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The Green Bay Packers are 5.5-point favorites ahead of their playoff bout with the San Francisco 49ers. The game will be played at Lambeau Field, which means some cold weather. Wide receiver Davante Adams' 1,553 receiving yards this season were the third-most in the NFL. Oh, and let's not forget about Aaron Rodgers, who nearly single-handedly crushed the Niners with his late-game heroics at Levi's Stadium in Week 3, a 30-28 win by the Packers.
The 49ers are a different team now. Yes, there are questions to be answered about the team's health. Defensive end
Nick Bosa needs to clear the concussion protocol on a short week to play. Linebacker
Fred Warner is dealing with an ankle sprain. The good news is that it's not of the "high" variety.
Then you have quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who entered this past weekend's playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys with a torn ligament and chipped bone in his right thumb and exited with a right shoulder sprain. How effective will he be?
However, one respected NFL analyst believes the key to a 49ers win lies with their improved rushing attack. That's what the San Francisco offense leaned on in their last playoff victory against the Packers—a 37-20 win in the NFC Championship Game following the 2019 season.
Brian Baldinger believes the 49ers have to open up Saturday's game the same way they did against the Cowboys, when they scored on the opening drive.
"It was huge to go right down the field and execute like that, put seven points on the board," Baldinger said Tuesday morning on 95.7 The Game's
The Morning Roast. "That's always a great way to start a game."
Rookie running back
Elijah Mitchell, the 49ers' leading rusher, did not play in Week 3. In that previous meeting with the Packers, the San Francisco offense mustered just 67 rushing yards, with Trey Sermon being the team's leading rusher with 31 yards. It was the 49ers' second-lowest mark in that category of the season (39 rushing yards vs. the Cardinals in Week 9). Green Bay's defense has allowed 4.7 rushing yards per attempt, tied for No. 29 in the NFL.
"[The 49ers have] got a much better tandem right now, up front," Baldinger continued. "And so, to me, just like when they beat the Packers two years ago in the [NFC] Championship Game, look at how they ran the ball against the Packers. And look at how Aaron Rodgers had to play from behind, and what that looked like. To me, if you're a Forty-Niner fan, just go back and rewatch that game, and that's what it can look like, even if it's at Lambeau. It doesn't matter.
"Lock in. Don't let the noise, the atmosphere, crush you; the weather, the atmosphere, the noise, all that stuff. Lock in, and run the ball the way you're capable of running it. This will be a good football game."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Baldinger below.
The San Francisco 49ers announced the signing of wide receiver Trent Taylor to a one-year deal, reuniting with the team's former fifth-round draft pick out of Louisiana Tech.
Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area was the first to report that the 49ers were discussing a potential reunion with Taylor. The receiver was part of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch's first draft class in 2017 and spent his first four NFL seasons with the team.
The #49ers are talking with free-agent slot receiver/return man
The San Francisco 49ers are hosting several draft prospects this week as the deadline for pre-draft visits draws near. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2, the team will host former Western Kentucky wide receiver Malachi Corley on Wednesday.
Corley is expected to be a Day 2 pick. San Francisco owns two selections on Day 2—the No. 63 overall pick in the second round and the No. 94 overall pick in the third round. Currently, the receiver is visiting with the Seattle Seahawks.
Western Kentucky @WKUFootball receiver Malachi Worley
Ian Rapoport didn't offer much of an update on the ongoing contract negotiations between the San Francisco 49ers and their standout wide receiver, Brandon Aiyuk. However, the NFL insider emphasized one thing: The team is not entertaining trade discussions at this juncture.
Reacting to Aiyuk's decision to unfollow the 49ers on Instagram, Rapoport couldn't help but chuckle at the latest development. This practice has become commonplace among players who are unhappy with their contract situations. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel similarly took this action in 2022 before requesting to be traded just before the draft.
Things have yet to escalate that far with Aiyuk, but Rapoport sees his
Analyst Dane Brugler recently revealed his seven-round mock draft for The Athletic, forecasting all 257 selections in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft, set to kick off next week.
"Piecing together a mock like this is time consuming, but I enjoy the exercise, because it allows me to focus on each team's needs, organizational trends and prospect-team pairings that make sense based on '30' visits, league buzz and overall interest," Brugler wrote.
Most expect the 49ers to address the trenches early in the draft, and Brugler has the team doing that. It's just not on the offensive side of the football. In fact, Brugler doesn't have San Francisco
