More Magic

They were on the brink of having their season collapse, just six weeks into this NFL campaign.

The road ahead is remarkably daunting. And if the Green Bay Packers couldn’t win a home game against a bottom feeder like San Francisco, really, what hope was there?

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers wouldn’t use the term “season saver.” But Green Bay’s 33-30, come-from-behind win Monday over an undermanned San Francisco team could eventually do exactly that.

Rodgers led the Packers to 10 points in the final 1 minute, 55 seconds as they rallied past the spirited 49ers. Green Bay improved to 3-2-1 heading into its bye week, knowing full well things could have been a whole lot worse.

“I don’t know if it was a season-saving win for us, but it definitely was an important one, especially with prognosticating that will go on with the type of opponent we have coming up the next few weeks, and obviously with them being road games,” Rodgers said. “This was an important game for us. I never like to use the term must win, but it was an important one.”

It sure was.

The early part of Green Bay’s schedule appears to be the softest. The Packers have had four of their six games at home and their opponents to date are a combined 14-18-1 (.439).

When Green Bay returns following its bye week, four of its next five games are on the road. The Packers’ next five opponents are a combined 20-9-1 (.683) and four of the five have winning records.

Among those games are trips to the NFC favorite Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 28, a game at defending AFC champion New England on Nov. 4, and road games against conference rivals Seattle on Nov. 15 and Minnesota on Nov. 25. Barring something unforeseen, Green Bay will be an underdog in all of those games.

Had Green Bay dropped a home game to the lowly 49ers (1-5), it could have been in a hole far too great to ever escape.

“It’s obviously huge,” linebacker Clay Matthews said of defeating the 49ers. “At 2-2-1, we put ourselves in that position. We feel like our record should be better with some of the games we dropped. To get this one in the fashion and manner in which we did, hopefully the adversity situations we’ve overcome will pay dividends in the long run.”

Monday’s win certainly falls under the adversity umbrella.

Green Bay was outplayed much of the night. But Rodgers engineered a four-play, 58-yard touchdown drive with 1:55 remaining that helped the Packers forge a 30-30 tie.

Rodgers began the drive with a 38-yard completion to standout receiver Davante Adams, then finished the march with a 16-yard touchdown strike to Adams.

“At the end of the day, winning is what matters,” Adams said. “You definitely don’t want to have a heart attack every week like this, but I think these are the ones that show your true character. We can definitely learn a lot from ourselves and learn a lot from the game, being able to pull one out like that.”

San Francisco — a 9.5-point underdog — drove to Green Bay’s 46-yard line on its next possession and appeared poised to pull off a stunner. But on a third-and-3 play, Packers cornerback Kevin King beat speedy Marquise Goodwin to a deep ball and intercepted 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard. It was the first interception of King’s career.

Rodgers & Co. took over on their own 10-yard line with 1:07 remaining and gave thought to simply playing for overtime. But when running back Ty Montgomery ran for 14 yards on a draw play to open the drive, Green Bay was in business.

Rodgers scrambled for 21 yards when no one could get open. Rodgers hit rookie receiver Equanimeous St. Brown on a back shoulder throw for 19 yards. Then Rodgers found Adams for 19 yards on an out route at the 49ers’ 9-yard line.

Mason Crosby, the goat a week ago when he missed four field goals and an extra point, then banged home a 27-yard, game-winning field goal as time expired.

In the matter of a few short minutes, Green Bay went from a team nearing disaster to a group with some hope.

“It shows the character of your room, of what you have going on in the locker room,” tight end Jimmy Graham said. “You know you’ve been tested so when you do come about those moments later in November, December, in the playoffs, you know how your guys are going to respond. We would all just love to beat people by 50. That would be awesome. Hopefully we’ll get some of those in the near future. But we’re just going to hopefully start stacking wins and that’s all that matters.”

These Packers have more problems than most recent Green Bay teams. But trying to fix what ails them will be far more enjoyable coming off of a win.

“We’re a couple plays away from being 4-2 or 5-1, and definitely a couple plays from being the other way,” Rodgers said. “So we’re thankful to be 3-2-1 right now and realize what’s in front of us, and how this type of play might not get it done against the next opponents.”

On Monday night, though, it was good enough.

And for the time being, it just might have saved Green Bay’s season.