The announcers didn't notice, but GB only had 10 men on the field for that last kick by SF. Someone also questioned whether they had the correct personnel of block unit as well, and this was
after a timeout. It's hard to imagine a team of this quality could make such an egregious debacle late, this is the kind of mistake high school teams make, but they did. I'm not saying they would have blocked the kick, Gould was indeed gold, as Jimmy G said, but what a bitter pill to swallow for GB, after the sick feeling of losing such a game.
There's been a long knock on Rodgers not stepping up in big games late, against the 49ers most of all. There's some stat someone cooked up about his lack of comeback wins, but I'm not going to look it up because it's skewed. But while the weather was bad, and there was plenty of blame to go around, poor play calling by GB, not adapting their run game late, and horrible special teams play, Rodgers looked very average as the game went on. He was too focused on finding Adams, and cold weather or not, SF boogeyman or not, the stats only lie so much. Those last two three and out's, -9 and -6 yards were ugly. Granted, there were dumb penalties, but his passes were just not on, or really that close, and they (I'm blaming LeFleur as much as Aaron here) were no longer focusing on short passes or short gains of any kind, run or pass. It's like they were playing with some sort of desperation, hope, trying to not lose. While the last couple drives the 49ers, were re-focusing, adapting, grinding it out, yard by yard, which is how games like this are won.
I'm harping a lot on GB, and LeFleur deserves most of the blame. He and Maurice Drayton, special teams coach, more than the "average" Rodgers.
At least LeFlur is stepping up and taking full responsibility, and he should. However, the more I reflect on this game, the more the 49ers deserve credit. They are an experienced, very talented and very well coached team, uneven or not. Jimmy G actually really only had one bad pass, early. Kyle Shanahan coached maybe the best game of his career. Their D really sucked it up, as did their OL. They didn't give up on the run, even after they were getting stuffed early. They made mistakes as a team, but they stuck together, and played best when it mattered most.