How will the Niners win at GB in game one?

Our primary edge in this matchup is we can get a quality pass rush with just our front 4 and that's the fatal flaw for teams like New England and Green Bay that are just passing machines.

As an added bonus we're got the best run stuffing front in the league so it's going to be Nickel and Dime defense the entire game and with Cox on board having a great training camp and by all accounts Culliver and Brown taking their play up a notch as well we have pretty good secondary depth to make the lives of Aaron Rodgers' targets miserable.

Offensively I think this is where them being our week 1 opponent works in our favor because this gives the coaches plenty of time to watch film and come up with a game plan filled with various formations and personnel groups while their defense won't have too much they can go off of film wise considering all the offensive additions we made this offseason.

Not sure if it was here I said it but all our offensive offseason acquisitions were for the sole purpose for Harbaugh and co. to have a variety of ways to expose and capitalize a defense's weaknesses. Defense is weak against power? We thrown a heavy does of jumbo package with Gore and Jacobs and have guys like VD be our primary targets. Defense is weak against speed? We throw in Hunter and James and we hit them with quick guys like Moss, Ginn, Jenkins.

So I think that will come to play against Green Bay and I think our offense is going to surprise some people this season.

How will they beat them...like red headed step child on rented mule!

We will let our players try to figure that out come gameday, otherwise I dont wanna say anything. Lol

Originally posted by 9ersLiferInChicago:
Th 9ers will win. Book it!!

Ball control: While I do think JH & Co. will be much more lethal this season on offense and open the playbook up I don't suspect it'll happen game one. GB is gonna get a pissed off 9ers squad with a whole lot to prove. GB still has a serious problem with the run. Gore, Hunter, Jacobs, and James are going to run wild. I predict we get over 200 yards rushing.

Defense: To date Aaron Rogers & Co still hasn't seen a D as good as ours. We routinely transitioned well from our base 3-4 to nickle making our nickle D the best in the league. Teams just couldn't force our base personnel off the field to to force mismatches until we were ready. And given that GB will pose no threat to us on the ground our top nickle D will get a good look at their best shots.

Options & weapons at key positions: The 9ers WRs and RBs are going to do real damage to NFL defenses this season. Serious deep threats (Moss, A.J, and Williams), intermediate/possession receivers (Manningham, Davis, and Crabs), and power (Jacobs), speed (James & Hunter), and the workhorse (The Inconvenient Truth), one of each on the field at the same time, not to mention with perhaps the best FB in the game.

I'm not suggesting that it'll be a cake walk. Far form it. But it will be a statement game. Now I know I'm biased, but I predict us to win 20-12. I think our top red-zone D will frustrate Rogers and force them into field goals all game.

Great post. Very well thought out, imho.

The more I think about it, the more I believe the Niners will start out with the running game and the ball control offense you talk about.

LIke you say, I think that we'll see some really different combinations of RBs, and some unusual shifts and formations that will throw off GBs run defense and we'll start to pound them. Then, when GB moves that 8th guy up into the box to help out, a throw to Moss, Crabs, VD, or some surprise on a play action call will catch them for a big gain/TD.

Then back to the ball control, run offense with a steady stream of different RBs and formations, but with the same "pound em" mentality. By the fourth quarter, our OL, and RBs, will own their DL!

On D, you're right, GB hasn't seen a front four (in our nickel d) like ours, or an ILB duo like Willis and Bowman. Willis is gonna take their TE out of play, and Bowman's gonna tackle Rogers whenever he tries to scramble. Their OL is gonna get owned by our DL and ILBs, cause our guys have great motors and never stop on a play.

You're right, its not gonna be easy, but I also think you're right about the Niners winning. They have the tools and the talent, they'll be ready, and they'll have a great plan. I can't wait!

Originally posted by Kronos2560:
We will let our players try to figure that out come gameday, otherwise I dont wanna say anything. Lol

Noooo... that's Singletary's game plan. Guys under Harbaugh and Fangio know exactly what to do before the game.

Originally posted by SunDevilNiner79:
I think we should score more points than the other team

Back to the law library for you.

