49ers v. Packers: Prediction, Preview, and Details - Is this the end?
8 weeks into the season, and it's over? The 49ers injury list is brutal, and against childhood 49ers fan Aaron Rodgers, that will bite them. Badly.
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Gameday
San Francisco 49ers (4-4) vs. Green Bay Packers (5-2) at Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California
Kickoff: 5:20 PM PST, 8:20 PM EST
Weather: 75°F clear, 5 MPH, 41% humidity, 0% precipitation
Spread: GB - 6.5
Over/Under: 48.5 points
Channel: NFL Network, Fox, FuboTV, Streaming (in comments)
Radio: KNBR 680, KSAN 107.7, SiriusXM Channel 27
Announcers (FOX): Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews
Injury Report (will be updated):
San Francisco 49ers:
OUT:
Tevin Coleman
Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles
Ahkello Witherspoon
Trent Williams
Brandon Aiyuk
Deebo Samuel
Kendrick Bourne
QUESTIONABLE:
Jaquiski Tartt - expected to play
Richie James - expected to play
Green Bay Packers:
OUT:
Kevin King
QUESTIONABLE:
David Bakhtiari
Aaron Jones
Raven Greene
Rick Wagner
(Santa Clara) - In the matter of a week, the 49ers have gone from a wild-card favorite and a team that could possibly run the table in the playoffs to… a bottom 10 team. It’s hard to believe, but on Thursday, the 2019 NFC Champion 49ers will be without:
Jimmy Garoppolo
George Kittle
Jordan Reed
Raheem Mostert
Jeff Wilson Jr
Tevin Coleman
Kendrick Bourne
Deebo Samuel
Brandon Aiyuk
Jalen Hurd
Dante Pettis (cut)
Chris Thompson
Ben Garland
Weston Richburg
Trent Williams
And on the defensive side of the ball, it’s just as bad if not worse:
DeForest Buckner (traded)
Dee Ford
Nick Bosa
Solomon Thomas
Ronald Blair III
Jullian Taylor (cut)
Ezekiel Ansah
Kwon Alexander (traded)
Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles
Mark Nzeocha
Jaquiski Tartt (possibly, he is questionable for today’s game)
Richard Sherman
This is simply not the 49ers you were accustomed to last year, and they won’t be for the remainder of the season. George Kittle’s injury is expected to keep him out for the rest of the season, a devastating blow to an offense that was already hurting.
The bigger news, however, is that Jimmy Garoppolo is also likely to miss the remainder of the season with a high ankle sprain. To be clear, he not only re-aggravated the old sprain, this is a reportedly a whole new sprain that is on the ankle. Both Garoppolo and Kittle have been placed on IR, with no return date. This does not explain his abysmal play because he was injured more than halfway into the game. At least fully, as it is possible that the previous injury was affecting him, although we won’t know for sure because of the non-transparency that has been surrounding his initial injury. It was supposed to be fine this week, but was it?
The biggest news - bigger than the franchise QB being out for the season? Yes. Kendrick Bourne tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, and brought down the entire WR corps with him - Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk were also placed on the COVID-19 list, as they await further testing. They were deemed high risk exposure. Another player that was placed on the COVID-19 list as well was Trent Williams, star LT - he was also deemed high risk exposure.
This is confusing however, because Bourne reportedly had tested negative today, and no member of the team tested positive either. While it is statistically unlikely that Bourne’s test was a false positive, that certainly seems to be a possibility - but it is too late.
That means that the 49ers have one active WR on Thursday, not including a ton of practice squad call-ups which will include Kevin White, River Cracaft, and more.
Jauan Jennings remains on the practice squad IR, but he will likely get a shot soon as well, with Dante Pettis on his way to New York via waivers. Chris Finke was curiously waived, not promoted from the practice squad, which might have something to do with the leak to Steelers WR Chase Claypool.
John Lynch also said that Dee Ford is expected to miss the rest of the season, in an announcement that is sad but not exactly surprising. Ford has played his last game in a 49ers uniform. No doubt.
Ahkello Witherspoon is also a healthy scratch for tonight’s game, in a weird move. Ken Webster Jr was promoted over him. Witherspoon is fast approaching Dante Pettis range.
In general, there is not much hope for this game. The 49ers are missing so many pieces, and the Packers, well, they are coming off a tough divisional loss and are healthy. Aaron Rodgers is always going to play hard vs. the 49ers as well, and with no pass rush to stop him, this could get ugly, and fast.
