NFC Wild Card: Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers (3Com Park), the bracket opens here. Kickoff time: 4:15pm. Winner advances to the divisional round. Loser starts the offseason early.
Wild card weekend is the most chaotic football the calendar produces. Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers at 3Com Park is the kind of game that decides whether a season was a long buildup or a quick exit. These are the games where the second-tier playoff teams have to prove they belong. Most don't. The few who do define the rest of January.
The bracket has narrowed to the teams that survived the regular season. Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers are two of them; the rest of the league is in scouting mode for the offseason. What happens in 3Com Park shifts the rest of the tree: a road favorite winning rearranges seeding expectations; a home upset shows the bracket math underweights heart.
Green Bay Packers versus San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Wild Card. The teams who reach this round have already proven they survive a long schedule; the stats that matter most now are the ones that compress: scoring differential, red-zone efficiency, turnover margin. At this stage of the year, the simple math is that defenses tighten and the team that protects the ball wins more often than the team that scores the most. Whichever side of Green Bay Packers-San Francisco 49ers cleans up the careless plays first usually walks out with the result. Conservative-game expectations should not surprise the reader; both staffs know exactly what worked all season and will lean hard on what travels. The early answer is the kicking game, where any swing of field position compounds.
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 11-5 | W1 |
| Tennessee Oilers | 8-8 | L2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7-9 | L5 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 6-10 | W1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 3-13 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| New York Jets | 12-4 | W6 |
| Buffalo Bills | 10-6 | W1 |
| Miami Dolphins | 10-6 | L1 |
| New England Patriots | 9-7 | L1 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 3-13 | L2 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Denver Broncos | 14-2 | W1 |
| Oakland Raiders | 8-8 | L1 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 8-8 | L1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 7-9 | W1 |
| San Diego Chargers | 5-11 | L5 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Falcons | 14-2 | W9 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 12-4 | W1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 6-10 | L3 |
| Carolina Panthers | 4-12 | W2 |
| St. Louis Rams | 4-12 | L2 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Vikings | 15-1 | W8 |
| Green Bay Packers | 11-5 | W3 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 8-8 | W1 |
| Detroit Lions | 5-11 | L4 |
| Chicago Bears | 4-12 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas Cowboys | 10-6 | W2 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 9-7 | -- |
| New York Giants | 8-8 | W4 |
| Washington Redskins | 6-10 | L1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3-13 | L3 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers | 3 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 317172727 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 7 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 710203030 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Packers | Ryan Longwell 23 yard field goal | 3-0 |
| 49ers | Greg Clark 1 yard pass from Steve Young ( Wade Richey kick) | 3-7 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Packers | Antonio Freeman 2 yard pass from Brett Favre ( Ryan Longwell kick) | 10-7 |
| 49ers | Wade Richey 34 yard field goal | 10-10 |
| Packers | Dorsey Levens 2 yard rush ( Ryan Longwell kick) | 17-10 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 49ers | Greg Clark 8 yard pass from Steve Young ( Wade Richey kick) | 17-17 |
| 49ers | Wade Richey 48 yard field goal | 17-20 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Packers | Ryan Longwell 37 yard field goal | 20-20 |
| 49ers | Wade Richey 40 yard field goal | 20-23 |
| Packers | Antonio Freeman 15 yard pass from Brett Favre ( Ryan Longwell kick) | 27-23 |
