The Green Bay Packers have the opportunity to make a big statement early in the 2021 season when Matt LaFleur’s travels to San Francisco to play the 49ers on Sunday Night Football in Week 3.
The 49ers are 2-0 after beating the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles on the road to start the season. Levi’s Stadium, where the Packers lost twice in 2019 but won in 2020, will be rocking for the primetime home opener. The Packers got whipped on the road in Week 1 but returned to Lambeau Field on Monday night to beat the Detroit Lions and even their 2021 record.
Is LaFleur’s team ready to announce its presence as a top contender, or will the 49ers send a team still looking for its identity back to Green Bay with a 1-2 record?
Football is a complicated game, but finding the reasons for winning individual matchups between teams is often a straightforward exercise. What wins games? Excellent quarterback play, winning the line of scrimmage, taking care of the football and taking it away, controlling the important situations and overcoming or taking advantage of the injury situation.
In our weekly preview series, Zach Kruse from Packers Wire and Kyle Madson of Niners Wire went deep into the matchup to determine who has the advantage at the five key factors for winning football games in the NFL.