It’s B-7 on my ’57 Wurlitzer jukebox in my basement and I punch it up a lot when I’m down there.
Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” is an all-time great voice, killer lyrics crooner. Love the song because I’ve been smitten by that city because of my visits there thanks to the Green Bay Packers who will make another one this weekend. I’ve tagged along to watch the previous five playoff games between these franchises in Northern California. I say that because the first four were at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, before the most recent at the bottom of San Francisco’s bay in Santa Clara.
Each game was huge and a few things around the games made the trips unique.
After getting by the last Detroit Lions playoff teams (until this year!), Mike Holmgren’s first post-season teams got roadblocked in Dallas, twice. To get a third shot at ‘em, the Packers had to go through the defending Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers at the Stick. It was Holmgren’s first game and a playoff game to boot, against the team Ron Wolf hired him away from, and in the city where he grew up. I headed out early that week and did stories on Holmgren’s childhood neighborhood and his high school in the city. It was a great education into the specific neighborhoods of this cable car layout, the Mission District, North Beach, Haight Ashbury. And the Packers stuck it to the Niners at the stick, from Wayne Simmons big hello hit to Brett Favre finding his tight ends Keith Jackson and Mark Chmura in the end zone.
The return engagement for the 1997 NFC Championship was all well too, but with a top 40 hit. The Super Bowl XXXI champs were looking the part of a juggernaut, rolling back to the stick a win away from a shot at back to back Lombardi’s. Big day for Dorsey Levens, Favre hit Antonio Freeman, Ryan Longwell booted three and the defense sacked Steve Young four times in the fourth quarter. But everyone was drenched that day. Drizzle, then rain, with the already sub-sea level turf at the stick turned the place into a bog. As the game was in hand, I headed down to watch on the mucky field where I struck up a conversation with one, Huey Lewis. Huey and the News did the national anthem and we had a great visit. He said he had a feeling this might be the end of the glorious Joe Montana to Young run at quarterback, and he was right. The Niners haven’t won a Lombardi since, took ‘em almost 20 years to get back to one. Big fan of Huey’s tunes.
Mike Holmgren didn’t start his post-season success in his hometown, but with the Green Bay Packers, it ended there. In the 1998 Divisional round, the Packers had the 49ers on the ropes. Favre hit Antonio Freeman for a 27-23 lead inside of the two minute warning, but Young was driving. A short out route to Jerry Rice was chased down by Bernardo Harris with backup safety Scott McGarrahan in wait. Harris wrapped up and just as Rice was going to a knee, the ball came out. The Packers recovered and it looked like another trip to the NFC title game, but upon further review, the play as originally called was upheld, it just wasn’t called right. With three seconds remaining, Young stumbled to avoid a sack, stepped up in the pocket and found Terrell Owens in the end zone for the game winning score. To this day, I can’t look at Bernardo without “the fumble” coming up. The other great memory from this trip was a collection on beat reporters going out to dinner in the most authentic Italian restaurant ever. It was literally in a neighborhood home where the main dining room was ours and ours alone. A fantastic meal was placed in front on us, salad in a huge bowl to pass around, bread coming from everywhere, pasta and meat sauce in bulk followed with plenty of wine to wash it all down. Wish I could remember the name of that place, about the only thing I forgot about that trip.
The Holmgren-Favre era gave way to Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers for the next visit. The 2012 Divisional Round. Two years removed from their Super Bowl XLV title, the North Division champs had dispatched the Vikings at home and traveled to the Bay Area for one last go at Candlestick. It started so well with Sam Shields scoring on a pick six in the opening minutes but the rest of the afternoon became a nightmare. This was the Colin Kaepernick coming out party. Two touchdown passes to Michael Crabtree in the first half staked the Niners to a 24-21 lead at the break. After trading field goals, Kaepernick let his legs to the talking, ripping off a 56 yard touchdown run. He would put up staggering numbers, 263 yards passing and a playoff rushing record for a quarterback with 181 yards on the ground. The Packers got rolled 45-31. Even though it was January, the Christmas decorations were still up throughout the city and I took the opportunity the evening before the game to stroll down to Pier 39 to check out the lights and the attractions. Let’s just say the walk was better than the ballgame.
