Green Bay Packers v. 49ers: Initial Thoughts on NFC Championship Game

The NFC Championship Game is on the horizon, and here are some initial thoughts on the matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers.

For the second time this season, the Green Bay Packers will head west to Santa Clara to take on the San Francisco 49ers, and this time, a trip to the Super Bowl is on the line.

As I’m sure everyone remembers, the last time these two met in Week 12, it was ugly for the Packers. From a fumble on the opening possession throughout the rest of the game, to put it simply, they were whooped as the Niners cruised to an easy 37 to 8 victory.

However, the Packers haven’t loss since then behind some very good play from the defense, Aaron Jones of course, and not to mention that Aaron Rodgers is coming off of his best performance of the season. While we certainly hope the outcome is different this time around, there’s no question that this is going to be a difficult game for Green Bay to win. Especially on the road.

Throughout this week I will continue diving into the 49ers and the upcoming matchup more, but before I fully begin that process, these are my initial thoughts on the NFC Championship game.

• When I think back to the previous matchup the first thing that comes to mind is San Francisco dominating in the trenches on both sides of the ball.
• While the Green Bay Packers’ run defense has been an issue at times this season, other than the Detroit game in Week 17, they have been very good over the last five weeks or so. However, they will have their hands full as this is a 49ers’ offense that averaged nearly six yards per carry in their first meeting and over their last seven games, they are averaging 143 rushing yards per game.
• Green Bay cannot let Jimmy Garoppolo get comfortable this time around. In Week 12 he had an incredibly efficient performance throwing for 253 yards on just 14 completions with an average attempt of 12.7 yards, and two touchdowns.
• Before their last matchup, Aaron Rodgers said that Green Bay would have to win in San Francisco once this season to get to the Super Bowl and here is another opportunity.
• In looking back at Week 12, I couldn’t believe that Jamaal Williams was targeted eight times in the passing game and Aaron Jones was just once. Don’t do that again.
• All last week I discussed how so many matchups favored the Green Bay Packers over Seattle. But this week is a different story as the Niners hold a number of matchup advantages.
• The Packers have been much better at limiting the big play as of late but it has been an issue this season and the 49ers took advantage of it in Week 12. I wonder if we see Mike Pettine play more conservatively like he did against Seattle in an effort to prevent that?
• As always red zone performance and turnovers are going to be huge factors in this game and when it comes to overall red zone efficiency and turnover differential, the Packers have the upper-hand.
• This goes without saying, but Green Bay must be better on third downs. If you recall, against the Niners they were 1-15. Hopefully the success they had against Seattle in the divisional round carries over.
• They’ll need all hands on deck to slow George Kittle.
• Of Aaron Rodgers’ 243 passing yards this past Sunday, 209 went to either Davante Adams or Jimmy Graham. Once again, the receiver unit struggled to produce. Let’s hope Allen Lazard is good to go because Green Bay sure missed him against Seattle.
• Davante Adams vs. Richard Sherman. That should be a fun one to watch.
• And Nick Bosa is very likely going to be a problem.
• In terms of total yards allowed per game, as well as by DVOA, the 49ers had the second best defense in the NFL this season. It’s very fair to wonder how the Packer offense will handle them.
• Let’s not fumble – or turn the ball over at all for that matter – on the opening possession again.
• While I’m not saying the Packers will win, I have a hard time believing that this game will be ugly like the last one.

There is definitely a lot to unpack in this game and as I said above, I will continue doing so as the week marches on, but this is my initial brain dump on the upcoming matchup. Be sure to comment below or find us on Twitter at Dairyland Express to share your initial thoughts as well.