5 Things To Know About The Green Bay Packers-San Francisco 49ers Matchup

The Green Bay Packers will host the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional playoffs on Saturday.

The sixth-seeded 49ers upset third-seeded Dallas, 23-17, on Sunday. San Francisco (11-7) will now travel to top-seeded Green Bay (13-4) in a matchup of familiar foes.

Here’s five things you need to know about the 49ers:

1. Packer killers

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers grew up a San Francisco fan, but was snubbed by the 49ers in the 2005 draft. Since then he’s 6-6 lifetime against San Francisco, but is 0-3 against the 49ers in the playoffs.

San Francisco ousted visiting Green Bay in the divisional playoffs in 2012, then came to Lambeau Field and won a wildcard game in 2013. Most recently, San Francisco routed the Packers, 37-20, in the 2019 NFC Championship Game.

The 49ers ran for a remarkable 285 yards on 42 carries that day and averaged a whopping 6.8 yards per rush. Raheem Mostert, who went undrafted in 2015, set a 49ers’ team record with 220 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

“I usually dreamed about playing for the 49ers as a kid,” Rodgers said before the 2019 NFC Championship Game. “But obviously that thing passed a long time ago.”

Rodgers’ desire to beat the 49ers hasn’t dipped, though. And he’ll get a chance to down his boyhood team Saturday.

2. Run to glory

The 49ers finished seventh in the NFL in rushing yards per game (127.4) and got better as the year went along.

In San Francisco’s final four regular season games, it averaged 138.8 rushing yards per game. And in the 49ers’ win at Dallas Sunday, they ran for 169 yards.

Rookie Elijah Mitchell ran for 963 yards in just 11 games during the regular season (87.5 average). Wideout Deebo Samuel is often used as a running back, too, and finished the regular season with eight rushing touchdowns.

As good as San Francisco is between the tackles, they also use multiple shifts and formations while attacking the edge of the defense.

“I think it’s the motions and shifts that go along with it that challenge you on your leverage more than anything else,” Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said last week. “A tight end motion, a shift, a receiver in the backfield. So challenging you on your leverage and I think that’s one of the things their offense does well.”

3. Dominant defensive front

San Francisco ranked fifth in the NFL with 48.0 sacks.

Star defensive end Nick Bosa finished fourth in the league with 15.5 sacks, but suffered a concussion in the win over Dallas. His progress this week will be a major story line.

The 49ers are much more than Bosa, though.

Defensive ends Arden Key (6.5 sacks) and Arik Armstead (6.0) are solid pass rushers. The defensive tackles are stout.

And the front seven — which includes tackling machine middle linebacker Fred Warner — helped the 49ers rank No. 3 in total defense. Warner suffered a sprained ankle, though, against Dallas and his availability against Green Bay will be a question.

“Good defense and running the ball helps you win in the playoffs,” Bosa said. “So we have those things and we’re hoping it could lead us in the right direction.”

4. Is Jimmy G. good enough?

San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had a solid year with a 98.7 passer rating, 3,810 passing yards and 20 touchdown passes.

Garoppolo has a 33-14 career record and led the 49ers to the 2019 Super Bowl. He’s more of a game manager than a dynamic talent, though, which is why the 49ers drafted Trey Lance with the No. 3 pick in last April’s draft.

Garoppolo’s quarterback rating was 102.9 in his last 10 regular season games. He seemingly makes one boneheaded throw a week, though, which is why he had eight interceptions in that stretch — and another one Sunday vs. Dallas.

5. Old pals

Packers coach Matt LaFleur and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan became close when they worked together in Houston, Washington and Atlanta.

Shanahan, the son of two-time Super Bowl winning coach Mike Shanahan, was the offensive coordinator in Houston in 2008-‘09. LaFleur was an offensive assistant with the Texans those same years.

Shanahan became the offensive coordinator for his father in Washington from 2010-’13, then held that same position on Dan Quinn’s staff in Atlanta from 2015-’16. Each time, LaFleur was on the staff as the quarterbacks coach.

Shanahan took over as San Francisco’s head coach in 2017 and has a 42-43 overall record, including a 3-1 postseason mark. LaFleur is 41-12, including a 2-2 playoff record.

“Oh, there’s so many things that I learned from him,” LaFleur said of Shanahan. “But, I think it’s just his detailed approach that he takes every day.

“I think he’s a guy that has a great vision for what he wants to get done, how to use players, how to adapt and, you know, put people in the right position. A lot of my football philosophy has been shaped by him.”