The Green Bay Packers may have gotten the albatross off their neck by trouncing one of their greatest enemies — the San Francisco 49ers.
Throughout the Aaron Rodgers era, the 49ers were the specter of defeat that ended their season multiple times. That phantom continued to haunt Jordan Love, concluding his first season as a starter with another heartbreaking defeat where Green Bay outplayed their opponent for 55 minutes.
That loss sat with Love and the Packers until they had an opportunity to strike back.
Sunday’s 38-10 teeth-kicking is one of San Francisco’s worst losses under Kyle Shanahan. Sure, it was a regular-season victory, and the 49ers were down their starting quarterback, top edge rusher, All-Pro left tackle, and more. Still, that doesn’t discount the importance of this win for the Packers. This victory was massive for the locker-room culture and can elevate Green Bay to new heights for the rest of the season.
The 49ers and Packers are two of the NFL’s most storied franchises, and their rivalry has been iconic since at least the ‘90s. It took on a new shape under coaches Matt LaFleur and Kyle Shanahan, two good friends with a history of working together.
LaFleur has the winning record in the regular season, but Shanahan has eaten LaFleur’s lunch in the playoffs; three of four of LaFleur’s playoff losses were under San Francisco’s heel. That creates a specter of doubt in a locker room. It almost gives you some idea of how Chicago Bears fans feel about Green Bay.
Despite Sunday’s game taking place in the middle of the season, it still had major stakes for both teams.
San Francisco isn’t the NFC juggernaut they were last season or expected to be this year. Thanks to various injuries, their division rivals playing better football than expected, and their defense not living up to expectations, the 49ers entered the matchup with a 5-5 record and any realistic chance to make the playoffs on the line.
It might not be the same as beating them in the playoffs, but the Packers punched San Francisco in the mouth to potentially knock their NFC rival out of playoff contention. The 5-6 49ers aren’t destined to spend the postseason on their couch just yet, but they sit at fourth place in their division and have a steep hill to climb even to sniff the postseason.
Meanwhile, the Packers sit pretty at 8-3. While still in third place in the hypercompetitive NFC North, they continue to hang with the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. The Green and Gold are sixth in the NFC race and would face the Seattle Seahawks if the season ended today. (Note: The season does not, in fact, end today.)
The game not only elevated their place in the NFC playoff race, but they handily beat a team that terrorized them while fixing some of their major issues. It wasn’t a perfect game (what game is?), but it was a statement win that can elevate their level of play for the rest of the season.
Green Bay’s red-zone struggles have been a constant theme all season. But not on Sunday, where they went five-for-five in the red zone. LaFleur and Co. made excellent use of Josh Jacobs and found that missing puzzle piece.
Jordan Love is looking fully healthy as he enters his Toyotathon stretch. Love played an efficient game with no interceptions (that counted). However, the passing game left some points left on the board.
The defense had some hiccups but put together a three-turnover performance that led to 21 points. Quay Walker and Lukas Van Ness, two of the defense’s biggest uncertainties this season, had standout days to build upon.
The Packers even made their first 50-plus-yard field goal of the season. All three phases did their part.
The opps will say it was just a win over a beat-up team and not worth chirping about. Ignore them. Every NFL team faces major injuries. The Packers won 2.5 games with their backup quarterback at the helm. It’s a next-man-up game.
Love, Keisean Nixon, Josh Myers, and Elgton Jenkins all commented after the victory that San Francisco’s injuries don’t make the fruits of victory taste any less sweet.
“It’s really satisfying,” Myers said. “The truth of it is, they’ve knocked us out of the playoffs a lot, and it’s frustrating as hell. So to win that game feels great.”
Love discussed the offense finding its rhythm in this game: “We just have to keep finding the consistency. But I like the things we did today. It’ll be just continuing to improve on that, continuing to generate explosive plays.”
Fixing some of your season-long issues at the expense of a team with a history of bullying you is a good feeling.
The Packers got hot about this time last season, and it looks like history could repeat itself. This kind of win at this point in the season is a momentum-generating morale booster, and the fact that it was over a team that’s given the Packers trouble only adds to it. This win likely means the Packers won’t see the 49ers in the playoffs and have a chance to rewrite history, but this is the next best thing. 49er? I hardly know her!
