Green Bay Packers-San Francisco 49ers live game blog with Tom Silverstein

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Join Tom Silverstein for his live game blog, where he’ll provide updates and analysis and take your questions and comments as the Packers take on the 49ers in the NFC divisional playoff round at Lambeau Field.

JOIN HERE: Tom Silverstein’s live Packers-49ers game blog

Will Saturday Be Aaron Rodgers’ Last Game as a Packer? Will It Be His Last Game, Period?

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Former Cal star faces 49ers this weekend, and his future will be the subject as soon as his season ends.

The moment the Packers’ season ends, the questions and media scrutiny about Aaron Rodgers’ immediate future begin.

That moment could come Saturday night at about 10:30 p.m. Central Time, which is when the playoff game between the 49ers and Packers should end, and when the former Cal star will start fielding questions about his plans for 2022 season if Green Bay loses.

Green Bay is favored by 5.5 points, partly because the Packers look like the best team in the NFC and partly because the conditions at Lambeau Field, where temperatures might be near zero, favor the home team.

However, the 49ers had the Packers all but beaten in their regular-season matchup on Sept. 26, losing 30-28 when Rodgers directed a last-minute drive that resulted in Mason Crosby’s 51-yard field goal on the final play. The 49ers are playing better now than they were in September, and their key injured players – quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, linebacker Fred Warner and defensive end Nick Bosa – are all likely to play Saturday.

Furthermore, Rodgers is 0-3 in his career in playoff game against the 49ers, the team he admired while growing up in Northern California and the team he expected to draft him in 2005, only to be passed over for Alex Smith, dropping Rodgers to the 24th pick and leading to this warning:

So the Packers’ season could end Saturday night, which will start the clock ticking on Rodgers’ decision on whether he wants to stay with the Packers for at least one more season, leave Green Bay and join another team or retire from pro football.

Rodgers said recently that he will make his choice known fairly quickly after the season ends, that it won’t be a drawn-out process. That suggests he might have his mind made up already.

So let’s take a look at his three options.

1. RETIREMENT

“I wouldn’t rule that out,” Rodgers said on Dec. 29, according to NFL.com. “I think that I’m just enjoying this season for this season. I think that playing next year will definitely be in the thought process. One of the things, wanting to not be a bum on the way out and still be able to play, I think, is important to me.”

Rodgers has certainly not been a bum this season. He turned 38 years old on Dec. 2, and he is favored to win a second straight MVP award and his fourth overall. Even his declining popularity, which resulted from his offseason trade requests and his in-season comments about not being vaccinated, might not derail his MVP chances.

Retirement is the least likely option.

2. LEAVE THE PACKERS FOR ANOTHER TEAM

Rodgers expressed his dissatisfaction with some of the people in positions of authority with the Packers and requested a trade during this past offseason. So it stands to reason he might want to be elsewhere in 2022 since he now seems to have the power to make that happen.

The way that could take place based on his restructured contract is complicated, but these two bottom-line sentences suffice:

From The Sporting News on Dec. 30m 2021:

He recently restructured his four-year, $134 million deal, giving himself an out in his contract after this season.

And from The Sporting News on Sept. 26, 2021:

Rodgers’ contract is structured in a way that makes 2022 the critical year for him and the Packers. That’s part of why Rodgers has been treating this year as a “Last Dance” of sorts.

The Dolphins, Steelers, Broncos, Browns, Washington, Raiders and Eagles seem to be the teams most likely interested in acquiring Rodgers after this season, probably in that order.

And if Rodgers’ dissatisfaction with Packers front office personnel has not changed from his offseason sentiment, he will try to go that route.

But this avenue seems to be getting less and less likely. Which brings us to . . . .

3. STAY WITH THE PACKERS

People who make a living following such things seem to think Rodgers is likely to stay with the Packers. The No. 1 hint is that Rodgers recently expressed satisfaction with the way Packers’ officials have heeded his requests.

That report from The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman came just three weeks ago, suggesting Rodgers feels more comfortable about his relationship with Gutekunst, team president Mark Murphy and Packers director of football operations Russ Ball than he did a few months ago.

The signing of Randall Cobb, after Rodgers had encouraged the Packers to sign him, was an example of the Packers’ brass listening to Rodgers, something he had claimed was lacking.

Furthermore, the Packers earned the No. 1 seed this season and seem equipped to be a Super Bowl contender next season as well. So Rodgers’ best chance of earning another Super Bowl ring in future years might come with the Packers rather than with the Dolphins, Steelers, Broncos or any of the other potential suitors.

