NFC Championship Game X-Factors

You know the big names; here's who else could be huge factors for the Packers in today's championship game.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Jan 19, 2020 8:44 AM EST

GREEN BAY, Wis. – You know the big names. Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Jones and Davante Adams on offense, The Smith Brothers and Jaire Alexander on defense.

Here are three other X-factors for the Green Bay Packers as they attempt to upset the San Francisco 49ers in today’s NFC Championship Game.

Offense: RT Bryan Bulaga

The 49ers demolished the Packers 37-8 in Week 12. Bulaga wasn’t available for most of the game due to a finger injury that rendered him ineffective in pass protection. Without Bulaga, former undrafted free agent Alex Light stepped in at right tackle and the 49ers shifted rookie defensive end Nick Bosa from the defense’s right side to the left to attack Light. Bosa had a productive night, Rodgers had a miserable game in not completing a single pass thrown 10-plus yards downfield and the Packers went 0-for-14 on third down during the first 59 minutes.

Bulaga’s back, meaning Green Bay’s offensive line will be at full strength. San Francisco defensive end Dee Ford missed the Week 12 game but returned last week, giving the 49ers’ juggernaut defensive line its full complement of five first-round picks. This will be a battle of strength vs. strength, with the winner probably winning the game.

“They’re very talented up front,” Bulaga said. “They have a lot of good players. It just wasn’t our game. Watching their tape, you what they do is right on the tape and what they do is very good. It’s nothing overly complex. They’re not twisting and stunting and doing a bunch of stuff to get guys into the gaps. A lot of it is just one-on-one matchups. They like their guys to go one-on-one against the offense’s guys and that’s the way it goes. You just got to be ready because they have a good rotation, too. They’re just not two or three guys. They really take guys in and out and they’re all very good. We’re going to have to be ready.”

Defense: S Darnell Savage

The hallmark of San Francisco’s passing attack is where it attacks. The Week 12 game was a pretty good example. According to Pro Football Focus, on passes thrown beyond the line of scrimmage, Jimmy Garoppolo was 9-of-10 between the hashes and 2-of-3 outside the hashes. On passes thrown 10-plus yards down field, Garoppolo was 6-of-6 for 167 yards and two touchdowns between the hashes and didn’t throw a single pass outside the hashes.

“We just go where the holes are,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “It depends who we’re playing. There’s a lot more between the numbers than outside the numbers, so I think that would make sense percentage-wise. That’s not something that I consciously know and think of where I say, ‘Hey, I like to throw over there.’ You try to study coverages and you try to get the quarterback to find the hole.”

Savage, the second of Green Bay’s first-round picks, was named to the all-rookie team this week. He’s had a solid rookie season. With speed and hitting ability, the Packers need Savage to deliver an impact game to take away what Garoppolo wants to do from his center-field position.

Special teams: KR Tyler Ervin

Talk about an unlikely hero. Before he was released by Jacksonville, Ervin averaged 1.8 yards per punt return and 21.4 yards per kickoff return. For Green Bay, he averaged 9.6 yards per punt return and 26.7 yards per kickoff return to rescue the Packers’ laughably feeble return units.

“I think about it constantly. It’s just a blessing,” Ervin said. “Sometimes I feel like a door gets opened and it’s just the right timing. I try not to look back and talk about the things that didn’t happen for me. I’m just focused on what’s happening now.”

He’s even become a role player on offense, something that wasn’t true during his first three-plus seasons. The Packers, in dire need of another weapon on offense, have used Ervin’s speed on jet sweeps and deep passes and as a decoy.

“I was talking to Milt (Hendrickson) and Jon Eric (Sullivan) the other day and just telling them what a great pickup I thought that was,” Rodgers said. “And they said, ‘Yeah, we kind of had eyes on him for a while.’ He’s made a huge difference for us.”