Packers look to rebound after rough loss at 49ers

GREEN BAY, Wis. Win or lose, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur has stressed the need for his team to hit the reset buttonand move onto the next game.That will be as important as ever following a 37-8 loss at San Francisco on Sunday night.The Packers were coming off a bye week so should have been prepared mentally and physically. Having played a tougher schedule, they were the more tested team. And they were the healthier team. But with first place in the NFC on the line, Green Bay was dominated in all three phases. Green Bay must shake off this game before hitting the road to face the struggling New York Giants. How can LaFleur ensure Sunday night outcome doesnt lingerBy going back to work and taking it one day at a time and putting in the right prep. That the only way I know how to bounce back from anything,LaFleur said on Monday. Ive got confidence in these guys that theyre going to. Everybody was hurting in that locker room.Everybody was disappointed. And I think these guys will battle. What I love about our group is I didnt feel like there was anybody pointing fingers Packers Salute to Sevice. Weve all got to look inward coaches, players, everybody involved and look at ourselves and be honest with ourselves about what we can do better. Weve shown we can do a lot better than this. Youve got to give the Niners a lot of credit that a good football team but we know we didnt play to the level of our expectations.WHATS WORKINGGreen Bay pass rush was perhaps the only bright spot. Outside linebacker Preston Smith added a half-sack to push his team-leading total to 10½ sacks Packers Salute to Sevice. Fellow outside linebacker ZaDarius Smith had 1½ sacks to reach 10 sacks for the season. That gave Green Bay a 10-sack tandem for only the second time since sacks became an official stat in 1982.WHATS NOT WORKINGNothing worked against the 49ers. Offensively, Green Bay averaged 2.82 yards per play, the fourth-lowest figure in the entire league this season and failed to move the chains on its first 14 third downs.Defensively, the Packers once again showed a total inability to cover tight ends. Including the 129 receiving yards and one touchdown by San Francisco George Kittle, the opponent No. 1 tight end has averaged 100 receiving yards the past five games. The 61-yard touchdown by Kittle was a game-breaker, with the Packers having just pulled within 23-8.Against a team of that caliber, with one of the best defensive lines in the National Football League and with a sound back end, where theyre not going to give up big plays, that a big-time challenge to really overcome that type of deficit in their home stadium,LaFleur said.STOCK UPIn four seasons with Baltimore Packers Salute to Sevice, ZaDarius Smith had 18½ sacks. He got a career-high 10 this season after tallying 1½ sacks, three quarterback hits and a team-high six tackles.STOCK DOWN When Davante Adams missed four games with a toe injury, running back Aaron Jones helped pick up the slack with 22 receptions for 280 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Adams has caught seven passes in each of his three games back in the lineup but Jones has caught 1 of 4 targets for minus-1 yard Packers Salute to Sevice Hoodie. He didnt have any catches against the 49ers.That falls on me right there,LaFleur said. Ive got to do a better job of making sure he in the game when some of those plays are called for the halfbacks.INJUREDRight tackle Bryan Bulaga suffered an injured right knee during the first quarter.Bryan been a rock for us at right tackle,quarterback Aaron Rodgers said after the game.Alex Light, an undrafted free agent in 2018, replaced Bulaga but might not get the call against if Bulaga is out against New York.Weve got some other thoughts potentially to make sure that we put our best five out there,LaFleur said. One option would be to shift right guard Billy Turner out to right tackle and insert Lucas Patrick at right guard.KEY NUMBERS6.7 Green Bay third-down conversion rate after going 1 of 15. That the third-worst performance by any team in the NFL this season. Meanwhile, there have been only eight times this season in which a team failed to move the chains 10 percent of the time. San Francisco defense was responsible for three of those games.We were terrible on third down,Rodgers said. The games weve got out and played well on offense, weve had a good run game. They shut us down for a good part of the night running the ball and we couldnt really throw it either.