Green Bay Packers: 5 X-factors to beating 49ers in NFC Championship
4. Aaron Jones
As the NFL’s leader in total touchdowns this season, it’s safe to say that Aaron Jones has become a household name. After a couple of years with Packers fans and fantasy football enthusiasts crying loudly for him to get more work, he finally got it and it paid dividends for Green Bay’s offense.
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Though they were quite good last week with Jones having a relatively pedestrian outing against the Seahawks, the Packers offense is at full capacity when they can rely on Jones to make plays out of the backfield. He has the ability, especially behind this offensive line, to keep down-and-distance situations manageable and also to break off explosive plays.
He needs to showcase that ability on Sunday evening. Obviously that’s much easier to discuss than it is to actually do when it comes to facing this stout Niners defense. Even still, the Packers can’t abandon utilizing Jones in the offense. He’s the straw that stirs the drink and his presence must be felt on Sunday.
3. Run defense must contain big plays
The rub on the Green Bay defense throughout the 2019 season has been simple: This is a talented and highly effective unit at defending the past but, partially due to Mike Pettine’s scheme, they have often struggled against the run. That suspect run defense was a big issue in the first meeting against the 49ers as San Francisco’s offense is largely predicated on their success moving the ball on the ground.
While that may be true, the Packers run defense has improved at least somewhat down the stretch this season. More importantly, though, they don’t need to be perfect against the Niners. What they must do is limit explosive plays that can flip the game both on the scoreboard and with field position. If they’re able to do just that, it will make the contest more likely to be a quarterback battle, which is where Green Bay should want it.