Here we go; the Packers are in the Divisional Round. As one of four teams remaining in the NFC, Green Bay will travel to Santa Clara to take on the No. 1 seed 49ers on Saturday night. Here are six things to keep in mind going into the playoff matchup. 

1. A Friendly Rivalry

There’s a lot of history between the 49ers and Packers. Per the dope sheet, this will be the 10th postseason meeting between the two teams, which is the most between any two teams in NFL playoff history. Interestingly, this is the fifth time the franchises will meet in the Divisional Round, with both teams winning twice. All-time, the Packers are 4-5 in the postseason against San Francisco, including 2-3 on the road. 

Head Coach Matt LaFleur has a 3-3 postseason record thanks to a Wild Card victory over the Cowboys last week. And while he’s 2-1 against his friend Kyle Shanahan in the regular season, he’s 0-2 in the postseason. In his seventh season as San Francisco’s 20th head coach, Shanahan has a 6-3 playoff record with one Super Bowl appearance under his belt. 

Notably, the Packers and 49ers have the top regular season win totals in the NFC since LaFleur became a head coach in 2019, with the Packers winning 56 games and the 49ers winning 54 games, respectively. 

The Packers have a winning record at Levi’s Stadium (3-2), and have won back-to-back regular season contests as the road team in 2020 and 2021, yet they’ve failed to get a win in Santa Clara during the postseason. While the teams are different every season, you’d have to imagine these stats are somewhere on LaFleur’s mind. 

2. Mad Man McCaffrey

There are stars all over the 49ers roster, but it’s possible none shine brighter than Christian McCaffrey. Even with sitting out in Week 18, McCaffrey ended the regular season with 1,459 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns, averaging 5.4 yards per attempt. He added another 564 yards as a receiver with seven additional scores, giving him a season total of 2,023 scrimmage yards and 21 touchdowns. Unsurprisingly, those numbers earned him First-Team All-Pro honors. 

San Francisco’s offense largely goes as McCaffrey goes, as the 49ers are 10-1 this season when he has 75-plus rushing yards in a game. The team leads the NFL in rushing touchdowns this season with 27 and is third in yards, averaging 140.5 rushing yards per game. They’re also fourth in the NFL averaging 4.8 yards per attempt. While plenty of other players have scored rushing touchdowns this season for the 49ers, no one else has eclipsed over 285 rushing yards. McCaffrey is the workhorse and it’s not close. 

The Packers defense has held up better against the run in recent weeks, allowing less than 60 rushing yards to opposing running backs in four straight games. Statistically, though, Green Bay is still near the bottom of the pack (see what I did there?) in attempts and yards, allowing 128.3 yards per game on the ground. 

3. Offensive Gold Mine

We covered McCaffrey’s stardom on this high-powered offense, so let’s look at the rest of the role players in Santa Clara. This 49ers offense ranks third in the NFL in points for, putting up an average of 28.9 points per game. What’s more, San Francisco ranks first in red zone offense scoring a touchdown on 67.2% of tries. 

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before…quarterback Brock Purdy was the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft! And, clearly, he’s become very relevant despite his draft status. He went 308-of-444 for 4,280 yards with 31 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in the regular season, giving him a quarterback rating of 113.0. 

It helps to have three receiving options that have all gone for over 1,000 scrimmage yards, too. Leading the group is Brandon Aiyuk who hauled in 75 receptions for 1,342 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. He’s averaging a whopping 17.9 yards per reception. Also to account for is All-Pro tight end George Kittle who had 65 catches for 1,020 receiving yards and six scores. Finally, gadget receiver Deebo Samuel rounds out the unit with 892 receiving yards, seven receiving touchdowns, 225 rushing yards, and five rushing touchdowns, giving him 1,117 scrimmage yards and 12 total scores. That’s a lot of fire power. 

4. Repeat Performance

If you asked the Packers what they need to do to get a win on Saturday night, chances are they’d simply say “do what we did in Dallas, again.” Yeah…scoring 48 points on the road in a playoff game is typically a recipe for success. Let’s look at some key performances from Wild Card Weekend. 

Quarterback Jordan Love gets his flowers here immediately, throwing for 272 yards and three touchdowns in his playoff debut. He would have had a perfect passer rating if not for a rogue incompletion late in the game, but 157.2 will have to do. Love also was sacked zero times last Sunday, so massive credit goes to the offensive line for keeping Micah Parsons at bay and keeping Love’s jersey clean all game. 

