Kyle Shanahan says 49ers began preparing to face Green Bay in second quarter of Packers blowout win over Dallas
Just like most fans did, the San Francisco 49ers got to sit back and relax last week as they enjoyed their first-round bye from the playoffs. Securing the No. 1 seed in the NFC after finishing the regular season with a conference-best 12-5 record.
With Super Wild Card Weekend now in the past and the Divisional Round of the playoffs beginning this Saturday, the 49ers will host the red-hot Green Bay Packers following their impressive blowout win on the road versus the Dallas Cowboys.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was recently asked when himself and the team were able to start preparing to face the Packers. With San Francisco’s head man revealing that he was actually in the facility during Green Bay’s recent game and that not much time was wasted in beginning Packers’ prep.
“We were already in here so we were doing it that day, we had mixed in a little bit earlier in the week hitting up a couple teams. But started really focusing on them halfway through the second quarter,” Shanahan said.
The Packers entered their Wild Card matchup as 7.5-point underdogs, hitting the road to face a Cowboys team that had not lost at home in AT&T Stadium all season long. Not to mention Green Bay was the youngest team in the NFL this season, led by a starting quarterback who was making the first NFL postseason appearance of his career.
Green Bay quickly showed they belong, jumping out to a 27-0 lead following the two-minute warning in the first half.
“Then they (Dallas) scored at the end of the second quarter, so I kind of did both at halftime and then third quarter I was set on one team,” Shanahan said regarding his preparation.
Shanahan made the right decision, as the Cowboys were not able to bridge the gap and fell to the Packers 48-32 after scoring 16 unanswered points in the final six minutes of the game. And with the way the Packers looked on Sunday, getting a head start on preparing to beat them was likely a wise decision by Shanahan.
Packers’ quarterback Jordan Love excelled in his playoff debut, boasting nearly a perfect passer rating after throwing for 272 yards and three touchdown passes versus Dallas. Running back Aaron Jones also made his presence felt, finding the end zone three times himself to go along with his 118 yards on the ground.
Green Bay got it done defensively as well, making Sunday a nightmare for Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott who was sacked four times and intercepted twice by the Packers, with one returned 64 yards for a touchdown by Darnell Savage.
Thankfully for the 49ers, they’ve been excellent on both sides of the ball all season long, ending the regular season as the only team in the NFL with a top-three scoring offense and defense. And hopefully Shanahan’s extra preparation pays off for them, as they square off against Green Bay this Saturday at 8:15 p.m. ET in a matchup airing on FOX.