Sunday night’s tilt in Santa Clara between the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers could tip the scales of the NFC playoff race.
The 9-1 Niners host the 8-2 Packers with the winner coming out with a lead for home-field advantage.
“The way I look at it, we’ve got to beat them once at their place at some point,” Rodgers said Wednesday, via ESPN. “It would be nice to do it now.”
Rodgers knows that a loss in San Francisco could spell doom for the Packers securing home-field in January, and with the New Orleans Saints looming to potentially pass both, will be pivotal in determining a playoff bye.
“We’re all aware of where we’re at in the seeding going into Week 12 and what’s in front of us and the opportunities,” Rodgers said. “There’s still a lot of football to be played and a lot can happen. I think you’re just in denial if you don’t think about the implications with a ‘Dub’ or an ‘L’ this week and how that affects stuff down the line. That’s why I said, the way we look at it, we’re going to have to win there one time the rest of the year. It would be nice to get it done this week.”
According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, Sunday night’s winner will have more than a 40 percent chance to earn the top seed in the NFC — 49ers 45 percent with a win and the Packers 44 percent. A Green Bay loss would project just a 4 percent chance for the No. 1 seed, and a Niners loss would give them a 10 percent chance at the top spot, per ESPN.
If Rodgers’ squad wants the road through the NFC to run through the Green Bay tundra, first they’ll have to win in sunny Santa Clara.