- Copyright 2024 © CollegeFootballPoll.com
- About CFP / Contact
- Legal Statements
Green Bay’s Jordan Love and Houston’s C.J. Stroud made the first postseason starts of their respective careers last week. Each posted a 157.2 passer rating, the highest mark ever by a player in his first postseason start (minimum 20 attempts). Prior to last week, the three highest passer ratings by a player in his initial postseason start were recorded by Green Bay’s Lynn Dickey (150.4 on Jan. 8, 1983), Philadelphia’s Rodney Peete (143.3 on Dec. 30, 1995) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner (143.0 with the St. Louis Rams on Jan. 16, 2000).
Jordan Love and his dangerous stable of young Packers wide receivers – a combination that has produced a 7-2 record and the NFL’s No. 1 passer rating (113.2) since Week 11 – face a 49ers defense that placed four players on the NFC’s Pro Bowl roster, including cornerback Charvarius Ward, who led the league with 23 passes defensed in the regular season.
Also since Week 11, San Francisco owns the NFL’s top offense (415.4 yards per game), while Green Bay ranks third in that span (384.3), including the postseason.
Love’s 157.2 passer rating last week at Dallas was the highest mark since at least 1950 by an NFL player in a road postseason game (minimum 20 attempts), surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famer Bart Starr (143.5) in the 1966 NFL Championship Game, also at Dallas.
San Francisco will establish an NFL record on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Deportes) with their 10th all-time postseason meeting. Three other series have included nine all-time postseason meetings: Dallas and San Francisco, Dallas and the L.A. Rams, and Dallas and Green Bay.
This season marks the 25th anniversary of the 49ers’ miraculous Wild Card victory over Green Bay in the 1998 playoffs, when Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young connected with Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens on a last-second, game-winning touchdown. And the last time these teams met in the postseason, at a snowy Lambeau Field in the 2021 Divisional Round, San Francisco upset the No. 1-seeded Packers, 13-10. Saturday marks the teams’ fifth postseason meeting since 2012, including a 37-20 San Francisco win in the 2019 NFC Championship.
Green Bay became the first No. 7 seed to win a playoff game and with a win this week would become the first team seeded lowest in a conference to advance to a Championship Game since Tennessee in 2019. Prior to the Titans, the last two teams to do it were the 2010 Jets and 2010 Packers, who won Super Bowl XLV.
Packers running back Aaron Jones has three career postseason games with two-or-more touchdowns. Only five other running backs have more such games: Pro Football Hall of Famers Terrell Davis, Franco Harris, John Riggins, Emmitt Smith and Thurman Thomas,
San Francisco has won six consecutive Divisional Playoff games, a streak that began in 2011. Meanwhile, Kansas City brings a five-game Divisional Playoff winning streak into this week. The Chiefs are 5-0 in the Divisional Round since drafting quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The most consecutive Divisional Playoff victories all-time:
TEAM, WINNING STREAK, YEARS
New England*, 8, 2011-18
San Francisco*, 6, 2011-22
San Francisco, 6, 1988-94
Oakland Raiders, 6, 1973-80
Kansas City*, 5, 2018-22
Dallas, 5, 1970-75
*active
Joseph Santoliquito can be followed on twitter @JSantoliquito.
About Maxwell Football Club
The Maxwell Football Club has honored excellence at all levels of football since 1935 and the Club's outreach programs provide educational opportunities for student-athletes and coaches. With members in over 40 states the Maxwell Football Club is one of the largest football organizations in America. Become a member by visiting maxwellfootballclub.org.
NOTE: CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove is member of the Maxwell Football Club.