Sept. 10 – Jordan Mason ran for a career-high 147 yards and a touchdown, leading the San Francisco 49ers to beat the New York Jets 32-19 in Aaron Rodgers’ first loss since 2008 on Monday night in Santa Clara, Calif. The return of the Ra.
Deebo Samuel also scored a touchdown and Jake Moody tied a franchise record with six field goals, giving the 49ers the lead in the first game of the season for both teams.
Rodgers, 40, returned to action just two days shy of the one-year anniversary of the left Achilles injury he suffered in last year’s season opener.
Rodgers completed 13 of 21 passes for 167 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. His night ended with an incompletion on fourth down with 7:22 left in the game.
Allen Lazard caught two touchdown passes and Bryce Hall scored for New York.
Mason replaced injured star Christian McCaffrey (Mavericks, Achilles). An undrafted free agent from Georgia Tech, the third-year pro carried the ball 28 times. His previous highest yardage total was 11 yards against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2022, while his previous highest yardage total was 69 yards against the Dallas Cowboys last year.
Rodgers was injured in the fourth snap of last year’s opener against the Buffalo Bills. Earlier this week, he hinted he would react on camera after the fourth snap on Monday.
However, New York trailed by three punts on its first possession and had trouble on the first drive of the Jets’ next possession. Rodgers completed a backhand pass to Hall, then San Francisco star Fred Warner fumbled the ball away from Hall and Malik Collins recovered the ball for the 49ers on the New York 32-yard line.
The turnover paved the way for Moody’s 46-yard field goal with 10:58 left in the first quarter.
Rodgers then led the Jets on a 12-play, 70-yard drive in 7:07. Hall completed a 3-yard run to give New York a 7–3 lead with 3:51 remaining.
Moody gave the 49ers the lead by kicking a 51-yard field goal with 56 seconds remaining in the second quarter. San Francisco took the lead with 6:54 remaining in the first half on Samuel’s 2-yard run.
With 4 seconds left in the half, Moody kicked a 31-yard field goal, giving the 49ers a 16–7 lead at halftime.
San Francisco took the lead early in the second half with an 11-play, 70-yard drive in 7 minutes and 18 seconds. Mason scored 5 consecutive points, increasing the lead to 16 points.
With 3:28 left in the third quarter, Moody kicked a 53-yard field goal that missed wide left, making the score 26–7.
With 1 minute and 39 seconds left in the third quarter, Rodgers threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Lazard. Hall’s two-point conversion attempt failed and the Jets trailed 26–13.
Moody made field goals of 23 and 42 yards in the fourth quarter. Ray Wersching (1983), Jeff Wilkins (1996) and Robbie Gould (2017) also made six field goals in a 49ers game.
Packers backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Lazard in the final minute.
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