49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t subscribe to the saying “it ain’t over til it’s over” when it came to preparing for his team’s divisional playoff game.
San Francisco had four different possible opponents, but Green Bay’s 48-32 drubbing of the Dallas Cowboys eliminated all questions about who the 49ers would play Saturday at Levi’s Stadium. Their throttling of the Cowboys also gave Shanahan a little bit of a head start on preparing.
“We were already in (the facility), so we were doing it that day,” Shanahan said. “We had mixed in a little bit earlier in the week hitting up a couple teams, but started really focusing on them halfway through the second quarter. Then they scored at the end of the second quarter so I kinda did both at halftime. And then third quarter I was set on one team.”
Green Bay made life easy for the 49ers. If the Packers won they’d be San Francisco’s opponent. By going ahead 27-0 in the first half it left little in doubt, but they really put the game out of reach by going ahead 34-10 more than halfway through the third quarter.
It was an impressive showing by the No. 7 seed Packers, which became the first No. 7 seed to ever win an NFL playoff game. Any additional prep time the 49ers could get will only be helpful in trying to slow one of the NFL’s hottest teams.
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