By the time the Packers returned one last time, McCarthy was gone in favor of Matt LaFleur who’s debut season was a huge success, a 13-3 record, a first round bye, a win over Seattle at Lambeau and a date with the 49ers with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. The new venue, Levi’s Stadium, was now home to the 49ers, nearly 50 miles south of San Francisco in Santa Clara. Didn’t think I’d miss the old Stick with it’s rickety baseball press box and tiny locker rooms. Don’t get me wrong, the new digs were nice but the football was not. The Packers were down 27-0 and no answer this time for Raheem Mostert who punished the defense for 220 yards on 24 carries and a whopping 4 touchdowns. The 37-20 final was a tad misleading. The weather was nice that weekend and I rolled past a golf course clubhouse that looked pretty nice. Stopped in for a sandwich and found out Brett Favre is no longer welcome there. The bartender told me when Favre represented Southern Mississippi at the East-West Shrine game in nearby Palo Alto, there was a golf outing for the players. As the story was told, Favre was so cocksure he could hit a wedge from the tee box, not toward the green, but over a five story apartment building behind the tee, wagers were made. The shot was not executed with a bit of window damage to explain. That’s so Favre.
So here we are again. Packers vs 49ers. Round 6 in the City by the Bay.
When the Packers have the ball.
Simply put, keep doing what you’ve been doing. The play of Jordan Love has been so good, the offense is such productive rhythm, it’s hard to believe the 49er defense, as good as it is, will completely shut them down. San Francisco is far more bulky in the front seven than Dallas was, with a premier edge rusher in Nick Bosa and a nearly impossible to fool middle linebacker in veteran Fred Warner. The Packers however have a very good running back now running at peak performance in Aaron Jones. He’s piled up nearly 500 yards on the ground at nearly 6 yards a carry over his past four games, all 100+ efforts. If the Packers establish Jones again, against a defense that has had a few issues against the run, LaFleur’s playbook can open up again with play action and plays that dovetail off Jones’ carries. The wide receiver crew has built up enough confidence to execute against any secondary and the beauty of the bunch is, you don’t know who will have the breakout game. It was Romeo Doubs in Dallas, Jayden Reed and Bo Melton before that. After getting re-acclimated to game speed last week, Christian Watson could be the one Sunday. Even when he wasn’t targeted last week, his speed to stretch a secondary helped create space for Doubs on the crossing routes. This may also be the week where either Luke Musgrave or Tucker Kraft find themselves in winnable matchups and the way Love is going, he should find them. The Packers should put up enough points to win or at least make it a 4th quarter game.
When the 49ers have the ball.
It starts and ends with Christan McCaffrey. The numbers are staggering and like LaFleur’s system, so much of what Kyle Shanahan calls is based off what and how well McCaffrey is getting done. Expect plenty of motion, handoffs to Deebo Samuel (remember the late third down conversion in ’21 to set up the walk off field goal at Lambeau?), play fakes from that and shots up field to Brandon Aiyuk or George Kittle. Young Brock Purdy has arguably the best offensive cast to play with in the league. Joe Barry’s plan must keep McCaffrey in check, another Mostert-like game will doom them. If they can, the pressure on Purdy in the passing game must come very quickly. It was the approach taken and carried out by the Baltimore Ravens who won decisively at Levi’s earlier this year. If balls hit defender’s hands, they can’t hit the ground. Every takeaway opportunity must be capitalized on. Fewer possessions for San Francisco mean more for Green Bay, another Darnell Savage scoring pick would certainly help. New wrinkles on blitzes might also aid the cause as San Francisco offensive timing might not be on point early in the game after a couple of weeks off (3 for Purdy).
The bottom line.
The 49ers have more talent, on paper, you have to take ’em as nine point favorites. Thought the Cowboys had more overall talent too. There’s a pluckiness about this Packer team that is infectious. They’ve been loose and confident without being cocky all week. A squeaky clean game, no big penalties, certainly no turnovers, will give them a fighting chance. I wasn’t sure the 2010 Packers were really for real even after the Wild Card win in Philadelphia. The blowout performance on the road to take out the top seeded Falcons in Atlanta convinced me they had championship mettle. A victory over the Niners would do the same. I just think the home side is too good.
I like San Francisco 31-20.
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