The San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers will meet again, this time in the NFC Championship game. Green Bay defeated the Seattle Seahawks, 28-23, during Sunday night's Divisional Round win, stamping their ticket to next week's title game.
In true playoff fashion, Sunday's game went down to the final minutes as Aaron Rodgers connected with tight end Jimmy Graham on a crucial first down that sealed the win.
Rodgers finished the night completing 16-of-27 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns for a 113.7 quarterback rating. Seattle had no answer for receiver Davante Adams, who caught eight passes for a postseason-high 160 yards and two touchdowns, setting a Green Bay franchise record in the process.
"(The 49ers are) a great football team," Rodgers said during his postgame interview. "They've had a fantastic year. I think these are the best two teams in the NFC and we're going to have to go out there and get a win."
San Francisco and Green Bay met in Week 12 in the 49ers blowout, 37-8, victory on "Sunday Night Football." The 49ers managed to sack Rodgers five times on the night while holding the quarterback to 20-of-30 passing for 104 yards and one touchdown for a 75.8 passer rating. Rodgers averaged 3.4 yards per attempt, the lowest mark of his 15-year NFL career. The Packers went 0-10 on third and fourth down in the first half, the most attempts without a conversion by any team in an opening half in the last 20 seasons, according to NFL Research. Green Bay converted on just 1-of-15 third down conversions on the night.
San Francisco's defense, who was without Dee Ford and Kwon Alexander , did not allow Rodgers a completion of 10 or more air yards (0-for-8) for the first time in a game he finished in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016).
On offense, Jimmy Garoppolo finished the game completing 14-of-20 passes for 253 yards, two touchdowns and a 145.8 quarterback rating, a career-high as a starter. George Kittle made his return from a knee and ankle injury in Week 12 and caught all six of his targets for 129 yards. San Francisco put up 338 total net yards and averaged 7.5 yards per play.
Sunday's title game will take place Jan. 19 at Levi's® Stadium to determine which team will represent the NFC in Super Bowl LIV. For tickets, visit here.
