Fitting on a day paying tribute to Curly Lambeau's 1929 NFL Champions, the Packers turn to their grand old man to spearhead a 34-16 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on a chilly afternoon at Lambeau Field to keep the playoff fires burning. 36 year old Donald Driver's electrifying 61 yard touchdown catch and run, in which he broke three tackles and carried a pair of 49ers the final five yards into the end zone jump started the second half and the Packer victory. Greg Jennings caught a pair of touchdowns covering 57 yards and 1 yard, John Kuhn found the end zone again and Mason Crosby added a pair of field goals. The Packers got an unexpected boost from rookie James Starks, in his NFL debut, carried 18 times for 73 yards. It was Stark's first action in the backfield since the end of his junior season at the University of Buffalo. The defense was able to limit San Francisco to three field goals, twice inside the red zone, allowing only 269 yards of offense, coming up with 4 sacks of quarterback Troy Smith and a late interception for the only takeaway of the game from Nick Collins. It was small redemption for Collins who missed a tackle on Vernon Davis who hauled ina 66 yard touchdown just 20 seconds after Green Bay pushed it's lead to 14-6 late in the first half. There were a couple of other miscues early. Michael Crabtree got behind Tramon Williams for 39 yards on the opening series leading to Jeff Reed's 44 yard field goal. After driving 60 yards in 7:21, Green Bay looked to tie but Mason Crosby's 29 yard try hit the left upright. Aaron Rodgers was forced to burn two timeouts on that series which reached the San Francisco 6. Reed hit again from 26 yards out early in the second to make it 6-0 before the offense got rolling. Jennings raced downfield when the Niners jumped offsides and Rodgers hit him for a 57 yard touchdown putting Green Bay on top. Kuhn then capped the next series with a one yard touchdown plunge. With a one point lead to start the third, Driver delivered the play of the day. Rodgers was blitzed but found Driver alone at the San Francisco 40, he shook free from the first tackle, broke away from a second, then a third before turning up the sideline and was not about to be denied over the final few yards. The Niners didn't quit, driving for another field goal to make it 21-16 but the Packers dominated from there. Jennings caught a 48 yard bomb setting up his 1 yard TD catch and Crosby tacked on two more field goals in the 4th quarter, the final three points coming after the Packers drove 74 yards in 17 plays, 13 of them on the ground to consume 8:35 off the clock. Green Bay suffered three injuries of note, Korey Hall and Brett Swain suffered knee injuries and Cullen Jenkins, who had two of the 4 sacks, re-aggravted his calf injury late in the game. Even with the win, the Packers (8-4) are still on the outside looking in at the NFC playoff chase as the Bears, Falcons, Saints and Giants also won on Sunday. Next stop, Ford Field in Detroit for a rematch with the Lions. Click on the link below to hear what the Pack had to say after the ballgame.
Packers Roll Niners



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