San Francisco vs Green Bay Preview

When-

January 22, 8:15 pm ET, Lambeau Field, Green Bay, WI

Matchup-

San Francisco- 6 Seed (NFC West) 11-7 overall

Green Bay- 1 Seed (NFC North) 13-4 overall

Why San Francisco will win-

Kyle Shanahan holds a 3-2 record over the Packers in 5 meetings as the head coach including a 37-20 victory in 2020 that sent them to the Super Bowl. The 49ers come into the game confident and battle tested beating two straight 12 win teams in Los Angeles and Dallas on the road. They came out of last week's game banged up but expect to have QB Jimmy Garoppolo (thumb), and LB Fred Warner (ankle) available to play. DE Nick Bosa (concussion) also was cleared to play on Friday after being listed as questionable all week.

Why Green Bay will win-

Aaron Rodgers continues his quest for an elusive second Super Bowl title that would cement his legacy as one of the all time greats. The bye week allowed the Packers time to get healthy and will get WR Randall Cobb back from IR along with RB Aaron Jones who sat out the regular season finale against the Lions. Jones rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown for the Packers in their 30-28 win at San Francisco in late September. Green Bay’s defense comes into the game tied for 5th in INT’s and will look to add to Garoppolo’s 13 thrown so far this year.

Key to the Game-

Health? Both teams come into the game banged up. DE Jordan Willis (ankle) is questionable for the 49ers. Packers T David Bakhtiari (knee) and CB Jaire Alexander (shoulder) remain questionable and WR Marques Valdes-Scantling (back) is doubtful. Who will play and how effective will they be given the predicted frigid temperatures expected Saturday night?

Eye Test Analytics Predicted Score- Green Bay by 3.31 points