San Francisco 49ers vs Green Bay Packers Prediction & Betting Tips - NFL

Prediction published on 18/01/2024, 20:15  by Matthew Newman in NFL Predictions

The Green Bay Packers are on the road in the early hours of Sunday morning to take on the NFC winners, the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers have lost their last two at home but the second of those against the Los Angeles Rams was fielding a weakened team with the number one seed already in the bag and they only lost by one point. The 49ers have a well-balanced attack with Christian McCaffrey the top running back in the league this season. He will be rubbing his hands together ahead of this game as only four teams gave up more yards on the ground this season than the Packers. His second half of the campaign was not as productive as his first but this is a good opportunity to get himself back on the horse. Brock Purdy led the league in a number of categories at quarterback this season, and only really had one poor performance this season, when the Baltimore Ravens came to town. Rock-solid aside from that, his yards per competition numbers were off the charts compared to his peers. He had a 113.0 passer rating this season, the 14th-best season by a quarterback since the stat started being tracked in 1973. That will mean little, however, unless he can guide his team to a Super Bowl win.

It was a huge shock to not only see the Packers go into Dallas to beat the Cowboys last week but to do it with such ease. With just a 6-8 record with three weeks of the regular season left, their playoff hopes looked slim but three consecutive wins over the Carolina Panthers, Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears saw them make the postseason. None of those teams were competitive but it meant little to the Packers who kept rolling in Dallas. The Cowboys put up 30+ at home yet again but the Packers put up 48. At home, the Cowboys had only given up 127 points in eight games combined, an average of under 16 which made the Packers' output remarkable. They intercepted Dak Prescott twice and they will be looking to put pressure on Brock Purdy who fell apart in a 49ers loss to the Baltimore Ravens when he was picked four times. Jordan Love has really grown into the role of starting quarterback as the season has gone on. Romeo Doubs had a career game against the Cowboys, the second-season player will be full of confidence now and is a perfect receiving threat to the one-two rushing punch of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. There is no expectation on the Packers to produce a result here, the same as in Dallas last week and perhaps being free and easy is what makes them so dangerous.