Packers-49ers Playoff Game Set for Saturday Night

The Green Bay Packers will host the San Francisco 49ers at 7:15 p.m. Saturday.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Jan 16, 2022 11:18 PM EST
Original:
Jan 16, 2022

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will host the San Francisco 49ers at 7:15 p.m. Saturday in an NFC Divisional playoff game, the NFL announced on Sunday night.

As the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, the Packers got the first-round bye and the right to host the lowest remaining seed from wild-card weekend. That’s sixth-seeded San Francisco, which upset Mike McCarthy’s third-seeded Dallas Cowboys 23-17 on Sunday.

The Packers opened as 4-point favorites at SI Sportsbook, 4 1/2 points at BetOnline and FanDuel, and 5 1/2 points at BetMGM.

San Francisco has won eight of its last 10 overall and is 7-3 on the road.

At this time last week, the forecast for the upcoming weekend was for frigid weather. That has moderated, though. The forecast for Saturday at Green Bay TV station WBAY calls for a high of 21 and a low of 2. So, expect a kickoff temperature somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 and a wind chill hovering around 0.

Green Bay won at San Francisco 30-28 in Week 3. The teams have changed since then, obviously. The Packers didn’t have five-time All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari for that game while the 49ers didn’t have standout running back Elijah Mitchell available. The Packers’ offensive line will be put to a test by a 49ers defensive front that posted five sacks and 14 quarterback hits against the Cowboys while limiting their running backs to a meager 2.8 yards per carry.

The Packers and 49ers have split four playoff games. Aaron Rodgers is 0-3 in playoff games against the 49ers: 45-31 at San Francisco in 2012, 23-20 at Lambeau Field in 2013 and 37-20 at San Francisco in the 2019 NFC title game.

For what it’s worth – and it’s worth nothing, of course – Rodgers has won his last four Saturday games. This year, the Packers beat the Browns 24-22 on Christmas. Last year, they beat the Panthers 24-16 in the regular season and the Rams 32-18 in the divisional playoffs. They also beat the Vikings 38-25 in 2016. All four of those games were at Lambeau Field.

Green Bay is 10-3 in Saturday playoff games. Last year’s win over the Rams broke a two-game losing streak. The Packers lost 26-20 in overtime at Arizona in the 2015 playoffs and 45-31 at San Francisco in the 2012 playoffs.

The Packers posted back-to-back-to-back 13-win seasons, a first in NFL history. It won coming out of their playoff bye in 2019 (28-23 vs. Seattle) and 2020 (vs. the Rams). The home team is 14-2 in the divisional round the last four years.