Green Bay Packers vs. San Francisco 49ers: 5 Bold predictions for NFC Championship
The Green Bay Packers look to exact revenge on the San Francisco 49ers as they meet in the NFC Championship Game. Bold predictions for the matchup.
If regular-season results determined how games in the NFL Playoffs played out, then there would be no reason to play Sunday’s NFC Championship Game between the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers. When Aaron Rodgers and the Pack went to Levi’s Stadium in Week 12, Jimmy Garoppolo and the Niners embarrassed them in dramatic fashion, winning 37-8.
Things can change, however, when there’s a trip to the Super Bowl hanging in the balance, which is obviously the case for the NFC Championship Game. Yes, the game will be in Santa Clara once again but Za’Darius Smith and the Packers defense have come one exceptionally strong as of late and may be ready to match up with Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers in such a big matchup.
The question is if Green Bay has improved by, essentially, 29 points over the past two months to draw level with San Francisco. We won’t know until the two teams take the field at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday but the anticipation for this game is quite large.
Though nothing’s certain, there are always predictions. In fact, here are five bold predictions for Sunday’s NFC Championship matchup between the Packers and 49ers.
5. Kittle explodes back for 125 yards, TD
If you think about the 49ers dominating a football game on the whole, you likely think that the run game go going, the defense was dominant and that tight end George Kittle was an unstoppable force. But while San Francisco owned the Vikings in the Divisional Round, the one part of that equation that wasn’t true was Kittle’s performance.
The First-Team All-Pro tight end was basically a non-factor for the 49ers offense last week against Minnesota, catching just three passes for 16 yards on the day, putting him last among 49ers pass-catchers on the day. Part of that is due to Garoppolo only throwing 19 times and completing 11 passes. But the other part is Minnesota being great against linebackers.
Unfortunately for Green Bay, while their defense has been quite good, linebacker is not their strong suit. Though they’ve gotten Oren Burks back, they’ve struggled a bit against tight ends this season. In fact, Kittle diced them up in the regular season with six catches for 129 yards and a touchdown.
In the NFC Championship on Sunday, I expect a similar performance for Kittle. While the Packers defensive backs can slow down the receivers, they don’t have an answer for the fiery tight end and Jimmy Garoppolo will consistently look his way with success.