5 teams that could stand in the way of 49ers Super Bowl hopes

49ers Challenger No. 2: Green Bay Packers

In those same game predictions mentioned on the previous slide, San Francisco is nevertheless able to advance past the Cardinals and winds up facing off against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC divisional round at Lambeau Field.

This could potentially be the case, too, assuming the Packers finish with the No. 1 seed in the postseason and get a Wild Card bye, then opening up their playoff campaign with a home bout against the lowest-seeded opponent.

This would be the 49ers, assuming the seventh-seeded Washington Football Team (or whoever else gets that spot) is bumped in Round 1 of the postseason.

Yes, 2019 happened. And Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers owns a 0-3 postseason record against his boyhood team, including that 2020 NFC Championship loss to the Niners where San Francisco ran rampant over a suspect Packers defense.

Green Bay’s defense is still suspect versus the run in 2021, too, but Rodgers has been playing on an otherwordly level down the stretch.

While it’s still possible Kyle Shanahan goes with that previous approach from two seasons ago that worked so well, it’s just so hard to envision Rodgers losing out to an offense that’ll likely need more from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.