GREEN BAY, Wis. — One of the biggest stories of the playoffs thus far is the San Francisco 49ers after they defeated the L.A. Rams to get into the playoffs and then defeated the Dallas Cowboys on the road to advance to the Divisional Round.
One of the biggest narratives that comes with that is San Francisco's history of success against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in the playoffs.
While the Packers defeated the Niners earlier this year, in Rodgers' playoff career, he's 0-3 against the Niners. That included the 2020 NFC Championship game against the Niners, the 2012 NFC Divisional game where Colin Kaepernick erupted to help get the 49ers the win, and a 2013 Wild Card game at Lambeau Field that the Niners won 23-20.
While the Niners have been cruising through opponents on their way here, Locked On NFL insider Isaiah Stanback talked about why this time might be different for the Packers-49ers Divisional Round matchup.
"Green Bay is coming off an MVP year with their QB1 Aaron Rodgers and now he's up for the award again," Stanback said. "These guys are playing really good ball and what makes Green Bay more dangerous this year is their ability to run the ball. They have a two-headed monster with Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon and both of those guys are able to run the ball downhill, which allows them to stay in nice short down and distances."
That ability to run the ball doesn't just help Green Bay compete in cold weather games like we'll get on Saturday, but Stanback says it has really helped Aaron Rodgers succeed at the level we've seen him succeed in the past two seasons.
"If you give Mr. Aaron Rodgers, Mr. MVP Aaron Rodgers a running game, now you have everything at his disposal," Stanback said. "Now he has his play action, now he can drop back, now he can dink and dunk you, he doesn't always have to take big shots with Davante Adams. He can work his way down the field and he has the experience and confidence and patience to do so."
Stanback says narrative is going to be on the mind for Rodgers too, another potential advantage for the Packers.
"One thing we know about him, he doesn't forget," Stanback said. "This is a highly competitive individual who wants redemption against the San Francisco 49ers. He wants to make sure that when his career ends, he can circle this game and say we took care of business against you guys on our way to try and hoist a Lombardi Trophy."
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Meanwhile, there are some serious advantages for the 49ers as well, who are coming in with heavy momentum after upsetting the Rams and Cowboys both on the road in the last two weeks.
"They're going to try to come out here again and try to manhandle the Packers' front seven and they're fully capable of doing so," Stanback said. "They ran for 169 yards against the Dallas Cowboys and they plan on doing that again with this Shanahan offense. Their identity hasn't changed all year long and it's just going to come down to whether or not they're able to have an effective running game. Because if they can't, I don't think they're fully confident in Jimmy Garoppolo's ability to beat Green Bay in a passing duel against Aaron Rodgers."
Another potential advantage for the 49ers is the fact that they've played the last two weeks in full. The Packers got the bye as the No. 1 seed and rested many starters in the second half of their Week 18 game against the Lions.
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Stanback said in his NFL career he had a playoff bye two times, and his teams lost those two games coming off the bye.
"There's pros in terms of getting your guys healthy, in terms of film study, in terms of feeling confident and relaxed and get your gameplan together," Stanback said. "But, there's a downside in not having that week under your belt of momentum and not being able to go out there and continue the tear that you had in the weeks prior to."
The Packers and 49ers face off at Lambeau Field at 8:15 p.m. E.T. on Saturday on FOX. The winner advances to the NFC Championship Game, taking on the winner of Rams-Bucs (Sunday).
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