Subscribe
Follow Us
The San Francisco 49ers and head coach Kyle Shanahan have had great success against one of his great friends Matt LaFleur and his Green Bay Packers as of late. The last time the two historic franchise's met prior to Week 12 of the 2024 NFL Season, the 49ers bounced the Packers out of the NFC playoffs — which had become somewhat of a tradition for San Francisco.
Things were different in Week 12, though. First of all, the 49ers were hurt. Very hurt.
Starting quarterback Brock Purdy was on the sideline with shoulder soreness. Star pass rusher Nick Bosa was sidelined with a left hip/oblique injury while Left tackle Trent Williams missed the game with an ankle injury. The 49ers were also without cornerback Charvarius Ward and, of course, linebacker Dre Greenlaw, who is now eligible to come back to practice after he tore his Achilles during last year's Super Bowl.
The Packers are 8-3 after their 38-10 win over the 49ers, and even coming into the game, they were considered one of the top teams in the NFC playoff hunt. With that in mind, there's no shame in losing to Green Bay, especially on a cold November evening at Lambeau Field and especially considering how beat up the 49ers were.
Still, there's little doubting how much the loss hurt San Francisco as far as the playoffs are concerned. The 49ers are now 5-6 and last in the NFC West Standings, albeit by a game.
San Francisco can still make the playoffs, but their odds to do so are slim at 17-percent. The 49ers have likely got to make a comeback in the NFC West, but at this point, they just need to focus on winning.
“I think everyone knows—you've just got to look at it for a couple of minutes to realize where we're at. It's nice when you're one game out of first in your own division, so that does say a lot, especially being able to play two of those teams over [the next] six games, Shanahan said on the Monday after the loss to Green Bay. “But you also know, you look at the whole NFC picture, and if you don't win the division, 10-7 is not guaranteed to get in as a Wild Card by any means this year. So I think everyone understands completely, outside and inside, what the situation is.”
“So we know what we've got ahead of us. We know exactly what that playoff situation is. That is what it is,” Shanahan continued. “But really, all that matters is this week. When you do need to go on a run and put a lot of wins to even think of that, then you better make sure you're only thinking of one thing, and that's Buffalo.”
The Buffalo Bills are the only thing that must matter to the 49ers, because without a win on the road in Orchard Park this thing is all but over for Shanahan's squad. Buffalo is going to be a tough opponent, too. The Bills are 9-2 and they've won six in a row. Josh Allen is playing winning football, and they're coming off a bye heading into Week 13.
The 49ers have their backs against the ball, but there is some hope they can derive from their game against the Packers. It wasn't a total failure, especially offensively.
The 49ers do have some things to build on against Bills
First of all, if the 49ers can get Purdy back, that's a huge start. The latest Purdy injury update is positive. Speaking of positive, it was a huge for the 49ers to get tight end George Kittle back after a hamstring injury and he looked great against the Packers.
Kittle caught six passes for 82 yards and a touchdown, averaging 13.7 yards per catch. If backup Brandon Allen plays against the Bills, at least he has some chemistry with Kittle. If it's Purdy, though, Kittle should be primed for yet another huge game.
Finally, there's Christian McCaffrey to consider. He hasn't scored a touchdown yet since missing the first eight games of the season with an Achilles injury and he carried the ball only 11 times against the Packers for 31 yards. That's only 2.8 yards per carry, but he also got involved in the passing game to the tune of three catches for 37 yards (12.3 yards per catch). More important than anything, though, McCaffrey got one more game removed from his injury and when he did run against the Packers, he was running strong.
He's too good of a player to stay out of the end zone for four games in a row, so it seems likely that if he's poised for a breakout, it would come against the Bills. The Bills are giving up 119.1 yards per game on the ground, after all, which is very middle of the pack.
Lastly, the 49ers dropped two sure interceptions that Packers quarterback Jordan Love threw right to them, and they had a third called back because it was a free play on a pre-snap penalty. They lost the turnover battle to the Packers, 3-0, but even just one of those turnovers sticking could have made a big difference in that game.
They've got a tough road ahead of them, but ultimately, there is still reason to feel optimistic the 49ers can pull it off — at least this weekend against the Bills.
