49ers vs Packers Part II

The Green Bay Packers took care of the Minnesota Vikings during their Wild Card Weekend Matchup, which sends them on the road to face the 49ers on Saturday, January 12th. Kickoff is set for 5:00 pm PST.

This is the second meeting this year between the two teams. In the opening week of the season the 49ers beat the Packers in Green Bay 30-22. In that game Aaron Rodgers threw for 303 yards and 2 touchdowns. The 49ers starter Alex Smith threw for 211 and 2 touchdowns. This time however, the Packers will be at the Stick and Alex Smith will be holding the clipboard.

The early line on the game is the 49ers at -3, but I expect that line to move throughout the week. Jim Harbaugh mentioned earlier in the week that they were game planning for the Packers as they were expecting them to beat the Vikings, good call on the coaches part.

The biggest question going into this week is the health of Justin Smith, he’ll play but at this time we do not know how effective he’ll be. The 49ers must get pressure on Aaron Rodgers to win this game, In the first meeting he was sacked 2 times. Hopefully Aldon Smith figures out what has kept him sackless in the last three games and hopefully it wasn’t the loss of Justin that limited Aldon.

Looking back on the numbers from the first week, the loss of Manningham, Hunter and Williams should not affect this game. Manningham was 4 for 29 and Hunter rushed for 41, but with the game play of LaMichael James and Michael Crabtree emerging of late, the 49ers should be in good shape on offense.

Wonder if this time Aaron Rodgers will end up wearing that Alex Smith jersey…