Green Bay Packers return to a place that has been a house of horrors, Santa Clara, California. Packers received two blowout losses at the hands of San Francisco last year. It’s not been pretty. Green Bay comes to town and things look entirely different in San Francisco. 49ers are ravished by injuries and COVID-19. Not one single player that had a pass, catch, or run the football in the NFC Championship Game last season will be playing. Due to the number of injuries that the Niners have piled up, this is a must-win for the Green Bay Packers.

FIVE QUESTIONS ABOUT TONIGHT’S GAME
1. Can the run defense find itself? – After a few days of hearing about the run defense’s poor play, they have a chance to make a statement tonight. Now, J’Mychel Hasty isn’t a world-breaker and probably will not give anyone a true read on this Green Bay defense. But if there is a significant improvement, that’s a good first step. We’ll see if Mike Pettine and the defense made the proper adjustments.

2. How is Green Bay going to run the football? – This is another huge question from the game. No Jamaal Williams, no A.J. Dillon, no Aaron Jones. This means the running attack will come from Dexter Williams and Tyler Ervin. Expect Green Bay to use the running game like a short passing game with Ervin. I could see him catching upwards of six balls tonight from Aaron Rodgers. As for Dexter, Rodgers gave him a boost of confidence. This is his moment. Let’s see how he does.

3. Will Green Bay get back Allen Lazard and David Bakhtiari? – While San Francisco keeps losing guys, Green Bay might be gaining them back. Lazard and Bakhtiari both made the trip out West. If they both can play, that makes the Packers’ advantage offensively so much greater. Bakhtiari reestablishes the offensive line while Lazard adds another weapon for Rodgers at this disposal.

4. How does Green Bay take advantage of this game? – This one is very John Madden-esque, but just win the first two quarters if you can. At least try to get the first quarter under your belt. This San Francisco squad is a rag-tag bunch. If the Packers give them a shot at winning this thing, they’re going to take it. Green Bay jumps out to a 14-0 lead early, San Francisco is going to pack it in. The last thing Green Bay wants is a situation like the Philadelphia-Dallas game where the Cowboys actually led at halftime.

5. Is Kyle Shanahan the Bill Belichick of offense? – The Ringer’s Kevin Clark had this take about being the ‘Belichick of offense’ and that scared me to death. The biggest x-factor in this game is not anyone on the field. It is if Shanahan can figure out a way to school Pettine without any of his top players. I do think they’ll do something that catches Green Bay off-guard early like a reverse pass. I expect Shanahan to be in his bag a little bit with the play calls.

PREDICTION
Part of me wants to believe that Green Bay will dump truck this team and it will be a 10+ score game. But the other part of me knows San Francisco is going to do all their best in this one. This game will feel too tight at halftime then Green Bay has too much horsepower for San Francisco’s second team to keep it close. Green Bay 31 San Francisco 20.

Charlie.