Saturday | 8:15 ET
Fresh off of a surprisingly dominant victory in Dallas, the Packers will head to Santa Clara on Saturday to take on the 49ers. Jordan Love and Green Bay looked fantastic last week so nothing is off of the table, even against the first-seed 49ers.
Packers QB Jordan Love has been nothing short of amazing this season. In his first season as a starter, he finished second in the NFL with 32 touchdown passes. He looks confident on the field and is aided by great offensive designs by head coach Matt LeFleur and a cast of talented young receivers surrounding himself. Over his last nine games, he’s thrown 21 touchdowns compared to only one interception, leading the team to a 7-2 record. Veteran running back Aaron Jones is also playing a massive role right now. He’s run for at least 110 yards in four straight contests, including a three-touchdown performance last week against the Cowboys. It seems like missing much of the season with an injury is actually working in Jones’ favor, as he is the only player on the field with fresh legs at this time of year.
The 49ers defense will face the tough task of slowing down Green Bay’s hot offense. This unit, one of the very best in the league, is up for the challenge. San Fransisco benefits from elite pass rushers, elite linebackers, and an elite cornerback. The Niners allowed the fourth-least net yards per pass attempt this season, and ranked third in PFF pass rush grade. Most notably, Joey Bosa ranked second out of 118 qualified edge rushers in PFF grade, and Fred Warner ranked first out of 83 qualified linebackers (third in run defense grade). Charvarious Ward is phenomenal at cornerback, and is a big reason for San Francisco’s success against the pass. The 49ers are first in interceptions this season, so it will be interesting to see if they get one from Love.
Though I expect Love to be generally hampered through the air, Aaron Jones could keep his impressive run going. The Niners are middle-of-the-pack against the run in terms of yards per carry, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a productive Aaron Jones on Sunday. Potentially, this could open up the passing game for Love. As long as Green Bay’s offensive line is able to hold up (they’ve allowed the third-least sacks in 2023), Jordan Love and the Packers could put some great drives together.
Switching sides, the 49ers averaged the most yards per play this season (6.6). This includes coming first in net yards per pass attempt and third in yards per carry. RB Christian McCaffrey finished first in all purpose yards (2,023), rushing yards (1,459), and non-passing touchdowns (21). This offense had four starters finish in the top-two of their respective position in overall PFF grade this season (LT Trent Williams, TE George Kittle, WR Brandon Aiyuk, and RB Christian McCaffrey). QB Brock Purdy finished just behind Jordan Love in passing touchdowns with 31. The Packers defense shouldn’t provide much resistance against this passing attack. With the exception of CB Jaire Alexander, the secondary is not good. It gave up the 12th-most net yards per pass attempt this year. Against the run, the Packers gave up the tenth-most yards per carry and fifth-most yards. There is no reason not to expect yet another huge game out of Christian McCaffrey and Brock Purdy. Even in last week’s win, the Packers gave up 4.9 yards per carry and 400 passing yards.
In all, this is going to be a lot closer than some may think. The Niners are obviously going to feast upon the Green Bay defense, but I think that the Packers may give San Francisco a taste of its own medicine for a little while. I’m expecting a shootout early, with the 49ers eventually taking over.