49ers sputter on offense in 17-3 loss to Packers

SANTA CLARA - A lot of intrigue followed the 49ers into Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers. If the 49ers could pull off the upset against Aaron Rodgers and friends, the sun might shine again on Jed York’s team. Get blown out as they did the previous two weeks and the Niners might spiral into a locker-room implosion.

Instead, we were left in the far-less-interesting middle ground. The 49ers lost 17-3, but they didn’t come unglued. They slowly, inexorably lost their grip on the Packers. And maybe it was a preview of what lies ahead in 2015: no bickering, no major demotions and no dramatic comebacks, just a series of mediocre losses.

“We did some good things,” veteran defensive lineman Glenn Dorsey said. “We didn’t win. That’s the bottom line.”

Green Bay (4-0) remained undefeated while the 49ers fell to 1-3. It’s the first time they’ve had a losing record after four games since 2010, Mike Singletary’s final season as head coach.

Once again, the passing attack, which wasn’t much of an attack at all, was the major problem for San Francisco. Colin Kaepernick completed 13 of 25 passes for 160 yards and an interception, numbers that were inflated by a jet-sweep “pass” of 40 yards to wide receiver Quinton Patton that was really little more than a handoff.

Kaepernick has yet to look remotely comfortable since the season-opening win over Minnesota. He bounced a couple throws to receivers Sunday and launched several passes far out of bounds. His teammates’ frustration was palpable.

When Kaepernick missed Torrey Smith at the sideline on a third-and-9 play late in the first quarter, the wide receiver stalked to the bench and sat down in a huff. Head coach Jim Tomsula walked over to offer Smith a pep talk.

“Right there, you run that route and you feel really good about the route you ran,” Tomsula said afterward, “but you’re not standing back there with the ball in your hand trying to get around a 3-technique (defensive tackle). That’s the deal. I don’t know that it’s frustration at an individual or frustration in a ‘God, we’ve got to get this right’ (way).”

Tomsula had a point. It’s hard to expect a lot from Kaepernick when he’s ducking pass rushers every other snap. The Packers got him six times Sunday, including three in the fourth quarter, raising Kaepernick’s season total to 14 sacks.

“That was their game plan today. Try and bring pressure on us,” he said.

And they did it well. Five different Packers sacked Kaepernick, Appropriately, that’s how the 49ers’ last meaningful possession ended, with Green Bay’s Mike Neal coming untouched around the right end of the offense to drop the quarterback on a fourth-and-5 play from the Packers’ 15-yard line.

The Levi’s Stadium crowd, primarily made up of Packers fans at that point, roared its approval.

The previous possession, with the Niners down 17-3 and desperately trying to claw their way back in, died on an interception by cornerback Sam Shields, who stayed inside his man on a deep pass for wide receiver Anqual Boldin.

Boldin, generally considered an important team leader, declined comment after the game.

Tomsula repeated afterward that he was not considering a change at quarterback, and wouldn’t even entertain the notion of altering his personnel along the offensive line.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco defense rose to the occasion against Rodgers, especially after he led the Packers on a crisp 12-play, 80-yard drive to the open the game. The masterful QB finished the march by dancing and dipping behind the line of scrimmage before smoking a 9-yard touchdown pass to tight end Richard Rodgers.

The rout was on, or so it seemed. But it was just 7-3 at halftime after Phil Dawson’s 33-yard field goal. Green Bay wouldn’t score again until the 7:10 mark of the third quarter, when Aaron Rodgers’ 38-yard pass to James Jones set up fullback John Kuhn’s 1-yard touchdown plunge.

The 49ers applied some pressure of their own, sacking Rodgers three times, and limited the Packers to a 5-for-15 conversion rate on third downs. That wasn’t enough to keep the Niners in the game, though.

“We needed a turnover, because he’s a great game manager,” free safety Eric Reid said of Rodgers. “You hope you can get a strip-sack in there.”

The defensive effort hushed some of the chatter surrounding the 49ers, but questions remain. If Seattle wins at home against the Lions on Monday night, San Francisco will be alone in last place in the NFC West. The quarterback looks completely out of synch, and Tomsula has yet to prove he can lead an NFL team.

“It’s the first time we started off 1-3 probably in about five years, about six years,” outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks asked. “So it’s some frustration here a little bit, to be honest. But then again, we’re a team.”

A team with a losing record, but with12 games left to reverse that.

“I don’t think any desperation is setting in,” inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman said. “We’re in this together. We keep saying that we win together, we lose together, and we’ll get it right. … We just have to get on the same page on both sides of the ball. I really, really believe that we will.”

You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.