Therefore, Rodgers’ most likely choice is simply to stay with the Packers. The Packers would have some say on that, but regardless of cap consequences, it seems unimaginable that they would get rid of Rodgers after what he has done the past two years and what he could provide in the next few years. Suffice to say, Green Bay fans would not be pleased if Rodgers heads elsewhere, which might alienate Gutekunst and company from the Packer faithful for years. That would not enhance their job stability.

Of course, this process won’t begin to unfold on Saturday if the Packers beat the 49ers. And it won’t begin next weekend if the Packers then win the NFC championship game. It might not begin until the Feb. 13 Super Bowl is finished and Rodgers addresses the media afterward whether the Packers win or lose that game.

His future plans will undoubtedly will come up. It might be the first question. Rodgers may address it before a question is asked.

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Cover photo of Aaron Rodgers by Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports

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Playoff pressure? Tension? Whatever it is, Aaron Rodgers, Packers say they don’t feel it

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Sam Acho thinks the 49ers can top the Packers if they slow down the connection between Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams. (0:49)

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are the first team in NFL history to win at least 13 regular-season games in three straight seasons, and if they don’t reach the Super Bowl, they would set another milestone.

And it’s not a good one.

There have been eight teams to win 39 games during a three-year span, and all of them reached at least one Super Bowl. The Packers are looking to follow suit.

For now, the New Orleans Saints of 2018-20, Indianapolis Colts of 2003-05 and San Francisco 49ers of 1990-92 hold the distinction of 38 wins in a three-year stretch without a Super Bowl appearance.

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Add that to the usual pressure that comes in the one-and-done playoffs – plus the possibility that this could be Aaron Rodgers’ last season as their quarterback – and the Packers have plenty of reasons to be tense heading into Saturday night’s NFC divisional playoff game against the 49ers at Lambeau Field (8:15 p.m. ET, Fox).

“I’m not gonna lie,” Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said of dealing with the intensity of the postseason, “it’s hard.”

But the tension and pressure that comes with the playoffs isn’t unexpected or unique to the Packers in this year or any other.

“I think it’s natural, I really do,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “I think you’ve really got to keep everything in perspective and really just focus on what you have right in front of you, whether it’s the meeting, whether it’s the walk-through, whether it’s the practice, just making sure you’re dialed in, you’re locked in, you’re doing everything you can to stay in the moment.

The Packers have won 39 games in the last three seasons, and no team has won that many without reaching a Super Bowl. The challenge is clear for Aaron Rodgers and Matt LaFleur. AP Photo/Duane Burleson

“That’s as important as anything is staying in the moment, knowing and trusting what has gotten us to this point. At the end of the day it’s football, and yeah, obviously there’s a lot at stake. But that is life in this league, and so you’ve got to try and compartmentalize that as best you can and try to keep it as normal as possible.”

The divisional round hasn’t been the problem. Last year, the Packers eased by the Los Angeles Rams 32-18, and in the 2019 season Green Bay beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-23. The NFC Championship Games have been another story. Last year’s mistake-filled game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the blowout loss at the 49ers the year before still hang over this team.

Rodgers, who is on the verge of winning his second straight MVP, has as much to do with what happens to the Packers over the next month as anyone. His playoff record since the Packers’ Super Bowl XLV victory is 7-8. In those 15 games, he’s thrown 10 interceptions.

There have been five instances of a player winning the MVP in consecutive seasons, and only one – Peyton Manning in 2013 and 2014 – didn’t reach a Super Bowl in at least one of those seasons.

Throw in the uncertainty over Rodgers’ future – whether he’ll be back in Green Bay next season, wants a trade or will retire – and it would be understandable if this postseason had a do-or-die feel.

Rodgers, however, insisted this week that it does not.

“That seems a little morbid,” he said. “I think football mortality is something that we all think about, and we all think about how many opportunities we’re gonna be afforded moving forward, and each one is special. Each season is different and unique in its own way, as has this one been. There’s four teams left on the NFC side. We’re one of them. We get to host playoff games. This is a special opportunity. We’re not gonna make it bigger than it is.

“We’ve gotten this far being level-headed and even-keeled and not riding a roller-coaster of emotions, and we’re gonna keep on doing the same thing. So if it was good enough to get us this far, it’s good enough to get us past this point.”

It sounds like Rodgers has held true to that in the locker room and around teammates.

“He’s the same guy every day, fun-loving guy,” running back Aaron Jones said of Rodgers’ playoff approach. “I love being around him. But he lets you know, ‘Hey, this is playoff football, no need to change anything we’ve done, continue to do the same things but with just a little urgency.’”

