The Green Bay Packers knew what was in store for them when they prepared for the San Francisco 49ers ahead of their NFC Championship clash at Levi's Stadium. Or, at least, they should have known.
Despite the fact the Niners trounced the Packers 37-8 in Week 12 of the regular season, Packers linebacker Za'Darius Smith said the team did not come ready to play.
Smith doubled down on previous comments made by Packers head coach Matt LaFleur suggesting his players lacked a sense of urgency (via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk):
During an appearance on PFT Live, linebacker Za'Darius Smith was asked if he agrees with his coach. Smith said that he thought LaFleur was right and pointed the finger at himself as one of the players who needs to do more to avoid any repeats of that performance.
“We didn’t come ready to play. I don’t know if everybody was sleeping, but I can tell you for myself that I wasn’t ready to play either. . . . We weren’t ready to play football,” Smith said.
Smith also stated the Packers might want to consider things such as travel plans as a way to lessen sluggishness for such a pivotal game.
The Niners dominated Green Bay in just about every phase of the game, consistently running the ball with success against a Packer defense that could not find the proper remedy. San Francisco scored 27 unanswered points before the half, essentially putting the game to bed early.
Perhaps such a crushing loss will motivate defensive players like Smith to come back even hungrier as the Packers look to build on a successful 2019 season.
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