San Francisco 49ers (12-4) at Green Bay Packers (8-7-1)

3:40 PM EST

FOX (Joe Buck & Troy Aikman)

Line: 49ers (-2.5)

San Francisco 49ers Regular Season Review

After falling just inches short of the Vince Lombardi Trophy in February, the 49ers were on a mission in 2013 to take out their anger on their opponent's this season and storm their way right back to the Super Bowl. The 49ers hoped to be led by quarterback Colin Kaepernick after a dominant postseason run, expectations were high for Kaepernick in the 49ers with the hopes they could send Candlestick Park off in the right way.

Expectations were definitely high for Kaepernick entering the season especially after a dominant season-opening win at home against the Packers when he torched Green Bay with his arm for over 400 yards and three touchdowns. But expectations might have been too high for the young signal-caller, as things didn't go exactly as planned early in the year. The 49ers would lose their next two games against the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts, both games Kaepernick struggled, throwing for under 150 yards in both games with four interceptions and zero touchdowns combined.

The 49ers would snap their skid a week later against the St. Louis Rams, but Kaepernick would only throw for 200 yards or more once in a nine-game span, coming against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6.

The 49ers finished the year 30th in passing with under 200 yards per game, but Kaepernick got hot with the return of Michael Crabtree and re-emergence of Anquan Boldin. Still Kaepernick has completed just 58.4 percent of his 416 attempts this year, but managed to throw for over 3,000 yards with 21 touchdown passes and just eight interceptions.

The 49ers let Dashon Goldson walk in the offseason and drafted Eric Reid with the hope he could fill in nicely on one of the best units in the NFL. Not only did Reid play well as the starting free safety, he surpassed all expectations and had a Pro Bowl-caliber season and even outperformed Goldson.

The 49ers' defense remained the same under Jim Harbaugh ranking amongst the leaders against the run allowing just 96 yards per game and shutting down the passing game ranking seventh with an average of 221 yards per game allowed. This defense did struggle at times letting off the gas pedal and letting teams back in games, but that issue should disappear with a trip to New York now on the line.

Green Bay Packers Regular Season Review

This season will certainly go down in memory for Packers fans as one of the strangest years in the history of the franchise. After having just three quarterbacks starts in a 20-year span with Matt Flynn starting one game, the Packers had four different quarterbacks take the field this season. Everything was going well entering the Week 9 match up against the Chicago Bears. Green Bay was 5-2 and a win would firmly plant them atop the NFC North.

Then what seemed line an ordinary play with Aaron Rodgers being slammed into the turf, turned into a nightmare and left a sold out Lambeau field in silence. Rodgers broke his collarbone and would miss the next eight weeks, while Seneca Wallace starting one game before going on injured reserve, Scott Tolzien starting three games before he was eventually benched when the Packers brought back Flynn.

With Flynn under center, opposing teams no longer had to game plan against the pass and could stack the box to stop rookie running back Eddie Lacy. But their plans to stop Lacy failed and it started in the game Rodgers went down against Chicago, when Lacy ran for 150 yards on just 22 carries.

In the team's eight games without their star quarterback, Lacy carried the team with over 600 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. Green Bay still finished sixth in passing yards, thanks to the help of a bounce back year by Jordy Nelson with 85 receptions for 1,314 yards and eight touchdowns, James Jones with another reliable 59 receptions for 817 yards and the emergence of Jarrett Boykin who broke onto the scene with 49 receptions for 681 yards and three touchdowns.

They did all of this despite playing without tight end Jermichael Finley whose neck injury still leaves many questions about his future and Randall Cobb who was putting up Pro Bowl-caliber numbers before breaking his fibula early in the year against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Defensively, things just haven't gone well for the Packers again this season. While you can point to the injuries of young cornerback Casey Hayward and outside linebacker Clay Matthews, the truth is this defense just isn't very good.

Extensions in the offseason to linebacker Brad Jones and strong safety Morgan Burnett have backfired with both players having nightmare seasons, and this defense still lacks the fundamentals that help a team execute and win football games.

Fingers can obviously be pointed towards defensive coordinator Dom Capers and his inability to make adjustments during games or in-season, but blame also has to fall on general manager Ted Thompson for recent misses in the draft and on extensions. This defense just isn't very good and really is amazing that with Flynn at quarterback with this defense, they made it into the playoffs.

Statistical Breakdown

Key Matchups

49ers' Wide Receivers vs. Packers' Secondary

This is the matchup where the Packers' really struggled in their last meeting against the 49ers, as it appeared they were so focused on stopping Kaepernick from running the ball, they seemed to forget he has an arm too.

While the Packers were playing without Morgan Burnett, San Francisco was without their star wide out in Crabtree. Kaepernick was quiet on the ground, but torched this secondary for 412 yards and three touchdowns.

