What to know about latest Packers-Niners
Recent history
Everyone will remember the 2019 NFC championship game – for good reason. The Packers had a chance to advance to Super Bowl 54, but they couldn’t stop the run. The 49ers rang up 285 rushing yards in that game, including 220 yards and four rushing touchdowns from running back Raheem Mostert. But the 49ers have played the Packers tough throughout San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan’s tenure, which started in 2017. The Packers are 3-2. Two of the Packers’ wins have come from last-second field goals, with the third a 17-point win when the 49ers’ roster was eviscerated with injuries. The 49ers’ pair of wins have come by 29 and 17 (NFC championship game).
Differences two years later
In some ways, this 49ers team isn’t much different from the one that routed the Packers in that NFC championship game two years ago. They rely on the run with a defensive front four that’s hard to deal with. But neither this 49ers’ run game nor defensive front makes San Francisco quite as dominant as its 2019 team. This year, the 49ers finished seventh in the NFL with 127.4 rushing yards per game, compared to finishing second at 144.1 rushing yards per game in 2019. Mostert, who tortured the Packers two years ago, played only one game this season because of a knee injury. On the surface, it might seem like little has changed with the 49ers’ defensive front. The 49ers finished tied for fifth with 48 sacks this season, their same figure from 2019. Their defensive front was not as successful against the run this season as in 2019, finishing 26th against the run allowing 103.5 rushing yards per game this year as opposed to 17th with 112.6 in 2019. A big reason: The 49ers no longer have DeForest Buckner, who left as a free agent after the 2019 season and is now with the Indianapolis Colts. It’s also worth noting defensive end Nick Bosa and inside linebacker Fred Warner left their wild-card game with injuries.
Matt LaFleur vs. Kyle Shanahan
Both of the Packers’ blowout losses to the 49ers have come with Shanahan as head coach. LaFleur is a pupil of Shanahan’s, working as his quarterbacks coach while Shanahan was the offensive coordinator in Atlanta. Both run similar schemes, and both have had clear success in the NFL, with Shanahan coaching in Super Bowl 54 and LaFleur leading the Packers to consecutive NFC championship games the past two seasons. The two have long been close, with Shanahan giving LaFleur his first NFL coaching opportunity with the Houston Texans more than a decade ago, but their relationship might have become icy in the past year. It was no secret the 49ers were interested in acquiring Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers this offseason, and their intent to poach the presumptive 2021 MVP might have strained what was a close relationship.