Tag: 49ers roster

Aaron Rodgers didn’t complete a pass beyond 10 yards vs. 49ers

The 49ers locked down Aaron Rodgers on Sunday Night Football.

The 49ers’ defense was dominant Sunday night against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. San Francisco held Rodgers to 104 yards and 3.2 yards per attempt in one of the worst outings of his career.

Perhaps the stat most indicative of the 49ers’ defensive dismantling of the Hall of Fame quarterback was provided by ESPN’s Next Gen Stats.

Rodgers didn’t complete a pass that traveled at least 10 yards in the air:

There were a couple reasons for this.

First, San Francisco’s coverage down the field was terrific. Jimmie Ward knocked two downfield throws away, including a deep shot to Jimmy Graham that was in the tight end’s hands before the safety wrestled it away.

The pass rush was another reason for the lack of throws down the field. Rodgers didn’t have time to sit back and find receivers beyond 10 yards. He had to get rid of the ball to avoid the onslaught of 49ers pass rushers that spent most of the game in the backfield.

Holding Rodgers to such limited production is perhaps the most impressive thing the 49ers defense has done all season, and a tribute to how good they are up front and in the secondary.

49ers sign familiar DE, place Ronald Blair on IR

The 49ers lost Ronald Blair for the season, so they turned to a familiar face at defensive end.

The 49ers were bit hard by the injury bug Monday night, but the biggest blow came when defensive end Ronald Blair suffered a torn ACL while taking down Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.

Blair on Wednesday was officially placed on injured reserve, and his roster spot was filled with defensive end Damontre Moore.

Moore might sound familiar because of his terrific preseason showing with the 49ers. He had 2.0 sacks in the exhibition slate, but created a ton of pressure in a relatively large sample size.

His big preseason wasn’t enough to land a roster spot though on a deep 49ers defensive line. Losing Blair put the 49ers in a spot where they couldn’t simply add another DL. They had to match Blair’s skill set, and Moore is probably the closest they were going to find on the free agent wire.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters the team wanted Moore on the roster, but couldn’t make it work at a deep defensive end spot. He also said they were fortunate Moore was available after his strong preseason.

“Yeah, definitely with how well of a preseason he had,” Shanahan said when asked if he was surprised Moore was available. “But it’s tough in this league, especially being a veteran when you don’t have practice squad eligibility. I guess it didn’t work out for him, but with the tape he put on, yeah, we were surprised and felt lucky he was still out there.”

Moore has played in 54 games across six NFL seasons. He also spent time in the Alliance of American Football and played well in the now-defunct league. The 27-year-old has 10-career sacks, although 9.5 of them came in the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

Replacing Blair won’t be easy. He’s a very smart, productive player in the 49ers defensive line rotation. Blair had 3.0 sacks and seven tackles for loss before sustaining his season-ending knee injury.

Moore will get a chance to debut for the 49ers on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.