Five factors that contributed to the Packers’ NFC Divisional Round victory over the 49ers
The Green Bay Packers can extend their winning streak to five games and improve their record to 2-5 in order to advance to the NFC Championship Game if they defeat the top-seeded 49ers throughout the NFC Divisional Round in Saturday while traveling to San Francisco.
The squad led by Matt LaFleur has emerged victorious in seven of its last nine contests, including four consecutive must-win contests.
The Packers, who finished the regular season with victories over the Minnesota Vikings as well as Chicago Bears, earned a berth into the postseason.
They then advanced as a significant underdog by defeating the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium.
The Packers held first-half leads of 23-10 in their previous three road contests (at Carolina, 23-3 at Minnesota, and 27-0 at Dallas).
Furthermore, the Packers held first-half leads in 23-6 (in Detroit) and 14-3 (against Kansas City) in two of their most significant upsets. An early start time calms the crowd and causes the opponent’s game script to be disrupted.
On Saturday, against a 49ers squad that is constructed to seize early leads then dominate the game through its run game and devastating pass rush, the Packers must adhere to this strategy.
Can Matt LaFleur’s squad establish an early lead, create unease for the 49ers, and force Brock Purdy to play catch-up? The 49ers must be rendered more one-dimensional by the Packers.
Isolating the Packers’ run game is the paramount factor in securing victory. If he participates, Green Bay will attempt to establish their run game via Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon.
They must be eliminated by the 49ers in order to restrict the offensive prowess of Jordan Love or the Packers.
Similar to the 49ers, the Packers flourish on play-action passes. The Packers will be reduced to a one-dimensional unit and Love will be under increased pressure to defeat the 49ers solely through passing.
Despite the difficulty of preventing the run and the return of Arik Armstead to the defensive line, the 49ers’ third-ranked rush defense should be able to contain Green Bay’s rushing attack.
When four is rushed, play the pass. This notion appears to have occupied the thoughts of Steve Wilks’s defense the entire evening.
Being positioned in the middle will afford Armstead a significant number of one-on-one encounters. His ability to step up in the gaps enables linebackers Oren Burks, Fred Warner, and Dre Greenlaw to secure tackles.
Anticipate the 49ers, led by Nick Bosa, Chase Young, Robert Beal Jr., and Randy Gregory, to apply pressure from the edge.
By securing the edge, these boundary rushers must maintain Love inside the pocket. The interior can devour the center if the pass-rushing rushers establish a negative pocket.
The fact that the team’s sack leaders have been Bosa, Javon Hargrave, and Armstead is extremely ironic. Should the 49ers succeed in applying pressure in the middle, Love will be compelled to retreat beyond the pocket and directly tackle the edge rushers. Internal or external pressure is fundamental here.
It is imperative for the 49ers to restrict explosive plays. This can be accomplished in two ways by the team. Avoid being caught out of position initially.
Against the Cowboys, the Packers executed a number of explosive plays by leaving players wide open in the gaps of their area defense.
Trust must exist among the 49ers and discipline must prevail in order to eliminate failed coverages. Anticipate the Packers to put the 49ers’ young defensive secondary to the test.
To restrict explosive plays, the second method is to wrap along with tackle. The Packers will generate spectacular plays from missed tackles; therefore, the 49ers must make every tackle.
Early on, Kyle Shanahan must establish a rhythm for his offense. The 49ers rank among the NFL’s elite in terms of first-drive touchdowns. Anticipate a touchdown-scoring long-play drive in addition to a well-balanced passing and rushing attack.
After the 49ers have established a rhythm, they must maintain an unbalanced Packers defense through the use of a variety of personnel groups and a combination of runs and passes.
Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, and George Kittle should be nourished via the air and the ground.
An additional week of postseason play for the Green Bay Packers generates yet another NFC championship matchup.
Following their 48-32 rout of the second-seeded Dallas Cowboys, the seventh-seeded Packers became the youngest team in league history (average age: 25 years, 214 days) to win a playoff game since the 1970 NFL/AFL merger.
Green Bay tied with the New England Patriots for the most postseason victories in league history with 37.
The Wisconsin Packers and the NFC’s top plant material, the 12-5 San Francisco 49ers, will meet on Saturday, marking an NFL-record tenth meeting between the two teams in the postseason.