After an evenly-matched first quarter, the 49ers continued to play tough, hard-nosed defense. Although their first drive of the second quarter went nowhere, they quickly regained possession following an Eddie Lacy fumble recovered by Tarell Brown.
The fumble, which happened largely thanks to great effort and awareness by Navarro Bowman (who laid out to poke the ball out as Lacy was being tackled), set up the 49ers at the Packers 14-yard line. After a few short-yardage gains, Kaepernick made a scramble to the left, but Clay Matthews launched into him as Kaepernick was already out of bounds. Joe Staley immediately went after Clay Matthews, and the retaliation penalty negated the first down the 49ers would have picked up because of the late hit. Instead of first-and-goal at the 1, the 49ers were right back to 3rd and 6.
It wouldn't matter. On the very next play, Kaepernick spotted Anquan Boldin's crossing route over the middle, and Boldin skipped through a tackle on his way to the end zone. With 8:57 left in the quarter, it was 14-7 49ers.
The ensuing Green Bay series went nowhere, as two Aaron Rodgers incompletions paved the way for another three-and-out. The Packers returned the favor, though, and the ball went pack to Green Bay.
On the next packers series, Niners rookie safety Eric Reid went and made the play of the half. Packers TE Jermichael Finley bobbled a pass, and Reid made a diving, fingertip interception to give the ball back to San Francisco's offense. The drive didn't go far, but the Niners were close enough to attempt a 48-yard field goal - which Phil Dawson (standing in for David Akers) sent wide left.
On Green Bay's next drive, it looked as though the Packers would be settling for a field goal, but poor tackling from Nnamdi Asomugha and Perrish Cox helped the Packers extend plays into Niners territory. With 16 seconds remaining in the half, Rodgers found Jermichael Finley on an outside slant, and although Perrish Cox had the angle to make a play, he failed to wrap up and Finley barged into the end zone.
At the half, it's San Francisco 14, Green Bay 14.
First half MVP: Colin Kaepernick. Kaep is 14-20 through the air for 177 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Despite only rushing twice, Kaepernick has been excellent so far.
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