 2-yard line. He’s lucky it bounced through the end zone for a touchback. The best the Packers can hope for at this point is getting the football at the 25.

CB Kevin King: In-breaking routes continue to terrorize him. On back-to-back snaps in the first quarter, King got beat on a slant by Deebo Samuel and a deep in-breaker by Emmanuel Sanders. Later, George Kittle beat him clean for a big gain on another in-breaking route. The long touchdown to Kittle in the third quarter probably wasn’t on King. The Packers were in a three-deep zone, and when Adrian Amos vacated the middle of the field, King was in a no-win situation, especially when Jaire Alexander was late getting depth in his zone. Teams don’t even bother attacking Alexander anymore because King is the far easier prey.