DISASTER: Three reasons the packers will lose to the 49ers in the NFC playoffs.
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The San Francisco 49ers were the favorite to win the Super Bowl during most of the season. Green Bay Packers? Not really.”Looking back here, I don’t think even after the Broncos game, anybody in that locker room thought we were going to be in a division game against the 49ers,” right guard Jon Runyan said this week.
It’s been a tough run for the Packers, beating the Chargers, Lions and Chiefs several weeks ago, then somehow losing to the Giants and Pirates before winning the final three games of the regular season and the Cowboys. joker round.Can packers do it again? No. Here are three reasons why the 49ers will beat the Packers in Saturday’s NFC divisional playoff game and end the season once again.1.
Too many playmakersThe 49ers may have the most talented group of skill players in the NFL. Running back Christian McCaffrey led the NFL in rushing yards (1,459) and total yards (2,023). Receiver Brandon Aiyuk finished seventh in the NFL with 1,342 yards and second with a 17.9-yard average. Receiver Deebo Samuel had 892 receiving yards and 225 rushing yards for 1,100 total yards. George Kittle led the way with 1,020 yards and a 15.7 average. 4,444 That’s four players who topped 1,000 yards in the playoffs.
The talented Packers had zero.If you’re defensive coordinator Joe Barry, where do you start? Their deep, versatile offense is like Green Bay on steroids.”I have incredible respect for Kyle (Shanahan) as a coach and as a signal caller,” Barry said. “When you put all the pieces around him, they’re elite in a lot of areas — the running, the tight end, the wideout — and when you add that to a guy, it’s probably one of the best plays to make, he’s got a lot of toys to play with and he does a great job.
“Whether Brock Purdy is an elite quarterback or a quarterback with elite stats doesn’t matter. The passing game is great. Aiyuk caught 75 passes, followed by McCaffrey with 67, Kittle with 65 and Samuel with 60. It’s a balanced offense with all four threatening to go the distance on every play due to their elite yards per catch numbers.Purdy led the way against Baltimore with four interceptions, an NFL passer rating of 113.0, 278.7 yards per game and 9.64 yards per attempt.
Yards per attempt led the league by a proverbial mile; it was the third best in the Super Bowl era..
“I think it’s unfair to Brock Purdy and the way he plays to say, ‘Oh, he’s only playing well because he’s surrounded by great players,” Barry said. “Playing great helps, but any successful offense is instantaneous. Gotta look at the trigger. You talk about efficiency, because he took it from the first start, the efficiency is unbelievable.”2. McCaffrey is unstoppableAs great as Purdy was, it all starts with McCaffrey.”He’s the GOAT, man. He’s the GOAT,” defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt said. “You can watch it on film, watch it on TV, he’s the GOAT. We definitely have to have a plan for him.”With 1,459 rushing yards,
McCaffrey won the NFL rushing crown by almost 300 yards. With 2,023 total yards, he led the league for the second time in his career and was the only player this season to hit 2,000.Of 41 running backs with at least 125 rushing attempts, McCaffrey was No. 1 in yards per carry (5.36) and 10-yard runs (44; 11 more than any other player), No. 2 in forced missed tackles (60) and No. 4 in yards after contact per carry (3.42), according to Pro Football Focus.
“He’s in an elite group,” 49ers coordinator and offensive line coach Chris Foerster told reporters this week. “You work with Peyton Manning, you work with Jonathan Ogden, you work with some of these Hall of Fame-type players who prepare like nobody else.They’re almost crazy about their preparation. They never give. They leave no stone unturned in game planning, at work, his physical training and Christian just has such an elite group of players. They’ve been a handful, but they’re generational.”Green Bay’s run defense has been broken for years.
No team has allowed more rushing yards per attempt in the Matt LaFleur era. This year, they finished a respectable 23rd at 4.42. yards per attempt. But they also can’t win if they put too many eggs in that basket and let Purdy and the passing game tear them apart..
Linebacker Nick Bosa, the 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, was selected with the second pick in the 2019 draft. Chase Young, acquired at the trade deadline, won the Rookie of the Year award as the second pick in the 2020 draft. Arik Armstead was the 17th pick in the 2015 draft. Javon Hargrave was a professional bowler for the Eagles.”Freak show” as coach Matt LaFleur called them.The Packers tackled the Dallas defensive front last week.
Aside from Padres, the Cowboys don’t have much elite talent. The 49ers, on the other hand, are loaded.”You look at their roster and most of them aren’t just first-round picks, most of them are top-10 picks,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “So they have talent. They have a lot of talent. I really respect their leadership. I respect their game a lot. They play physically. They take out.They are doing a very good job with their plan, so it is a big challenge for us. I am excited about this challenge.
The young group that we have, I’m really excited to see how they come out and how they play. It will be a great environment against a really good opponent, so it will be a huge test for us.Green Bay sophomore offensive tackles Rasheed Walker, left, and Zach Tom, right, are key. Growing into a great starter, Tom saw a lot of Parsons last week and a lot of Bosa on Saturday. 4,444 Bosa led the NFL with 18.5 sacks last year.
According to Pro Football Focus, he was “only” 10.5 this year, but finished third in pressures and fourth in passer-to-heart ratio.”They did a great job,” LaFleur said of Walker and Tom. “We’ve seen them grow every week. They’ve certainly faced some pretty terrifying fronts all season, and we’ve got another one ahead of us. We have to continue to show that growth and improvement, and we have a big challenge ahead of us.”The Packers then have to contend with All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner, the only player in the league with at least 130 tackles.
four. forced fumbles, four interceptions , 10 passes defended and two from the sack. His elite skills not only challenge the run game, but also close passing windows.”He’s a defensive leader and obviously one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL,” Love said. – He does a lot for this defense. You see him all over the tape. He flies around and plays left and right. So he’s a big player who needs to know where he is and find ways to take advantage of what he’s doing..