Or there’s the way veteran receiver Randall Cobb looks at it. Cobb, who returned to the Packers in July in a trade that Rodgers requested upon a condition of his return, is well aware of “The Last Dance” feeling some have attached to this season.

“Some people can say that; for me, I don’t see it as pressure,” Cobb said. “We play a game, and I’m so thankful for this game and everything it’s given me. I’ve lost in these moments so many times. I’m not going to put that pressure on myself because I’ve done it before. I’m going to go out there and I’m going to play ball. I’m going to do what I know how to do.

“The pressure is … we don’t need to add any extra pressure; we’ve got enough pressure in our lives living enough. So I’m just going out there and playing ball.”

Randall Cobb won’t be watching the playoffs from home this year, as he did the past two seasons away from Green Bay. Now that he’s back with the Packers, he’ll have a chance to chase his Super Bowl dream. Christian Petersen/Getty Images

That’s better than not being in this position at all, which was the case for Cobb the last two seasons. After eight years in Green Bay, he played for the Cowboys in 2019 and the Texans in 2020. Neither made the playoffs. That made watching his former teammates in the NFC Championship Games two years in a row excruciating.

“I wish my wife was here to answer the question, because I remember the day of that game (vs. the 49ers), I couldn’t talk,” Cobb said. “I didn’t want to be around anybody. I was sitting in a room by myself; I wouldn’t even let her watch the game with me. I went into a room by myself and watched the game. It was a dark place. I was actually really worried about myself mentally because I just didn’t know.

“I really thought like, ‘Dang, I must really be the problem. It must’ve really been me.’ Again, that might be the pressure that I put on myself in those situations, in that scenario. Yeah for me to be on the team for eight years and they win the Super Bowl the year before … and then they are getting ready to go to the Super Bowl the year after I leave, that was heavy. That was heavy for me to deal with. But we’re here. We’re here now, and we’ve got an opportunity in front of us.”

NFL Divisional Round game picks: Rams and Bills knock out last year’s Super Bowl teams

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I love the 49ers +6. They have won back-to-back road games to keep their season alive against two incredibly talented opponents. The Niners’ running game matches up well against a Packers defense that has been quietly mediocre for a while. Green Bay finished 30th in rush defense EPA, a problematic trend that didn’t improve over the course of the season. They last played a meaningful game three weeks ago against Sean Mannion. They last played a team that finished with a winning record in November. Green Bay’s starters were trailing at halftime against the Lions in Week 18, a start in line with games down the stretch against the Bears, Ravens and Browns.

Maybe none of that matters. Maybe Aaron Rodgers’ incoming MVP award was for managing a team with an uncanny ability to do enough to win. Green Bay’s last-second victory in San Francisco back in Week 3 was typical of a Packers season that included five wins by three points or less.

I expect this game to be a challenge for both offenses. The Packers have the playmakers up front to force Jimmy G into game-changing mistakes that render all of the above moot, so I don’t feel particularly confident in the 49ers winning outright. But I do love the Niners to keep it close because of a peaking defensive line that is winning consistently with four rushers, so I may as well go all the way.

Green Bay Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari inactive for playoff game against San Francisco 49ers

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GREEN BAY - After playing 27 snaps in the Green Bay Packers’ regular-season finale at Detroit, left tackle David Bakhtiari will not play Saturday night in the NFC divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Bakhtiari is among five inactive players as the Packers return to the field for the first time in two weeks, making it the second time this season the two-time All-Pro will not play against 49ers. Yosh Nijman started at left tackle when the Packers played at San Francisco in Week 3 and held his own against 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa, except for a couple snaps early in that game.

Nijman started eight games at left tackle during the regular season, and his play improved as the year progressed. He’ll have to contend with Bosa again Saturday after the defensive end was cleared from concussion protocol in time to play.

The Packers’ banged-up roster got plenty of good news. Cornerback Jaire Alexander (shoulder), outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith (back), outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus (biceps), right tackle Billy Turner (knee) and center Josh Myers (knee) are all active after missing several weeks apiece with injuries. Myers returned to play 32 snaps two weeks ago in Detroit.

Inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell (elbow), fresh off his first-team All-Pro selection, and running back Aaron Jones (knee), also return Saturday after missing the game in Detroit with injuries.

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Other than Bakhtiari, receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling is the only other significant contributor inactive. Outside linebacker Johnathan Garvin, safety Vernon Scott and safety Shawn Davis are also healthy inactives.

The 49ers will be without starting cornerback Ambry Thomas (knee) in an already-thin secondary.