49ers should be happy to face Packers in divisional round of NFL playoffs

Ideally, teams don’t want to face a No. 1 seed in the NFL playoffs, but the 49ers are poised to potentially upset the Packers in the divisional round.

Many argued the San Francisco 49ers were the last team the Dallas Cowboys wanted to face in the Wild Card round.

And while the Niners’ 23-17 victory over Dallas was far from perfect, the final outcome did justify those statements to a certain point. Despite finishing with a 10-7 regular-season record, San Francisco has been playing hot football down the stretch, winning with an imposing defensive front seven and regularly relying on a strong run game to prevent more high-powered offenses from doing damage.

The Cowboys found that out the hard way, not unlike the Los Angeles Rams to close out the regular season in Week 18.

Now, though, the 49ers are tasked with trying to one-up their win over Dallas with another challenging road NFL playoffs contest against a top-flight offense led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round.

Rodgers should be the 2021 NFL MVP, earning the accolade for the second consecutive year. And he can take some comfort knowing Green Bay knocked off the Niners way back in the regular season, 30-28, in Week 3 at Levi’s Stadium.

That said, there are reasons why San Francisco should be perfectly happy about facing off against Rodgers and Co. in the next round of the NFL playoffs.

Let’s look at some.

Reason No. 1: 49ers have owned Aaron Rodgers in the playoffs

Rodgers has been awfully good against the 49ers during regular-season contests, owning a career 6-3 record in this category ever since the Niners passed on selecting him No. 1 overall way back in the 2005 NFL Draft.

That story has been overplayed, yes. But it doesn’t completely overshadow the fact San Francisco, for whatever the reasons, has stumped Rodgers entirely during the postseason.

Rodgers’ playoff record against the 49ers is 0-3.

In back-to-back postseasons, both in January of 2013 and 2014, the Niners upended Rodgers and the Packers, the first time when then-quarterback Colin Kaepernick ran rampant against Green Bay, followed by a San Francisco game-winning field goal amid the frozen tundra at Lambeau Field.

Two seasons ago in the NFC Championship game, Rodgers and Co. were walloped by the 49ers 37-20, a final score that made the game seem closer than it actually was.

That most recent episode is an outcome the Niners would like to replicate in the divisional round, albeit on the road.