This
game is very meaningful for both teams as they are both jockeying for position
in the NFC playoff picture. If the playoffs were to start today, sadly for the
Forty-Niners players and fanbase, they would not make it in, which makes this
one exceedingly more critical for them. The Packers would be guaranteed a spot,
making it in as the 6th seed. This is somewhat the tale of two very good
franchises that have been extremely successful in their respective histories.
Both teams need a win here to stay within playoff contention. As
aforementioned, it’s safe to say that San Francisco needs this win more than
the Green Bay Packers.
San
Fran has been beat up all year long with multiple starters on both sides of the
ball having been injured coming into the season. It’s surely a sign of fatigue
from constant postseason play over the past handful of seasons. Don’t worry,
Niners fans, you’re not the only ones that feel these effects from long
seasons; it is also about to catch up to Kansas City too, trust me. This is
only natural when playing a game as brutal as football—people are going to get
hurt, they will greatly become tired, as well as beaten to a pulp after having
played considerably more games than almost every other team. Exhaustion will
start to kick in, you will start to age a little, you will become more prone to
injuries, and then you will wind up having to pay for it by losing a window of
opportunity to get a Super Bowl title. It is a highly unfortunate part of
sports with the type of physicality that football brings. This obviously has
happened to some of even the greatest teams—only one team is left standing at
the end of the day. It is also a game of wits just as much as it is a game of physicality.
Some like to relate the sport of football to the game of chess, the coaches
being the players, while the actual players are the pawns. To an extent, I
believe those people are somewhat accurate in their depictions.
In
the NFC West, all four teams are separated by one game. The Cardinals are atop
the division with a 6-4 record, then the rest of the pack are all sitting with
a 5-5 record. It is the tightest division top to bottom across the league. The
Niners are presently holding the fourth-place spot in the NFC West after
allowing Seattle to come away with a comeback win on the last drive of the game
this past Sunday. Geno Smith drove the Seahawks down the field on an 11-play
drive that took over 2 minutes to end it. The Seahawks came away with the road
win after their 80-yard drive where Geno scrambled for a 13-yard run touchdown,
giving 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy only 12 seconds to work with. Such a sad
day for Kyle Shanahan and the Niners losing to a Seattle team that had lost
five of their last six games. This was a crucial game in which San Fran needed
to come out on top, especially with it being a divisional game. Now, not only
did they drop to last in the West, but they are also 1-3 in their division,
putting their playoff hopes largely in jeopardy. If they have any aspirations
of playing games in January, they need to come out of this gauntlet with two or
fewer losses—Packers, Bills, Bears, Rams, Dolphins, Lions, and the Cardinals.
This would be a tough task for anyone. If I may be honest, the Niners’ season
is basically over. I could see them being able to win a few of these games,
though having this remaining schedule when you already have five losses in the
season will ultimately prove to be too challenging to overcome.
Life
in the NFC North is very pressing this year as well. When you must play teams
like the Vikings, Lions, and Bears twice each year, you had better be on your
A-game all season long. Losing too many divisional games could be devastating
to your playoff dreams by the end of the year. So can too many losses inside
the conference in general. Luckily for the Packers, they were able to come away
with a victory against the Bears last Sunday in Chicago, blocking what would
have been a game-winning 46-yard field goal. It should go without saying that
it was a huge deal, as this win separated Green Bay from being 0-3 in the NFC
North division to being 1-2. This gives them some hope moving forward, clinging
on to the six seed in the NFC playoff race. They are currently holding a
half-game lead over Washington for 6th place (Washington has a week 14 bye) but
doesn’t have much of a margin for error as the whole NFC West is only two games
back (all three teams are sitting at 5-5). Matt LaFleur, along with Jeff Hafley
(Packers DC), will have some serious work to do to whip this defense into shape
fast. Green Bay’s next three games have them facing two of the top scoring
offenses in points per game, passing yards per game, and rushing yards, along
with being second and third best in total yards per game (SF & DET). The
Packers’ offense will need to win in time of possession against San Fran while
relying on a heavy, balanced game plan as they are pretty good against both the
run and pass, ranking 8th in each category. They are giving up more yards
through the air than on the ground, but you should still get Josh Jacobs his
touches early and often to make their linebackers stack the box. Then, Love can
unleash his arsenal of weapons in the passing game with one of the best groups
of wideouts the league has to offer (Watson, Doubs, Reed, & Kraft).
Shanahan
is widely known as an offensive-minded guru, which has been proven in recent
years by the large success of Brock Purdy. If anyone can win a big game when it
matters most, I wouldn’t bet against him. San Fran possesses one of the top
rushing offensive units in the league, even more so now with Christian
McCaffrey back from injury. Green Bay does rank 14th in rush yards allowed
(119.6 yards per game), though I would still assume Shanahan will be pounding
the rock early and often with their two-headed rushing attack. The Packers
haven’t been as successful with their pass rush this season (18th in sacks);
the effects of this have resulted in their opponents being able to have a
little more boom in the passing game. Packers allow 207.5 pass yards per game,
ranking 13th leaguewide. They also just came off a game against the Chicago
Bears where they permitted almost 400 total yards (391) to a subpar offense.
Lastly,
although I do not see the Niners making the postseason this year in a division
that looks as if it will more than likely be sending only one team to the
playoffs, I do like them to upset this Green Bay Packers team (SF +1.5) one
week removed from barely coming away victorious by way of a blocked kick.
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