It’s all on the line this Saturday night in San Francisco. Winner of this game will most likely be heading to the Super Bowl in New Orleans on February 3rd. For one quarterback it is his first taste of the playoffs and for the other it is an all too familiar scene, a road playoff game in hostile territory. In his last game Colin Kaepernick played well against a good defensive team in Arizona.
Kaepernick threw the ball 28 times completing 16 for 276 yards and two touchdowns. Aaron Rodgers had a fairly easy game last week against the Vikings playing with a backup quarterback, who had not taken a snap all year. Rodgers was able to pick apart the Vikings defense to the tune of 23 of 33 passes completed for 274 yards and one touchdown. This is the rematch from the season opener, which the 49ers won without Kaepernick taking the snaps.
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
Starting a playoff game on the road won’t faze Rodgers; he started every game on the road in 2010 when the Packers won the Lombardi Trophy. Believe it or not but Rodgers actually played better away from the friendly confines of Lambeau Field accumulating a quarterback rating of 114.9.
Now Rodgers stats seem to indicate to me that he would prefer to play on the road even though I know that is not the truth. He averaged 281 yards a game and will need to provide at least that if they have any chance against the number three scoring defense in league.
He looks to put the Packers on his shoulders and carry them to the NFC Championship Game.
Regular Season Average: 23/35, 268 yards, 2.4 touchdowns and 0.5 interceptions
Regular Season Average (Away): 23/34, 281 yards, 2.75 touchdowns and 0.4 interceptions
Projected Stats: 25/35, 295 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers
Kaepernick will be making his first start in the playoffs after being named the starting quarterback earlier this year by Jim Harbaugh. He comes into this contest after compiling 1,814 yards and ten touchdowns in eight games as the starter.
Now both of these quarterbacks are very mobile but I give a slight edge to Kaepernick due to the offense he ran at Nevada.
The way that he took over for Alex Smith may have been controversial but he does have the big play ability that Smith lacks. As Kaepernick goes, so do the 49ers which are reflected in his stats. When they win he threw for nine touchdowns, two interceptions and a quarterback rating of 111.3. This is a huge difference in losses with only one touchdown, one interception and a quarterback rating of 79.5.
This game will prove if Jim Harbaugh was right about his choice in quarterback.
Regular Season Average: 17/27, 226 yards, 1.2 Touchdowns and .4 interceptions.
Regular Season Average (Home): 17/25, 227 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions.
Projected Stats: 17/26 230 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions