The San Francisco 49ers defense is playing some suffocating football right now. Its latest victim? Future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, who were beaten 37-8 at Levi's Stadium on Sunday night.
The 49ers played complementary football, though. The offense, along with the defense and special teams, did its part. San Francisco put up 339 yards of total offense compared to Green Bay's 198. The 49ers offense averaged 7.5 yards per play compared to the Packers' 2.8.
Jerry Rice joined 95.7 The Game on Monday morning, as he does each week, and discussed how frustrating it must be for an opposing defensive coordinator to plan for the 49ers offense, especially when it is at full strength with playmakers like George Kittle and Deebo Samuel.
"I think what happens, if you try to shut down the run, then play-action is going to end up hurting you," Rice said on the "Joe, Lo and Dibs" show. "It's one of those things where it's almost like the defensive coordinator has to pick their poison. Are we going to try to take these receivers away; take one of their key components like George Kittle away or something like that? Then that's going to open up the run.
"I'm thinking, right now, there's nothing that a defensive coordinator can do because we can run the football, we can throw the football. Now, are you going to bring more pressure on Jimmy G to try to get to him, to hit him, and rattle him around, and hopefully, cause him to make some mistakes? But I think Jimmy G is passed that now. He's comfortable back there in the pocket.
"This team has come together at the right time."
Next up for the 49ers are the Baltimore Ravens, another of the best teams in the NFL. While the two squads prepare to battle this weekend, Rice believes that San Francisco and Baltimore might be on a collision course for another meeting in February.
Could the 49ers find themselves in a rematch of Super Bowl XLVII with the Ravens at the end of the season? The New England Patriots keep winning in the AFC and own a similar 10-1 record as the 49ers, but the Ravens have already beaten the Patriots, and Rice hasn't exactly been impressed with the close wins by New England. The Patriots narrowly beat the Dallas Cowboys 13-9 on Sunday.
Could this weekend's matchup feature a Super Bowl preview?
"We have the defense," Rice said. "We also, we have the offense. I think the Ravens and Lamar Jackson, and what they're able to do to the Patriots, I think it's pretty much exposed them a little bit, and you might be looking at the Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Rice below.