GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — After losing to San Francisco in the playoffs three of the last five seasons, the Green Bay Packers wouldn’t mind seeing the 49ers get left out of the postseason entirely. The Packers (7-3) could damage San Francisco’s playoff hopes Sunday by beating the 49ers at Lambeau Field.
San Francisco (5-5) dropped to .500 after losing at home to the Seattle Seahawks, though the 49ers remain just a game behind the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West. “I think we’re motivated to keep winning more than anything,” Packers center Josh Myers said.
“Obviously, they have knocked us out quite a bit. There’s that extra motivation behind it, but at this point, we’re just trying to churn out wins.” Green Bay is third in the NFC North and two games behind the Detroit Lions, but the Packers appear on track to at least earn a wild-card playoff berth.
History suggests their path to a potential Super Bowl would get much clearer if the 49ers aren’t standing in their way. The 49ers trailed 21-14 in the fourth quarter before rallying to beat the Packers 24-21 in the divisional playoffs last year on Christian McCaffrey’s 6-yard touchdown run with 1:07 left. Now it’s the 49ers who are struggling to protect late leads, as they’ve blown fourth-quarter advantages in three games against divisional opponents.
“You could look at, ‘Hey, we’re three possessions away from being 8-2,’ but you can’t really live like that,” 49ers tight end George Kittle said.