The Green Bay Packers are probably tired of hearing about how they got out-coached and out-punched by Kyle Shanahan and his San Francisco 49ers during Week 12. The 49ers embarrassed the visiting Packers with a 37-8 rout.
The Packers are hoping Sunday is different. The two teams will meet at Levi's Stadium, again, this time in the NFC Championship Game. Both squads are just one win away from a Super Bowl berth.
"Yeah, we've got to play a lot better, obviously," Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said of the 49ers after beating the Seattle Seahawks 28-21 on Sunday. "They're a great football team, have a great front, obviously get after the passer and don't need to rush a lot of guys to do that. Excellent pass rush and really good on the back end, smart."
Shanahan isn't expecting to see the same Green Bay team from Week 12. The 49ers head coach was asked about the rematch during his Monday-morning press conference.
"We know it will be different," Shanahan responded. "That game got away from them early and that's definitely not the team we're going to see this week.
"Everyone knows how good Green Bay is, how good their coaching staff is, how good their players are, how good their quarterback is. I don't think they've lost a game since then.
"I think that (Week 12) game really holds zero relevance to what's going to happen this Sunday."
Shanahan plans to ensure his players don't overlook the Packers just because they've beaten Green Bay before. The coach was asked what his "teaching point" is this week as the 49ers prepare for Sunday's game.
"Don't be that stupid," Shanahan answered. "That's not real. This is about Sunday's game. I could give a thousand stories of things like that, plenty of games from my history that I've been a part of.
"I remember losing to Carolina 37-0 when they were 13-0, and we had to play them two weeks later, and then we beat them at Atlanta and they ended up being 15-1 that year.
"There's so many stories like that, and this is the NFL. The game before never matters like that. There's four teams left and it's four very, very good teams. It's going to be a hard game for all of us.
"Also, our players, the type of guys they are, the way they've been all year, I'm not concerned about that. They'll have to answer that question, I'm sure, a lot (this week), but I don't think that'll be a worry for our players, which means it won't be for me."
