Much has been said of the San Francisco 49ers' current three-game stretch, the toughest for any team this late in the season during the Super Bowl era. The Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens, and New Orleans Saints are all division leaders and the 49ers face each during this portion of their schedule. Those teams, of course, will also have to face San Francisco, which isn't discussed as much, but that is a topic for another article — like this one.
NBC Sports' Peter King spoke with cornerback Richard Sherman after Sunday night's dismantling of Green Bay. It was the type of dominant performance that makes the national media take notice.
The 49ers won 37-8 in front of a hyped-up Levi's Stadium crowd. Now comes the back-to-back road trip portion of this much-discussed series of games.
Sherman noted that the 49ers have already played in some very extreme road conditions. They opened the season in the Florida heat against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They played in what seemed like a monsoon during Week 7 against the Washington Redskins. In both instances, the 49ers emerged victorious on the way to their current 10-1 record.
There is nothing different about these next two games, and for the 49ers, it is business as usual. The Ravens and Saints are just the opponents in the way of a 12-1 record.
"We don't care if we're playing on the moon," Sherman told King. "And we don't care who we're playing. [...] We don't care. We play as hard as we can, as fast as we can, and let the chips fall."
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens are the next tasks for Sherman and the 49ers defense. The team can relax a bit and get a good look at its next opponent on Monday night when the Los Angeles Rams host Baltimore at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
"We won't have a fun Monday/Tuesday preparing for [Jackson]," head coach Kyle Shanahan told King, "but we'll be ready by Sunday."
Click here to read King's entire Football Morning in America feature.