A week after missing four field goals and a point after touchdown in a dome, Mason Crosby redeemed himself by nailing all seven of his kicks on a breezy, 37-degree night outside. Three extra points and four field goals including the walk-off 27-yard game winner.
Aaron Rodgers delivered on his promise for a faster start by producing 17 points in the first quarter.
The defense, gashed by a spirited 49er offense led by backup quarterback C.J. Beathard with a 24 point first half, firing TD passes of 67 and 30 yards to Marquise Goodwin, locked things down after intermission, holding the visitors to a pair of field goals and coming up with two critical stops down the stretch.
The miracles just kept coming and it produced an enormous victory at home putting the Packers at 3-2-1 heading into their bye week, knowing that coming off the break, they have daunting back to back trips to Los Angeles to face the undefeated Rams and then to Foxboro to face the defending AFC Champion Patriots.
San Francisco looked nothing like a 1-4 team that had dropped three straight as they took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards in 7 plays to grab the 7-0 lead. The shortest gain from scrimmage in the series was the three yard scoring run by Matt Breida.
Green Bay answered with a 77 yard drive on only four plays. Rodgers hit Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a wide open 60 yard pass to start. Ty Montgomery finished by catching a swing lateral for a two yard score and the track meet was on.
The 49ers fumbled the ensuing kickoff which set up Crosby’s first field goal, from 29 yards which drew a supportive cheer from the crowd of 77,642.
Following a punt, Jimmy Graham got into the act with a 54 yard catch and run setting up Davante Adams’ 9 yard TD grab and a 17-7 lead.
It took only three snaps for the San Francisco answer as Beathard found Goodwin behind Kentrell Brice for the 67 yard bomb.
The first quarter produced 31 points and 366 yards of offense.
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix forced a fumble after a catch by fullback Kyle Juszczyk that was recovered by Kevin King but the Packers had to settle for Crosby’s 39 yard field goal.
Three plays later, San Francisco pushed in front when Goodwin beat Tramon Williams on a 30 yard scoring pass.
Robbie Gould connected from 46 yards out on the final play of the half and the visitors led 24-20 at the break.
The teams traded field goals to start the third quarter, Crosby hit from 51 and Gould answered from 44 and his 43 yarder early in the 4th made it a 30-23 San Francisco lead.
The Packers drove to the Niner 4 and went for it on 4th and 3 but Rodgers’ pass to Valdes-Scantling on a fade route couldn’t connect.
The defense forced a three and out but the Packers possession died with a third down sack and the Niners got the ball back with 4:06 to play.
On third and 10 from the 23, Clay Matthews sacked Beathard for a loss of 12 and Green Bay took over from the punt at their 42 with exactly three minutes to play.
That’s when Rodgers took over with pin point accuracy, hitting Adams for 38 yards and two plays later on a perfect 16 yard fade in the left corner of the end zone. Crosby’s PAT tied the game just inside the 2 minute warning.
The special teams gave up a 32 yard kickoff return to Richie James Jr. and backup defensive back Tony Brown compounded matters with a late tackle out of bounds for 15 more yards.
San Francisco was at their own 47, needing only 20 yards to move into field goal range. Tight end George Kittle pulled in a 7 yard catch on first down. On second down, Nick Perry came up with his third deflected pass on the night. On third and three, defensive coordinator Mike Pettine dialed up an overload blitz and Matthews came in hard on Beathard who took one more deep shot to Goodwin.
At the last moment, King got his head turned and pulled down the interception at the Green Bay 10 with 1:07 left.
Without a timeout, Rodgers handed off to Ty Montgomery who got the left corner for 14 yards and got out of bounds. A delay of game penalty set back the offense and after an incomplete pass, Rodgers was looking at third and 15. DeForest Buckner broke through for a sack with :43 to play but downfield, Richard Sherman was called for defensive holding against Adams.
Still at their 24, Rodgers sent everyone deep but with tight coverage, he was forced to bolt up the middle of the field and he gained 21 yards and spiked the ball with :19 to go.
A quick out route to Adams gained 8, using only four seconds. Then rookie Equanimeous St. Brown made another huge play, snaring a back shoulder throw for 19 yards and falling to the sideline with just :06 left on the clock.
Rodgers threw one more pass away quickly to make sure Crosby’s 27 yard field goal attempt would end the game.
It did, right down the middle.
By the numbers, the Packers outgained the 49ers 521-401. San Francisco put up only six points on 111 yards in the second half.
Rodgers was 25 of 46 for 425 yards and two scores for a rating of 100.4
He had three 100 yard receivers, Adams (10/132 and both TD’s), Graham (5/104) and Valdes-Scantling (3/103).
Aaron Jones led the ground game with 41 yards on 8 carries. Rodgers had 3 scrambles for 34 more.
Beathard was very good until the last minute interception, completing 16 of 23 for 245 yards and two scores for a rating of 115.3.
San Francisco was impressive on the ground, piling up 174 yards with a 5.8 yard average. Raheem Mostert did most of the damage with 87 yards on only 12 carries. Breida had 61 on 14.
While the defense did plenty of bending, Blake Martinez and Kenny Clark stood out. Martinez had 12 tackles, Clark with 7 including a sack.
The only injury of the game was suffered by Bryan Bulaga who left with a shoulder injury but later returned.
Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allison were both inactive with hamstring injuries, for Cobb, it was his 4th straight missed game.
The Packers held a moment of silence before kickoff for Pro Football Hall of Fame fullback Jim Taylor who passed away on Saturday at the age of 83.
Taylor’s toughness somehow rubbed off on the Packers who made all the big plays in the 4th quarter to salvage a game that could well have derailed the entire season.
It was a script writer’s paradise at Lambeau on a cool, October night that had a pretty cool finish.
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Mark Daniels reporting at Lambeau Field
