For a week, Dallas Cowboys fans had to endure the media telling them that the San Francisco 49ers were a bad matchup for the self-appointed America's Team. That ended up being true. On Sunday, the 49ers went into AT&T Stadium and knocked the NFC East champions out of the playoffs.
Now, it's Green Bay Packers fans' turn to hear about a bad upcoming matchup. The Packers will host the 49ers at Lambeau Field on Saturday night, and ESPN's Dan Orlovsky broke down why this is a poor matchup for the home team.
"It's the worst matchup the Packers could have gotten," Orlovsky said Monday on ESPN's Get Up. "It's a bad seven-day stretch for the Packers, knowing that San Francisco comes back, beats the [Rams], then they go on the road [to beat the Cowboys]. And truthfully ... they should have hammered Dallas. Just because they kicked field goals is what kept the game close, and then the Jimmy [Garoppolo] interception.
"This is a football team. If you had to sit down ... and write a script of how to beat the Green Bay Packers right now, every detail that would be on that list is who the San Francisco 49ers are. ... They can run the football. That's the weakness of the Green Bay defense. They've got a front that can rush. They've got a disciplined coverage unit. They've got a really speedy, athletic linebacker unit, and are really good at the defensive tackle [position].
"And the last thing I'd say is this: It's the teacher versus the mentor. It's Kyle Shanahan versus Matt LaFleur, and Matt LaFleur knows a lot of what he knows because of learning under Kyle Shanahan."
Rex Ryan noted that a storyline worth watching this week is the health of defensive end Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner. Bosa exited the first half with a concussion, while Warner excited the second with an ankle injury.
Ryan Clark argues that people should stop referring to the 49ers as a bad matchup and just call them what they are.
"Let's just say they're a good football team," Clark declared. "They're a good football team that plays a physical brand of football in a time where nobody else does it, and that's why they're hell on wheels to play against."
