The 49ers are heavily favored to take care of the Green Bay Packers in their divisional playoff matchup Saturday at Levi’s Stadium. It’s not just the betting markets that like San Francisco. A panel of nine NFL coaches and executives surveyed by Jeff Howe unanimously chose the 49ers to win.
It’s worth noting the same panel all chose the Cowboys to knock off the Packers in the wild card round. Quarterback Jordan Love is playing exceedingly well and helped guide Green Bay to its blowout victory, but San Francisco offers a different challenge than Dallas – particularly on offense.
Here’s what one panelist said via the Athletic:
“No QB should be as confident as Jordan Love is going into the weekend,” an executive said. “He’s playing lights out right now, and that offense is rolling. Green Bay should be excited about the future with how much young talent is on that roster. I expect a good battle this weekend but ultimately see the Niners’ run game and front seven taking over to win. Green Bay is still suspect on defense, and I have my doubts they will be able to control the game at any point.”
It’s clear the Packers swayed Howe’s group of experts with their dominant showing in Dallas. They didn’t do enough that any expect an upset, but the ‘close game’ theme was common among them.
The 49ers are 9.5-point favorites which means sports books don’t think the game will be as competitive.
Game script is going to determine a lot of how much Green Bay can stick around and make Saturday’s game interesting. If Love keeps playing at a high level though and avoids turning the ball over, it certainly appears there’ll be points aplenty at Levi’s Stadium. That puts a ton of onus on the Packers defense to get stops, and that’s the ultimate advantage that should carry the 49ers to a win even in a close contest.
