49ers at Packers Pre-game Thread

[OldSchool101]

Well. Here we are facing off against our longtime nemesis again. Things have changed for both teams. The 49ers have been a bit banged up like us. Even Purdy has been a little gimpy after taking some punishment against the Seahawks. Both teams have slightly regressed since our last meeting. However I feel good about this one as this isn’t the 49ers level team we’ve faced in recent years either. They have had their struggles like us and it’s them traveling a couple thousand miles, not us.

Let’s do this!

 

[Pugger]

We do struggle against TEs like Kittle and RBs like McCaffery. We have to be better in the RZ or it is going to be a long afternoon for us.

 

[PackerDNA]

Always a bad matchup for us. There's still the 49ers maybe getting a little healthier. Going to be tough

 

[tynimiller]

We do struggle against TEs like Kittle and RBs like McCaffery. We have to be better in the RZ or it is going to be a long afternoon for us.

Teams tend to struggle against the best TEs and best RBs in general LOL

 

[El Guapo]

This is the tale of two teams that are relatively healthy but each have multiple top players that are not playing up to expectations. Neither team is firing on all cylinders. In fact, someone should do a compression test as both teams are really struggling and just doing enough to get some wins here and there.

I have hope because the 49ers are not playing well, but I think that they are better than the Bears. We lucked out a victory over Chicago. I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[Krabs]

It's definitely an interesting matchup. The 49ers are 2nd in the league in yardage at basically 400 ypg. Green Bay is not that far behind at 388 ypg. Passing, SF is at 251 ypg and GB is at 238 ypg. Rushing is almost identical. GB is 150 ypg and SF is 148. They are tied at for 8th at 25 ppg. On defense, GB gives up 21.3 ppg as SF gives up 22.2 ppg. Every metric and stat that I look at shows these teams very close statistically.

From what I am reading, Nick Bosa is most likely out for this game. He is quite the game wrecker and that could play into the Packers hands. It is also looking good for Alexander to come back and play for the Packers. Weather could also play a big factor in this game. It is going to be a high of 28 degrees with 10-15 mph winds.

I honestly don't have much of a prediction here. I think whoever can run the ball better wins this game. If that weekend was any indicator on how the Pack is doing stopping the run then I have some major concerns about pulling this one out. I think it will be close and the Pack lose it in the 4th. Something like 14-13, Pack take the L.

 

[tynimiller]

Bottom line if GB plays similar to how we did vs the Bears we lose this game and likely by 10 or more.

 

[OldSchool101]

Well we’ve beat the easier and middling teams so far. The powerhouses we’ve struggled but never got blown out either. Detroit is probably the best team in the NFL and we lost by 10, I honestly don’t think we can put SF49ers in Detroit status too easily.
We beat Arizona 6-4. We beat Texans 7-4. I don’t think SF49ers are much better than either so saying they should’ve beat us by multiple scores is a bit thinking scared.

We’ve also been largely limping around on O until last week. Where we started to really move the ball. All NFC N teams are top 10 in D scoring, so the 49ers aren’t anything we haven’t already faced.

I think we’re due for a more consistent performance. If Jordan can have a no Turnover game I think we can Win this. Playing at home helps also.

 

[OldSchool101]

This would be a substantial game to Win. Obvious one is it’s a NFC team but a W would almost assure us of a playoff spot. Unless we just totally spiral out of control, 8-3 is solid.

Also it would be 8-3 with Wins over Arizona, LA and SF. That Division is wide open which means 1 or 2 of those 4 teams (haven’t played Seattle yet) will be fighting for a Wildcard and 1 more will win their Division.
Arizona 6-4
LA 5-5
SF 5-5
Seattle 5-5

A W means all but Seattle we’d win tie breakers and we’d be 8-3 to
SF 5-6 This would be very significant because 2 of 3 that don’t win their Division would have to beat our record and 5-6 almost negates SF unless we crash n burn. The West Division will likely compete with MN and GB and Washington for 3 Wildcard spots. This game is key to our playoff path and would make our primary competition be Washington and Minnesota for Seeding.

Detroit will obviously Win our Division unless we go full throttle and Win our next 3 matchups and beat Detroit in their house. That could make things very very interesting because they’d be a game ahead but playing Buffalo the following week.

Washington has the easiest path and good chance of a 6th seed also.

 

[gopkrs]

We'd better move the chains in this one. Positive yardage on 1st down would help. Pass or run. I'd prefer to run when they aren't sure that's what we are going to do. They have some good receivers, so our pass D has to show up. Nice to get some pressure somehow. Maybe have McDuffie/Cooper/Wilson keep one eye on McCaffrey. Not saying they can cover him.

 

[OldSchool101]

We'd better move the chains in this one. Positive yardage on 1st down would help. Pass or run. I'd prefer to run when they aren't sure that's what we are going to do. They have some good receivers, so our pass D has to show up. Nice to get some pressure somehow. Maybe have McDuffie/Cooper/Wilson keep one eye on McCaffrey. Not saying they can cover him.

