GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Veteran cornerback Richard Sherman is frustrated by the elementary mistakes that continue to occur within the 49ers’ defense. But there is one person who does not deserve the blame, he said.
Sherman and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan offered support for defensive coordinator Robert Saleh following the 49ers’ 33-30 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Monday night at Lambeau Field.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers rallied his team with 10 points in the final two minutes, including a drive that got Green Bay into position for Mason Crosby’s game-winning field goal as time expired.
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“He’s called great games, and he continues to call great games,” Sherman said of Saleh. “We got to find a way to reward him.”
Likewise, Shanahan absolved Saleh of responsibility for the breakdowns, which marred an otherwise solid showing for the defense against one of the great quarterbacks in NFL history.
“Saleh is very good at what he does, and I have a ton of confidence in him and I have ton of confidence in our scheme,” Shanahan said. “They made the plays to win at the end that we didn’t.”
Cornerback Jimmie Ward, who started and played well throughout the game, was sidelined late in the game with a hamstring injury, Shanahan said. With Ward on the sideline, Rodgers targeted Greg Mabin on the 16-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams to tie the score with 1:55 remaining in regulation.
San Francisco 49ers
Rodgers threw to Mabin’s side for completions of 8, 19 and 19 yards to set up the 27-yard field goal to win the game after the 49ers' offense had a three-and-out. The 49ers did not take away the sideline, allowing the Packers to pick up yardage without burning much clock on their game-winning march.
It appeared the 49ers had forced the Packers to punt with 43 seconds remaining in regulation when DeForest Buckner sacked Rodgers for a 4-yard loss on a third-and-15 play. But Sherman was called for illegal contact to give Green Bay a fresh set of downs.
“It’s part of going against the best quarterback in football,” Sherman said. “You give him a chance at the end. I can’t have that penalty and give him a shot. However I might feel about it, I have to find a way to win that play without getting a flag. They gave him a shot to win the game at the end, and that’s all he needs.”
The 49ers had a busted coverage on their first defensive play after the offense scored a touchdown on the initial possession of the game. Marquez Valdes-Scantling was wide open for a 60-yard gain. Last week, the 49ers had a busted coverage that went for a 75-yard touchdown in a 28-18 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
“At the end of the day, if you call the perfect call and they don’t run the play the way you called it, what else can you do?” Sherman said. “A guy has man, and you don’t take the man, and it’s going to lead to a big play. Aaron would find him if he was covered.
“We started playing sound football. When you just do your job in this defense, it’s really hard to beat. On the first freakin’ play, again, we bust. We bust a simple coverage. It’s a simple adjustment, and we bust, and you can’t play like that. Later on in the game, another one. We bust. When we play sound, we’re really difficult to beat.”
Said free safety Adrian Colbert: “At times during the game when we were stopping them on third down, it was because we were communicating. When we communicate, we play really well and really fast.”
The Packers failed on their first six third-down opportunities and ended up converting four of their final seven chances. Rodgers completed 25 of 46 passes for 425 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.