Last week we saw the Packers get back to their winning ways with a victory over the Panthers. We got to look at 4 expertly executed plays that gained 91 yards and ended with a touchdown. It was beautiful and thrilling.

Today? Today has none of that. That's because we're returning to the scene of a crime that occurred in Santa Clara, CA. The Packers lost that game 37-8. Aaron Rodgers passed for 104 yards and no one on the Packers gained more than 45 yards on the ground. It was ugly.

But it wasn't always ugly, and that's what we'll be looking at today. We'll be looking at two plays, both of them drops on 3rd down. Doesn't that sound like an absolute blast? 

Play 1: 3rd & 4, 11:43 remaining in the 1st quarter, Packers trailing 0-7

The Packers first drive got to a less-than-stellar start,  as Davante Adams got flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for lightly touching the shoulder of a 49er after a play. A few plays after that, Fred Warner got a strip-sack of Aaron Rodgers, and the 49ers scored a touchdown on the very next play. 

The Packers second drive started off with a 7 yard completion to Jimmy Graham and a 1 yard loss by Aaron Jones. On 3rd & 4, the Packers went with a follow-slant concept, something we saw a decent amount of last year.

We've got an out route from the right slot to help clear the middle, as well. The concept here is pretty simple: run two slants, breaking around the same point, one slightly behind the other. You're reading the first defender. If he runs with the lead slant, that clears room for the follow slant, so you hit the follow slant. If the defender in the middle doesn't take the lead slant, hit the lead slant. Obviously there is more to it than that, but that's the general idea.

I say there's more to it than that, and we'll see that here. Fred Warner [54] starts this play on the line, across from Billy Turner [77]. It looks like he's rushing, but he bails at the snap and falls back into a zone, reading Aaron Rodgers [12]. With Rodgers looking to his left and Warner coming from his right, that's an incredibly tough read to pick up. But Rodgers sees him.

Rodgers holds the read to the left a beat longer than he probably needs to. Rodgers also keeps his feet set as if he's throwing to the left, just to sell it. That keeps Warner moving across the field and forcing him to overrun the passing lane.

Even with that, coverage on Geronimo Allison [81] is tight, so Rodgers throws high and away from Allison. Sadly, it slips through his fingertips and the Packers are forced to punt. High-level quarterback play from Rodgers.

Play 2: 3rd & 8, 6:29 remaining in the 2nd quarter, Packers trailing 0-10

The game has been dominated by the 49ers, but, to this point, their only touchdown had come on a drive that started at the Packers 2 yard line, and their only field goal had come on a drive that started at their own 49 yard line. Yes, the 49ers were dominating, but the Packers were still very much in the game at this point.

Allison motions in before the snap, dragging Richard Sherman [25] with him. Sherman is still in zone - you can tell by the fact that he's angling his feet toward the line as opposed to faced directly at Allison - but the motion of Allison pinches Sherman closer to the line. At the same time, the single-high safety rotates back to the middle of the field. 

The Packers are running what appears to be a follow-slant from the stack look on the right, but Davante Adams [17] ends up veering up the field instead of continuing on the slant.

All of that action opens up the boundary for Jimmy Graham [80]. Graham is running a wheel route from his in-line position. He is being covered by Jimmie Ward [20], a safety who starts the play over the outside shoulder of Alex Light [70]. At the snap, Ward drops back and picks up Graham on the wheel. Ward picks him up well, but that's a tough ask: he's dropping from off the line to be a man-to-man cover guy on a wheel route with zero help over the top.

Rodgers is flushed from the pocket and delivers an absolute beauty of a throw over Graham's shoulder. The ball is knocked out, and officials rule incomplete. Instead of picking up roughly 40 yards and a first down just outside the red zone, the Packers punt.

Over the next 6+ minutes, the 49ers put up 13 points and the Packers go into the half trailing by a score of 23-0.

I do want to touch on one thing before we leave. This was ruled an incomplete pass on the field. Matt LaFleur did not challenge it. After the game, the officials said that, if LaFleur had challenged it, it would have been ruled a catch. Here's a pretty good angle on it:

Now let me ask you: how many times have you seen a play like that get overturned to a completed pass? Because I am having a very hard time thinking of an instance where that was the case. He doesn't control it immediately and it is dislodged after he hits the ground. I'm having a hard time seeing a scenario where this is ruled a complete pass. Maybe that's just me, though.

If you want to look back at some of my favorite concepts from this game, you can do that here. The final score was bad, but the Packers ran some fun stuff.

Albums listened to: Lewis - Even So; The Gloria Record - A Lull in Traffic; Ester Drang - Infinite Keys; The Appleseed Cast - The Fleeting Light of Impermanence