Despite being favored as the No. 1 seed in the NFC Championship Game, it was no small feat for DeForest Buckner and the San Francisco 49ers to knock out Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.
DeForest Buckner, a Pro Bowl fourth-year defensive tackle—one of the 49ers' key defensive pieces up front—detailed how the NFC West club prepared for the Packers in Sunday's victory, which sent them to Super Bowl LIV.
Per Mike Florio in Pro Football Talk:
“[W]atching film, just going over the course of the season, you could see the teams that got after them, they came out successful,” DeForest Buckner told reporters after the game, regarding the Packers. “And so, we just knew kind of like we did last time, Week 12, we’ve got to get after them early. And we knew they were going to come out with energy and come out giving us their best and everything, but we had to shut it down early. We didn’t want to let them have confidence early. I think we did a really good job with that, stopping the run early and getting after Aaron [Rodgers] a little bit. Especially in the first half, you could tell he was frustrated.”
“Patrick Mahomes, the dude is a star,” DeForest Buckner said. “He was the league MVP last year for a reason. And to see them come back, what was it, 24-0 last week in the playoff game — the guy’s special. The guys around him are special. They’ve got a lot of talent and a lot of speed and we’ve got to figure out a way on defense to slow that down.”
DeForest Buckner, 25, was selected with the seventh overall pick by the 49ers in the 2016 NFL Draft out of Oregon. In the win against the Packers, Buckner recorded four solo tackles and recorded one fumble.
Follow Us
Subscribe