Originally posted by Jikkle49:
Our primary edge in this matchup is we can get a quality pass rush with just our front 4 and that's the fatal flaw for teams like New England and Green Bay that are just passing machines.

As an added bonus we're got the best run stuffing front in the league so it's going to be Nickel and Dime defense the entire game and with Cox on board having a great training camp and by all accounts Culliver and Brown taking their play up a notch as well we have pretty good secondary depth to make the lives of Aaron Rodgers' targets miserable.

Offensively I think this is where them being our week 1 opponent works in our favor because this gives the coaches plenty of time to watch film and come up with a game plan filled with various formations and personnel groups while their defense won't have too much they can go off of film wise considering all the offensive additions we made this offseason.

Not sure if it was here I said it but all our offensive offseason acquisitions were for the sole purpose for Harbaugh and co. to have a variety of ways to expose and capitalize a defense's weaknesses. Defense is weak against power? We thrown a heavy does of jumbo package with Gore and Jacobs and have guys like VD be our primary targets. Defense is weak against speed? We throw in Hunter and James and we hit them with quick guys like Moss, Ginn, Jenkins.

So I think that will come to play against Green Bay and I think our offense is going to surprise some people this season.

Nicely stated! Good points all.

Plus Hunter and James can run off tackle as well. I could see a jumbo package with an unbalanced line--Goodwin at C with L Davis at RG, AD at RT, Boone shifted over to the right side from LT, and VD to the right, Takuafu or Soap at FB, and the smallest RB, James behind them all, then a run off tackle that he breaks for a big gain!

Let's see how their pretty boy OLB, Clay Mathews, deals with THAT coming at him!

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

Originally posted by ninerfan4life:

Originally posted by fly15:
If Alex can throw for more than 300 yds, we'll win

I don't think we've ever won when Alex yhrows for more than 300 yards lol.

correct!

does 299 against the saints count? lol

LOL, at some of these predictions. Green Bay is the "cream of the crop," going by today's NFL standards. They own the 49ers. Granted they beat up on some bad Niner teams of the Nolan/Singletary era the last few matchups, but even during the 90s and the Garcia/Owens era earlier this decade the 49ers couldn't beat that team.

One thing that stands out to me is the GB WRs vs SF secondary matchup. I don't believe the 49ers have the speed back there to stick with Jennings, Nelson, and company. I could see Fangio using a mixture of zone, like the NO playoff game.

I actually like the matchup of the 49ers offense vs the GB defense, however the 49ers must be able to score TDs rather than FGs.

Everyone likes to talk about how awesome the defense is, and IT IS, but they still were only 16th in pass defense. I distinctly remember them getting shredded by Romo-Austin-Witten, Vick-Jackson, Manning-Cruz (TWICE), Fitzgerald, Brees-Colston-Graham, etc. Those are some of the best players in the league, don't get me wrong, but this defense can be thrown on.

Capers & Fangio know each other well.

It will likely take 27-30 pts to win.

Originally posted by DonnieDarko:

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

Originally posted by ninerfan4life:

Originally posted by fly15:
If Alex can throw for more than 300 yds, we'll win

I don't think we've ever won when Alex yhrows for more than 300 yards lol.

correct!

does 299 against the saints count? lol

of course not! Alex is Mr. 299 after all!

Good post.

I think, VERY aggressive D. The more pressure on Rogers the better for us.

Control the clock w/ run heavy O.

Pass when unexpected.

The weahter won't be a factor for them.

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
Good post.

I think, VERY aggressive D. The more pressure on Rogers the better for us.

Control the clock w/ run heavy O.

Pass when unexpected.

The weahter won't be a factor for them.

We definitely got lucky with the timing of this game. Winning in Lambeau is much more doable in Sept. than Dec. or Jan.

I like the confidence in here, and I absolutely think we can win this game. But as fans, we see all these little advantages that we know we have that the fans of other teams do not see. I think our team will be improved in every spot we were weak last year, although the only real weak points were WR, a QB is too careful and can take a lot of sacks, and an o-line that wouldn't be strong in pass pro even with a QB who did get the ball out quickly consistently. Obviously we've upgraded our options in the deep and short passing game, and the o-line is so young it should get better simply because of experience. Alex should also be more comfortable being more aggressive with back to back years with the same coordinator and a full off-season. That could be huge for a cerebral player like him. Our defense needs no pumping up and I believe will be just as good if not better than last year.

