The Green Bay Packers not only entered the red zone five times on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers but also scored five touchdowns inside the 20-yard line during a 38-10 win at Lambeau Field.
For a second early on, it looked like recurring problems would once again stall out a drive in the scoring area. Elgton Jenkins was flagged for holding, setting up 1st-and-20. But the Packers overcame the penalty, using an 11-yard completion from Jordan Love to Jayden Reed and an 11-yard touchdown pass from Love to Tucker Kraft on a tight end screen to get the ball rolling on what turned out to be a perfect day for the Packers offense in the red zone.
Josh Jacobs scored a trio of 1-yard touchdown runs, and Love finished off the onslaught with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Malik Heath late in the fourth quarter.
The Packers came into the contest having scored only 19 touchdowns on 39 trips into the red zone. A graphic from FOX during the television broadcast helped illustrate why: When the Packers didn’t have a penalty in the red zone, they scored touchdowns on 68 percent of trips. When they did have a penalty, however, they scored on just 17 percent.
On Sunday, the Packers overcame their one red-zone penalty and had no problems on their other four red-zone trips.
Efficiency was there. In fact, only twice did the Packers have to convert a third or fourth down to convert a drive, and they hit on both — one on a defensive pass interference penalty in the end zone, and another on a quarterback sneak from Jordan Love.
Kraft scored on a tight end screen to finish off the first possession, and he set up one of Jacobs’ 1-yard touchdown runs with a 15-yard catch in the second half.
Jacobs was a freight train. None of his three 1-yard runs were particularly clean along the line of scrimmage, but he powered his way into the end zone each time. On his second score, Jacobs got his at about the 2-yard line but carried a defender into the end zone. The 49ers had big problems tackling him all afternoon.
The Packers haven’t struggled to get the ball into the scoring area this season. A combination of explosive plays and takeaways have set up numerous opportunities. On Sunday, those opportunities didn’t end in three points or no points. In a big game against a playoff rival, the Packers turned all their best chances into seven points — and the red-zone success led to a blowout win over the short-handed 49ers.