On the ground, running back Aaron Jones proved why he’s the pride of El Paso when he rushed for 118 yards and three scores, averaging 5.6 yards per carry. He’s now eclipsed 20 touches and 110 rushing yards in four straight contests. 

In the receiving game, Romeo Doubs had himself a day. One week after suffering a chest injury that sent him to the hospital, Doubs hauled in six catches for 151 yards and a touchdown. Doubs became the third Packers receiver to post a 100-yard game this season (Bo Melton and Jayden Reed are the other two). What makes this offense so dangerous is that any receiver is capable of having a 100-yard receiving day, and Love isn’t afraid to spread the ball around. 

Defensively, the Packers snagged two interceptions off Dak Prescott in the Wild Card matchup, with safety Darnell Savage returning his for a pick-six. Don’t let the stat sheet fool you, either. CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup may have both finished with over 100 receiving yards, but a lot of those yards came after the game was firmly sealed away at 48-16. 

Keisean Nixon had one of his best performances all season, finishing the game with 11 tackles, one sack, and two passes defensed. Quay Walker was also in the mix with 11 tackles, while De’Vondre Campbell, Lukas Van Ness, and Preston Smith all snagged a sack themselves for a total of four sacks on the day. 

Using Pro Football Focus grades, the Packers had the highest-graded quarterback (92.5), receiver (93.3), running back (89.7), offensive tackle (Zach Tom, 84.0), and defensive player (Savage, 92.1) of Wild Card Weekend. 

Dallas may have won the time of possession battle, but it simply didn’t matter. If the Packers are able to capitalize in similar fashion on Saturday with some repeat performances from key players, that would go a long way towards a win in Santa Clara. 

5. Take What They Give You

The Packers are 5-1 this season when their defense forces at least two turnovers. On the flip side of that, the 49ers have turned over the football two-plus times in four games this season and are 1-3 in those contests. What’s more, they have a turnover in every loss this season. 

Green Bay hasn’t gotten too many turnovers this season. They finished the regular season with only seven interceptions, while the 49ers lead the NFL with 22. The Packers finished the regular season with a turnover differential of zero, forcing exactly as many takeaways as they have giveaways. The 49ers finished plus-10. 

Love has done a great job playing mistake-free football down the stretch, and the 49ers will try to force his hand on Saturday. Leading the charge is cornerback Charvarius Ward who earned Second-Team All-Pro honors for his regular season performance, snagging five interceptions with 23 passes defensed and one pick-six. 

In the middle of the defense, linebacker Fred Warner, a First-Team All-Pro, had four picks and four forced fumbles along with 132 total tackles. He ranked first among all linebackers per PFF with an elite grade of 90.1. His running mate on the inside, Dre Greenlaw, also finished the season with over 100 total tackles, though he’s listed on the injury report with an achilles injury and his status for Saturday is unclear. 10 different players have interceptions for the 49ers defense this season, so protecting the football will be paramount on Saturday. 

6. Hold the Edge

Lastly, it’s only appropriate to talk about edge rusher Nick Bosa and how he fares against Green Bay’s tackles. As I mentioned earlier, the Packers offensive line held up remarkably well against Parsons last week who was coming off a career-best 14-sack season. Bosa’s 10.5-sack regular season is a bit more modest compared to his 18.5-sack, All-Pro earning 2022 season, but he still remains a force off the edge. He’s credited with 21 knockdowns and 44 pressures in 2023 with 53 total tackles. Bosa is PFF’s second-best edge rusher with an elite grade of 92.7. 

For the Packers, Zach Tom has played incredibly well at right tackle all season. Per PFF, he’s had 542 pass-blocking snaps and has allowed no sacks. He ranks 13th among all tackles with a grade of 79.6. 

At left tackle, Rasheed Walker has come on strong the latter half of the season and looks like he could potentially be the future at the position. Against Dallas, he had 21 pass-blocking snaps with zero sacks and zero pressures allowed. While Elgton Jenkins remains reliable at the left guard spot, both Walker and Tom actually have the highest grades along the offensive line. 

If the Packers can mitigate Bosa’s impact and give Love time to go through his progressions, we could see another clinical performance from QB1 on Saturday night. 

What I’ll be drinking for the game: 

Since we don’t know how many games we have left this season, I’ll be drinking some Game Day IPAs from Badger State. They’re probably my favorite Green Bay brewery and a must-visit anytime you’re in the area. Game Day is also a little lower ABV for an IPA which is great when you accidentally drink one a quarter out of nervousness. Most importantly, though, the can has a Zubaz design. Here’s hoping this magical playoff run continues! What a fun ride this season has been. Cheers!