I think we need to keep in mind that we also did not have one game that was as difficult last year as this one will be. Playing on the road against one of the best offenses the league has ever seen, no matter how one dimensional they are, is going to be harder than playing the Giants at home, @ Detroit, or the Saints at home. Baltimore on a short week where we have to travel and they don't would be the most comparable as far as difficulty, and obviously that was the worst game we played all year. This will be way different in that clearly will have way more time to prepare, but GB's offense is truly great, and Baltimore defense is good but not exceptional. GB also often excels even when the coverage is tight and the pressure comes quick with those essentially indefensible back shoulder throws to Nelson and Jennings. The Packers will be equally angry as we will be after being bounced by an inferior team that beat them (imo) mostly due to the mental hangover the offense had after attending their coordinator's sons' funeral a day before the game. And our D is not great against the pass anyway. Rodgers will throw for a good deal of yardage on us like he does against everyone they play. Hopefully our red zone D will tighten up as it usually does, but we won't know until game time.

In short, this is a battle of arguably the 2 most talented teams in the league with two of the best coaching staffs, and both teams will be ready to play considering it is opening week AND the way their seasons ended last year. We probably have improved enough on O to win, but GB's defense had little reason to have the drive to play their best considering how many huge leads they had at half time last year. Their defense will have something to prove, and also add several players in the draft that could potentially improve them as well. Unfortunately the venue is a place we haven't found a way to really even compete at for the last 20 years. Can we do it? Yes! Will we? I don't know but I can wait to find out!

Originally posted by bpg4980:
I like the confidence in here, and I absolutely think we can win this game. But as fans, we see all these little advantages that we know we have that the fans of other teams do not see. I think our team will be improved in every spot we were weak last year, although the only real weak points were WR, a QB is too careful and can take a lot of sacks, and an o-line that wouldn't be strong in pass pro even with a QB who did get the ball out quickly consistently. Obviously we've upgraded our options in the deep and short passing game, and the o-line is so young it should get better simply because of experience. Alex should also be more comfortable being more aggressive with back to back years with the same coordinator and a full off-season. That could be huge for a cerebral player like him. Our defense needs no pumping up and I believe will be just as good if not better than last year.

I think we need to keep in mind that we also did not have one game that was as difficult last year as this one will be. Playing on the road against one of the best offenses the league has ever seen, no matter how one dimensional they are, is going to be harder than playing the Giants at home, @ Detroit, or the Saints at home. Baltimore on a short week where we have to travel and they don't would be the most comparable as far as difficulty, and obviously that was the worst game we played all year. This will be way different in that clearly will have way more time to prepare, but GB's offense is truly great, and Baltimore defense is good but not exceptional. GB also often excels even when the coverage is tight and the pressure comes quick with those essentially indefensible back shoulder throws to Nelson and Jennings. The Packers will be equally angry as we will be after being bounced by an inferior team that beat them (imo) mostly due to the mental hangover the offense had after attending their coordinator's sons' funeral a day before the game. And our D is not great against the pass anyway. Rodgers will throw for a good deal of yardage on us like he does against everyone they play. Hopefully our red zone D will tighten up as it usually does, but we won't know until game time.

In short, this is a battle of arguably the 2 most talented teams in the league with two of the best coaching staffs, and both teams will be ready to play considering it is opening week AND the way their seasons ended last year. We probably have improved enough on O to win, but GB's defense had little reason to have the drive to play their best considering how many huge leads they had at half time last year. Their defense will have something to prove, and also add several players in the draft that could potentially improve them as well. Unfortunately the venue is a place we haven't found a way to really even compete at for the last 20 years. Can we do it? Yes! Will we? I don't know but I can wait to find out!

Good Post!

I agree, this game will present challenges that we didn't face last year. But we also are a more well-rounded team than last year. It will be interesting to see how much the GB fans overestimate themselves and underestimate us. We happen to have red/gold glasses on so it can be good to see the same matchup from the other point of view.

We're gonna rape their O-Line.