49ers Represent What Packers Are Building Toward
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Anyone who has played a video game knows how this premise works.
As you work through various missions of the game, you face one final challenge at the end of the game.
In Mortal Kombat, it’s to beat Shang Tsung. In Metal Gear Solid, it's to take down the Big Boss.
Pick whatever your favorite example is, that is what the Green Bay Packers will be staring in the face when they battle the San Francisco 49ers in Saturday’s NFC Divisional playoff game.
Much like the Aaron Rodgers-led Packers owned the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys, the 49ers have owned the Packers.
Rodgers faced the 49ers in the playoffs four times. Two times, the Packers lost by double digits. Two times, they lost on last-second field goals.
Prior to the last two postseason meetings, Mark Murphy tabbed Brian Gutekunst to be general manager. Gutekunst and Murphy agreed to hire Matt LaFleur as coach after the 2018 regular season.
Murphy was asked during that introductory press conference if it helped LaFleur's case that he had a connection with Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay or San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan.
"Those are some of the right names," Murphy quipped.
Though the Packers were hiring LaFleur with the present in mind, they knew the future would be here sooner than later.
After LaFleur's first season, during which Rodgers turned 36, they drafted Jordan Love with an eye toward the future.
It's unlikely that Gutekunst is saying he wants his team to be the 49ers, but that is the image in which he's built his team.
That makes sense. LaFleur comes from the Shanahan coaching tree, having worked under Mike Shanahan in Washington and Kyle Shanahan in Washington and Atlanta.
LaFleur's offense is similar to Shanahan's. The goal is to make every play look the same.
They refer to it as the illusion of complexity.
Their teams are built accordingly, as well.
Blocking is a requirement for receivers, not a suggestion.
Everything in the play-action passing game is tied to the run game.
To date, the biggest difference in the way the Packers have built their offense is the investment in the quarterback position.
Brock Purdy, famously known as Mr. Irrelevant after being the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft is the starter in San Francisco. He took over after Trey Lance, who the 49ers traded up for, flamed out.
Sometimes a little luck is involved, too.
The Packers have tried to make their luck at the quarterback position.
Gutekunst infamously moved up for Love as his legacy pick with Rodgers still on the roster.
Love's best attributes were playing in structure and throwing the ball on time. Those are requirements in the Shanahan/LaFleur system.
The similarities between the two teams do not stop there.
The 49ers' receiving corps is diverse in its skill-sets. Deebo Samuel is their do-it-all guy who lines up all over the formation and plays on special teams.
The Packers have tried to replicate that with Jayden Reed, who helped rewrite the rookie record books in Green Bay.
Brandon Aiyuk is a crisp route runner who can make plays after the ball is in his hands.
The Packers are trying to re-create that with Dontayvion Wicks.
Jauan Jennings is a possession receiver who is a sure target on third downs.
Romeo Doubs is coming off the best game of his career with 151 yards on six catches in Dallas, but that is likely the role envisioned for him.
The Packers drafted two tight ends, Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft, hoping to re-create what the 49ers have in George Kittle.
Christian McCaffery and Aaron Jones are the players each offense runs through, and they provide a veteran presence in the backfield to calm their young quarterbacks.
Defensively, both teams put a premium on their front seven and rotating pass rushers to try and keep them fresh.
The 49ers have grown up together and reached their peak form together. Aiyuk, Samuel, McCaffery and Kittle are veterans. Trent Williams is one of the best left tackles in the NFL.
The Packers looked like a team working through their initial missions when they started life after Rodgers.
Their offense struggled as they fell to 2-5 before flipping the switch in November. They rebounded in enough time to earn the right to play in the postseason to take on the Dallas Cowboys.
After winning 48-32, they're in a position that nobody expected.
Few national pundits were picking the Packers to make the playoffs, let alone beat the Cowboys once they were in.
They did.
Now, they will be staring at a familiar foe on Saturday night.
It's the final boss that they built their team in the image of.
What could decide whether they're playing on Championship Sunday or not is just how much the young version of the 49ers has grown up.