Amen.
I’d like to be a little more aggressive in this one and gamble a little by crashing at McAffrey as if he’s getting the ball. Make SF beat us outside of McCaffrey. He’s too lethal in space or with momentum, so we need to pick our poison imo and don’t die drinking McCaffrey. Quay does better picking a hole and plugging it and he needs to do that angled at Christian. When left on his heels, Quay gets pushed out of the play anyway by OL. Plus he can’t separate so he gets eliminated anyway. He reminds me a lot like a LB version of Savage. When attacking he’s C+ B- but when he’s complacent he’s D+C-

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

The good news is The 49'ers are in last place of their division, the bad news is, they are 1 game out of 1st place in their division.

The 49'ers defense isn't as good as in years past, but it still isn't bad. I think the Packer offense should be able to put up some points against them.

Purdy is nursing a sore shoulder that he sustained in the Seahawk game on Sunday. I would be just fine with seeing backup QB Brandon Allen start on Sunday. Purdy is by no means a FHOF QB, at this point, but he is a good game manager and knows how to distribute the ball to all of his weapons, which he has quite a few of. Also injured is Kittle. He has a hamstring injury and missed the Seahawks game. If both of those players don't suit up on Sunday, I like the chances of a Packer blowout or at least a 2-3 score win.

They will still have to contain CMC and Deebo, but I worry less about those 2 if Purdy and Kittle aren't in there. Samuels isn't having all that great of a season, I hope that doesn't change on Sunday.

 

[Krabs]

The good news is The 49'ers are in last place of their division, the bad news is, they are 1 game out of 1st place in their division.

The 49'ers defense isn't as good as in years past, but it still isn't bad. I think the Packer offense should be able to put up some points against them.

Purdy is nursing a sore shoulder that he sustained in the Seahawk game on Sunday. I would be just fine with seeing backup QB Brandon Allen start on Sunday. Purdy is by no means a FHOF QB, at this point, but he is a good game manager and knows how to distribute the ball to all of his weapons, which he has quite a few of. Also injured is Kittle. He has a hamstring injury and missed the Seahawks game. If both of those players don't suit up on Sunday, I like the chances of a Packer blowout or at least a 2-3 score win.

They will still have to contain CMC and Deebo, but I worry less about those 2 if Purdy and Kittle aren't in there. Samuels isn't having all that great of a season, I hope that doesn't change on Sunday.

They basically said that Kittle is playing. Purdy has a shoulder strain and is day to day. I'd be shocked if he doesn't play.

 

[Sanguine camper]

Kittle will play. He has huge games against the Packers. If there is anybody that will get him back on the field quicker, it's the Packers.

 

[chemist]

Kittle will play. He has huge games against the Packers. If there is anybody that will get him back on the field quicker, it's the Packers.

49rs coming sunday. I hope our DC thinks about incorporating a spy strategy to prevent purdy from running circles around our defense like CW did.

 

[Magooch]

This is a tough one for me to predict honestly. I think it's hard to look at totally objectively and not considering the history/context....I think if these were two totally anonymous teams - take away the names, the history, the jerseys, etc - and you compared just their performances this year, you'd be hard-pressed to favor the 49ers.

They do have a good offense (in terms of yards per game) but other than that, I think they're getting by a lot on name recognition and reputation at this point. They're a .500 team who hasn't beaten a single team with a winning record this year (Jets 3-8, Patriots 3-8, Seahawks 5-5, Cowboys 3-7, Buccaneers 4-6). Their line (on both sides of the ball) is just so-so. They have a bad run defense, and an average pass defense. At this point the DL is basically Nick Bosa and a bunch of "replacement-level" players. Same story on OL - It's Trent Williams and who knows. They've got a good run-blocking OL, but an average pass-blocking one. Deebo Samuel, for instance, is one of those names who I think people still put a lot of respect on and are pretty scared of, but he's been awful this year. He's averaging less than 60 all-purpose yards per game and has two TOTAL TDs on the year.

But of course the game is not played in a vacuum and context matters. If we play like we played vs Chicago, we'll probably lose. Still, looking at the totality of it...if you took our "average performance" from 2024 and played it against SF's "average performance," I think we'd win. Honestly, if you break down the numbers (again, just on average), we're almost identical, but we have played a considerably more difficult schedule (We are currently 8th in SoS played; SF are 22nd)

One random thing working in our favor is that in general we play better as the game goes along. Our 4th-quarter defense has been really good on the whole...But then SF has been the opposite. Their defensive EPA is #4 in the 1st quarter and #7 in the 2nd quarter. Then you get later in the game and it's #13 in the 3rd and falls off a cliff to #28 in the 4th.

So, I don't know. My head says we "should" win, but my gut is not confident...

 

[tynimiller]

Kittle will play. He has huge games against the Packers. If there is anybody that will get him back on the field quicker, it's the Packers.

For those curious.