Green Bay just couldn't stop Boldin in the season opener, no matter if they put Tramon Williams or Sam Shields over him, Boldin's physicality was just too much for anyone to stop.

Boldin finished the game with 13 receptions for an incredible 208 receiving yards and a touchdown, as he seemed to get open on every play. Davis also exploited the Packers secondary and linebackers for 98 yards and two touchdowns. While Shields has improved this year and Williams has shown flashes of his old self, the return of Crabtree is just another dangerous weapon the Packers' defense will try and find a way to stop.

The one thing Green Bay has going for them in this match up is the weather, it's going to be below zero and the 49ers' won't feel nearly as comfortable with that and find it tougher to throw the football. Kaepernick loves to gun passes to his target at full speed, but it will be harder to grip the ball in the freezing cold and his wide receiver's will feel even more of the impact when the fastball hits their partially-frozen hands. San Francisco should be looking to pound the rock early, but when they start using the play action and Kaepernick looks through his reads, he should find someone open against this secondary.

Packers' Offensive Line vs. 49ers' Defensive Line

One of the biggest concerns people had for the Packers offense before the season was the offensive line and how it would hold up protecting Rodgers. Then Bryan Bulaga went down leaving David Bakhtiari to start at left tackle, and everyone prayed Rodgers could make it behind such a questionable offensive line.

Rodgers eventually did go down with an injury but it was bad luck on a rollout to the right side when his shoulder was slammed into the turf. While Rodgers was out, Wallace, Tolzien and Flynn filled in at quarterback and the offensive line was more than many could have expected.

Bakhtiari was just a fourth-round pick and while he really struggled opening up things in the running game he performed quite well in pass protection. Meanwhile Josh Sitton excelled in his move to left guard, earning second-team All-Pro honors and allowing just one sack all season.

The right side of the line struggled more with injuries creating a revolving door between Don Barclay, Marshall Newhouse and Derek Sherrod. The Packers' allowed 45 sacks this year which was ninth most in the NFL, but you also have to take into account how many of those came with Flynn at quarterback, who has a tendency to hold on to the football too long, and couldn't take advantage of an opposing blitz.

If Green Bay wants to keep this game close and snap their losing ways against the 49ers, it will come down to the battle of the trenches. Rodgers is back at quarterback and will be more than capable of making adjustments at the line and taking advantage of different looks. In Week 1, the Packers gave up just two sacks, both to Aldon Smith. Green Bay's offensive line is healthy and now has established a running game to keep the 49ers' defense honest. This is a match up that many will be keeping their eye on, the 49ers have one of the best front sevens in the league and the duo of Aldon and Justin Smith will want to pick on Bakhtiari all game long. If Rodgers has time, he can attack a 49ers' secondary and give Green Bay a chance to win, but if he faces a lot of pressure, it's going to get ugly for the Packers.

Biggest Mismatch

49ers' Running Game vs. Packers' Front Seven

This is a nightmare matchup for the Packers and one that will ultimately cost them the game and hand them another early exit in the playoffs. While Green Bay is playing at home with the Lambeau faithful, the game will be played in freezing temperatures. Freezing temperatures mean that the 49ers will be looking to Gore often and there is just no way for the Packers' front seven to stop Gore.

Green Bay's front seven was actually very productive in their opening season loss to the 49ers, they limited Gore to just 44 rushing yards on 21 carries and held the 49ers to just 90 rushing yards on 34 carries. But due to injuries to Johnny Jolly and Clay Matthews and a very abysmal season by B.J. Raji, Sunday's game will have a very different outcome.

You don't have to look very far back to find examples of the Packers recent inability to stop the run. Whether it be when DeMarco Murray rushing for 134 yards on just 18 carries, and could have been even more if not for very questionable play calling by Jason Garrett. They gave up 124 rushing yards to rookie Le'Veon Bell in Week 16 and just last week the Packers' defense was gashed by Matt Forte for 157 yards and three touchdowns, with 110 yards coming on the ground. Green Bay has talent along the front seven but because of a plethora of missed tackles, little push at the line of scrimmage and slow reaction, they are just getting run over.

The 49ers are presented with a gift match up that screams out to feed the ball to Gore, it just comes down to a question of if they will do it. Gore has been given 20 or more carries in just six games this season while he has six games with 15 carries or less. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman needs to make Gore the focal point of the offense, because this is a mismatch you just can't let the Packers get away with.

Prediction

San Francisco 35

Green Bay 24

Green Bay gets a playoff game at home, but it's going to just make it that much harder for the Packers fans to watch in negative temperatures as the 49ers run into the next round. The Packers have the best quarterback in football on their side, but this is just the worst match up possible for their defense.

Taking on a 49ers' offense that can run the ball with ease and with a quarterback who has shown he can torch the Packers in numerous ways, it all leads up to the Packers fate. San Francisco moves on to the divisional round while Green Bay's season ends in a double-digit loss and potential changes looming on defense.