Predictions by FTN Staff
SF 17 v. GB 28 - Shanafandom
Prediction: GB wins 28-17. If the Niners had any healthy players, this is an easy win and a great matchup. The Packers still have no run D and few running backs. But losing all almost all of your starting offense hurts a lot, and Covid made things that much worse. This is the toughest time to play the Packers and Shanny needs to have a monster day scheming for San Francisco to have a shot
Player of The Game: JaMycal Hasty. As we’ve seen before, the Packers can not stop a running back to save their life. Hasty won’t have the benefit of Williams and Garland blocking for him, but he should be able to run well and be the focal point for offense
SF “Whatever” v. GB 34 - Patrick Holloway
Prediction: You don't need me to explain how this is going to go. There is no way this game will be nothing short of a train wreck. The short week, the injuries, the COVID-19, all of it is going to lead to another loss in Elegant Tank Part IIII am curious what Nick Mullens does with limited talent, but that curiosity isn't going to give me a win. Not in the slightest. The Packers don't have running backs or a defense. The 49ers don't have a football team, rather remnants of one.
Player of The Game: COVID-19
SF 28 v. GB 45 - Riqonator
Prediction: I think Nick Mullens will surprise today. Shanahan does better with less it feels like, but in the end, no pass rush vs. Aaron Rodgers is the decider. Packers win in a massive offensive performance. We are going to get ripped apart if we give Rodgers time.
Player of the Game: Kevin White - Why not? White is projected to start or get many snaps and likely some targets. Physically, he is the most impressive WR on the roster. Would not be surprised if he made an impact.
SF 24 v. GB 21 - SportyMiner
Prediction: Bear with me. I think we'll be better without Jimmy, Bourne, TeCo and Kittle. Yep, you heard me. Shanahan has game planned around Jimmy's injury, to limit the risk of putting the ball in the rookies' hands and having a safety blanket in Bourne and Kittle. I think this has limited our scheme no end. We found a weak link in the Pats armour and forced Jimmy to throw really fast for the win, it looked great, but under the skin it was clearly an innovative scheme to work around our issues.
Do not underestimate the offensive genius Shanahan is. Any other coach would make small tweaks to account for players etc but Shanahan will put together something completely different if he has to.With Jimmy gone, no Mostert/TeCo/Wilson (and a slow Jet), Kittle out and Bourne's safety valve missing Shanahan will be forced to deliver yet another scheme change and this time it will actually be more innovative and expansive to utilise the new players he has. None of our offence would have played GB in the NFC Championship game, but conversely GB haven't faced any of our offensive players before either. Who's the better coach to deal with this new change? Shanahan. Mullens may be a poorer QB than a healthy Jimmy, but he has more variance than an injured one.
We will use our TE differently with no Kittle, Aiyuk will get new duties that he'll excel in, Hasty will be unleashed (I hope) and his confidence, experience and game craft is growing by the week, we might get to see players with potentially massive upside in White and Woerner (maybe Hokit too) take more snaps going forward and Juice will continue to be a bigger scoring/skill threat than 2019. Our OL is intact with a more mobile QB behind them and our D has been solid of late (and my man Warner is still healthy and owning the field... Hopefully Rodgers too). We are underdogs, we are underrated but boy we are still very dangerous and we can still bite, even with one arm behind our back. This is the kind of stage where Shanahan can, if he chooses to, show just how much of an offensive-minded powerhouse he really is. He's held in very high regard for a reason.
Player of the Game: I'm struggling to chose this week. I can see Moseley getting an interception, Warner controlling the running game, Hyder or Willis getting a sack. Mullens may put up high yardage, as may Hasty and Aiyuk will no doubt be our prime target. Jus will be very important but he never gets the credit he deserves, even when he scores a TD. So, if healthy, I'm going to go for Reed as our prime RZ target now we're missing Bourne and Kittle - a forgotten man will always look better following a strong performance, so he gets my vote. But it could be anyone this week and we should be excited to see our 'other' players get an opportunity in the spotlight tonight.
Go Niners!!
SF 24 v. GB 20 - El Shorts
Prediction: Niners WIN 24-20. I WILL ALWAYS PICK THE NINERS! Nick Mullens finds a way to dazzle on Thursday Night, completing a highly efficient 19-for-22 for 191 yards and 2 TDs. Despite all the absences on offense, the defense will be able to still make life difficult for Aaron Rodgers, who will be playing as a clear one dimensional offense. Jordan Reed and Ross Dwelley will find themselves lined up at WR often with Charlie Woerner as an extra blocker on the line-3 man tight end sets, baby! JaMycal Hasty will do enough against a terrible Green Bay run defense to help out Nick and the passing game.
Player of the Game: Nick Mullens for the reasons above.
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Yrp, the season is now over. There is some talk about Jimmy G being done in SF with the latest injury. I think that's way too premature. Who can they get who would be better? May as well tank the rest of the way and give ShanaLynch some nice, high, draft picks We are going to be deadly in 2021 if the starters can stay healthy.