| 49ers | Terrell Owens 25 yard pass from Steve Young ( Wade Richey kick) | 27-30 |
| Packers | 49ers | |
|---|---|---|
| Team totals | ||
| First Downs | 24 | 20 |
| Total Yards | 403 | 347 |
| Turnovers | 4 | 3 |
| Passing | ||
| Comp/Att | 20/35 | 18/32 |
| Pass yards | 292 | 182 |
| Pass TD | 2 | 3 |
| Interceptions | 2 | 2 |
| Sacks taken | 1 | 2 |
| Sack yards lost | 10 | 13 |
| Net pass yards | 282 | 169 |
| Rushing | ||
| Rushes | 28 | 31 |
| Rush yards | 121 | 178 |
| Rush TD | 1 | 0 |
| Discipline | ||
| Fumbles | 3 | 1 |
| Fumbles lost | 2 | 1 |
| Penalties | 4 | 6 |
| Penalty yards | 42 | 50 |
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO | |||||
| Steve Young #8 | 18/32 | 182 | 3 | 2 | |
| GNB | |||||
| Brett Favre | 20/35 | 292 | 2 | 2 | |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO | ||||
| Garrison Hearst | 22 | 128 | 0 | 24 |
| Terry Kirby | 5 | 32 | 0 | 12 |
| Steve Young #8 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 10 |
| Marc Edwards | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| GNB | ||||
| Dorsey Levens | 27 | 116 | 1 | 22 |
| Antonio Freeman | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO | ||||
| Terrell Owens | 3 | 73 | 1 | 34 |
| J.J. Stokes | 5 | 58 | 0 | 20 |
| Garrison Hearst | 3 | 15 | 0 | 7 |
| Terry Kirby | 2 | 14 | 0 | 9 |
| Greg Clark | 3 | 13 | 2 | 8 |
| Jerry Rice #80 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Marc Edwards | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| GNB | ||||
| Antonio Freeman | 4 | 75 | 2 | 47 |
| William Henderson | 3 | 55 | 0 | 33 |
| Corey Bradford | 2 | 53 | 0 | 47 |
| Dorsey Levens | 6 | 37 | 0 | 13 |
| Robert Brooks | 2 | 31 | 0 | 24 |
| Derrick Mayes | 1 | 20 | 0 | 20 |
| Mark Chmura | 1 | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| Tyrone Davis | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
San Francisco 49ers defeated Green Bay Packers 30-27 at 3Com Park in the NFC Wild Card. The final scoring play was 49ers: Terrell Owens 25 yard pass from Steve Young ( Wade Richey kick). The result came down to the final possession; San Francisco 49ers won by 3. Top line of the day: Brett Favre: 292 pass yards on 20-of-35, 2 TD, 2 INT. San Francisco 49ers advance to the divisional round.
San Francisco 49ers walked out of 3Com Park as the team that survived an NFC Wild Card Green Bay Packers will replay in its head for the entire offseason. The scoreboard says 30-27. The game stayed within 3 points throughout, the kind of contest where every drive felt like a referendum and every defensive stop carried twice its usual weight. The final scoring play came from 49ers: Terrell Owens 25 yard pass from Steve Young ( Wade Richey kick). Whether it was the game-decider or just the period at the end of the sentence depends on what the camera caught earlier. San Francisco 49ers advance to the divisional round.
San Francisco 49ers 30, Green Bay Packers 27. Round: NFC Wild Card. Attendance: 66506. Q1: 2 scoring plays. Q2: 3 scoring plays. Q3: 2 scoring plays. Q4: 4 scoring plays. Top performers: - Brett Favre: 292 pass yards on 20-of-35, 2 TD, 2 INT - Garrison Hearst: 128 rush yards on 22 carries - Antonio Freeman: 4 catches for 75 yards
NFC Wild Card, played at 3Com Park. Final: Green Bay Packers 27, San Francisco 49ers 30, with San Francisco 49ers taking the result by 3. **First quarter**
- Packers: Ryan Longwell 23 yard field goal - 49ers: Greg Clark 1 yard pass from Steve Young ( Wade Richey kick)
**Second quarter**
- Packers: Antonio Freeman 2 yard pass from Brett Favre ( Ryan Longwell kick) - 49ers: Wade Richey 34 yard field goal - Packers: Dorsey Levens 2 yard rush ( Ryan Longwell kick)
**Third quarter**
- 49ers: Greg Clark 8 yard pass from Steve Young ( Wade Richey kick) - 49ers: Wade Richey 48 yard field goal
**Fourth quarter**
- Packers: Ryan Longwell 37 yard field goal - 49ers: Wade Richey 40 yard field goal - Packers: Antonio Freeman 15 yard pass from Brett Favre ( Ryan Longwell kick) - 49ers: Terrell Owens 25 yard pass from Steve Young ( Wade Richey kick)
**Top performers**
- Brett Favre: 292 pass yards on 20-of-35, 2 TD, 2 INT - Garrison Hearst: 128 rush yards on 22 carries - Antonio Freeman: 4 catches for 75 yards
A 3-point margin in NFC Wild Card is the kind of result that defines reputations on both sidelines.