If Packers Don’t Tackle, They’ll Get Run Over by 49ers

Tackling will take center stage when the Green Bay Packers battle the San Francisco 49ers in Saturday night’s NFC playoff game.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Will the Green Bay Packers be able to tackle the many challenges presented by the San Francisco 49ers in Saturday’s NFC Divisional playoff game or will they be tackling dummies?

The missed-tackle stats are staggering. According to Pro Football Focus:

- 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey forced 60 missed tackles. All of Green Bay’s running backs combined forced 57. McCaffrey, who trailed only Jacksonville’s Travis Etienne (64) in missed tackles, had more yards after contact (929) than Aaron Jones had total rushing yards for the season (649).

- 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel forced 25 missed tackles. All of Green Bay’s receivers combined forced 19. Samuel finished second in the NFL behind Miami’s Tyreek Hill (26).

- 49ers tight end George Kittle forced 15 missed tackles. All of Green Bay’s tight ends combined forced nine. Kittle, who was the only tight end in the NFL to record 1,000 receiving yards, finished sixth among tight ends in missed tackles.

The run-after-catch prowess of the 49ers’ skill-position players is a major reason why quarterback Brock Purdy led the NFL with a historically great 9.64 yards per attempt. In fact, he benefited from a league-high 6.6 YAC per completion. That’s about a yard-and-a-half more than Jordan Love received.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s Christian, Deebo, George, (Brandon) Aiyuk, all these guys are really incredible after the catch, breaking tackles, getting those YAC yards,” defensive coordinator Joe Barry said. “I think that’s a huge part of us playing well this week is that we’re going to have tackle really well and limit the YAC after the catch.”

Defensively, the Packers finished 16th with a missed-tackle rate of 8.7 percent, according to SportRadar. That’s exactly the league average.

“I think our tackling’s been at times very inconsistent,” Barry said. “Any time you look at a defense and no matter what time of the year, if a defense goes out on Sunday and plays well, usually they’ve tackled well. And vice-versa when they don’t.”

McCaffrey, in particular, could be a thorn in the Packers’ side. He will be training-camp-fresh after not playing in Week 18 and resting during the bye.

“I think he’s geared up and ready to go, same way he was last year,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said this week. “Probably the same way he was in his playoff game when he was 5 years old, too, or (a) scrimmage that week. Christian's always the same. He's always waiting for that moment, and he's been waiting for this moment for a while.”

Defensively, the 49ers’ missed-tackle rate of 6.1 percent was second-best in the NFL, behind only the Dallas Cowboys (5.7 percent). Jones had four of Green Bay’s six misses against the Cowboys.

Three Reasons Why Packers Will Beat 49ers in NFC Playoff Game

Three Reasons Why Packers Will Lose to 49ers in NFC Playoff Game