2018 vs GB 10/15 - 4 receptions for 30 yards
2019 vs GB 11/24 - 6 receptions for 129 yards and 1 TD
2019 Playoffs vs GB - 1 receptions for 19 yards
2020 - IR when we played
2021 - 9/26 - 7 receptions for 92 yards
2021 - Playoffs 4 receptions for 63 yards
2023 - Playoffs 4 receptions 81 yards and 1 TD

He has averaged 4.3 receptions 69 yards and .33 TDs a game
His career average is 64.47 yards per game on 4.74 receptions and .41 TDs per game.

He plays his normal against us, but for sure has had some big games against us.

 

[El Guapo]

Hopefully Tucker Kraft will prove to be the better tight end on Sunday. Love needs to find a way to get that kid more involved.

 

[gopkrs]

Despite Jacobs being so consistent, I'm thinking we should give the other RBs more chances. Jacobs now has another minor injury. Not keeping him out of the line-up I'm pretty sure, but we are going to need him for the whole year. And next and... I'd prefer Wilson to get some extra carries but for some reason LaFleur seems to want Brooks more. I don't really understand that, but he has done pretty well also. I don't want to run Jacobs into the ground.

 

[Schultz]

It seems Brooks is the receiving back. Could he be better in pass protection than Wilson? I also like what I have seen from Wilson while carrying the ball.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

It seems Brooks is the receiving back. Could he be better in pass protection than Wilson? I also like what I have seen from Wilson while carrying the ball.

I remember when Brooks was first signed Lefleur gushed about him. Stating that the guy has a ton of potential and a great work ethic. Injuries kind of slowed up his progress, but I think Matt and the Packers really want to unleash him.

I don't think that is saying that Wilson isn't going to get snaps either, but Brooks might eventually pass him on the depth charts.

I just discovered another reason why the Packers may be pushing Brooks. Wilson, despite suiting up for every Packer game, has not played any snaps on Special Teams. That says a lot to me. Where as Brooks, who didn't start suiting up until week 3, has participated in 55 Special teams snaps. Now that doesn't make Brooks a better RB at this point, but possibly a better backup on the roster, since he plays special teams as well.

Bottom line for me, a team needs to be at least 3 deep at RB and with Jacobs, Wilson and Brooks, I am pretty happy.

 

[Krabs]

Hopefully Tucker Kraft will prove to be the better tight end on Sunday. Love needs to find a way to get that kid more involved.

Or, he could just pass it to Kraft when he is open. Watson makes a terrific catch in double coverage here, but Kraft is absolutely wide open for a nice chunk play. He just didn't throw t to him.

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[Firethorn1001]

Or, he could just pass it to Kraft when he is open. Watson makes a terrific catch in double coverage here, but Kraft is absolutely wide open for a nice chunk play. He just didn't throw t to him.

And he airmailed one to Kraft that resulted in that pick.

Pretty sure on the 1st Watson catch (where he had 3 guys around him) that on the other side of the field Doubs was wide open.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I am not going to jinx anything and talk about the Packer trainers. I think the same trainers that some fans were bashing in years past for all the injuries.

Anyway, again, the Packers almost catch 49'ers at a good time. Not quite as good of a moment as they caught the Rams, but still....not a fully potent 49'er team.

Injuries Give Packers Enormous Advantage Over 49ers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers might never be better positioned to beat the San Francisco 49ers than they will be on Sunday at Lambeau Field. While cor

www.si.com

 

[Magooch]

I really feel like this comes at a crucial point in our season, too.

Look back at last year...We were pretty up-and down to open the season, going 3-6 through week 10. But then Love really locked in and the whole team went on a solid run to close out the season and head into the playoffs. From week 11 onward, we went 6-2.

Obviously we're in better shape right now record-wise compared to this point last season, but I think most would probably agree with me that it feels like we really haven't got everything dialed quite in yet and that it still largely feels like we're still looking to find our footing. Just a kind of uneven team in many ways.

But with all that in mind...like I said above, SF are IMO a lot worse than recent years. But I still think psychologically this could be an extremely important game. Yes, it's just regular season, but they've knocked us out of the playoffs in 19, 21, and 23, and as best I can remember the last time we beat them was early in the 2021 regular season. And of course a win would be important not just for our possible playoff seeding but it would make it very, very difficult for the 9ers to make the playoffs at all. I think that's a big boost - we get the monkey off our back in some ways, and don't have to worry about running into them in the postseason. I'm sure while they wouldn't say it out loud there are probably a lot of guys who have been with us a few years who would really like to avoid what feels like an inevitable playoff exit to SF.

Of course that sword cuts both ways too. Just like a win could serve as a springboard to everything coming together for a back-half run...a loss could be really damaging mentally, too. Hurts our playoff seeding, gives SF new life in the playoff race, and we have to deal with continuing to feel like they've got our number (even a weaker/reduced version). Don't mean to sound dramatic, but it really wouldn't surprise me if it ends up being a pretty pivotal, make-or-break type of game.