49ers know not to count out Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers

SANTA CLARA - Sure, the 49ers should beat the Packers this Sunday. But the Packers still have Aaron freaking Rodgers.

And sure, Rodgers was awful the first time he played the 49ers this season. So freaking awful, he arguably was the main reason the Packers lost. He passed for 104 measly yards, fumbled and missed open throws he typically completes. Just awful.

But Rodgers isn't an awful quarterback. He's great. And other great quarterbacks have played well against the 49ers recently. Matt Ryan threw for 210 yards and two touchdowns in a win, and Drew Brees threw for 349 yards and five touchdowns in a loss.

Rodgers is just as good as those two, if not better. And he hasn't lost since he played the 49ers in Week 12. And he was excellent last week in the divisional playoffs against the Seahawks.

“He's never out of the game,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “We were up 23-0 at halftime versus him and he made it 23-8 after his first drive, and I thought it was a tight game because of who was over there at quarterback. Aaron is as good of a player who has played this game.”

Meaning Shanahan considers Rodgers one of the greatest NFL players ever to play.

That's who the 49ers are up against.

“There's probably no one on the planet who throws better than him,” Shanahan gushed. “There might be a couple guys that you can compare with him, but his arm talent is just unbelievable. His athletic ability is unbelievable. He's always been able to run around, extend plays, make throws from any angle and he's a very intelligent guy who can get them in the right play. It's hard to throw stuff at him that he's not prepared for.”

So, Rodgers is extremely talented, extremely smart and extremely experienced. Not a bad trifecta.

Compare him to Jimmy Garoppolo, who had a terrific season and beat Rodgers head to head. But Garoppolo made his playoff debut just last week, and didn't play well. He threw for just 131 yards and his quarterback rating was 74.7.

Until further notice, the 49ers have the better team, but the Packers have the better quarterback.

“He really has a little bit of everything,” Garoppolo said of Rodgers. “Just watching his film, I love watching it to prepare and also to learn from him and see things that he does.”

Garoppolo emulates Rodgers, and is somewhat in awe of him. All the 49ers are, even though they made him look old and ineffective just a couple months ago.

“He still can extend plays, get outside the pocket and make you pay,” DeForest Buckner said. “My defensive line coach from last year would call it the wrist flick from hell. Rodgers would avoid rushers, and you'd see that wrist flick, and you're like, ‘Oh, Lord,' you know what I mean? You know somebody is going to come down with it.”

If the Packers can keep the game close, Rodgers can make wrist magic happen. He's made magic happen before in the playoffs. Has thrown Hail Marys to win games.

But the Packers first have to find a way to keep the game close, something they couldn't do the first time they played the 49ers, when Rodgers got sacked five times.

“There have been some ways that people have attacked (the 49ers' pass rush) to try to slow them down a little bit,” Rodgers said, courtesy of the Packers. “At this point in the year, you expand your preparation. You're not just focusing on the last four or five games. You might dip into some of the earlier tape.

“They're definitely favored by 7.5 points. They're obviously expected to hold court and win. People know and are talking about how we played the last time. The pressure is in a certain place, and we should be nice and loose.”

So after they dip into some of the earlier tape, the Packers may have a better game plan they did for the first meeting. That doesn't mean they'll win. It means the 49ers better be careful. They won't face some scrub on Sunday. They'll face Aaron freaking Rodgers.