SAN FRANCISCO — After growing up a huge 49ers fan less than 200 miles from here in Chico, Calif., Aaron Rodgers can make life miserable tonight for what used to be his favorite team.
It's a mission that figures to be a wee bit personal for the Packers quarterback, too.
Not only does Rodgers want to beat San Francisco in the NFC Divisional round in order to get Green Bay back to the Super Bowl, but the NFL's reigning MVP no doubt hopes to offer the Niners another painful reminder of what they passed up eight years ago.
San Francisco, you will recall (and the 49ers would love to forget), needed a quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in 2005 and fatefully chose Utah's Alex Smith over Rodgers despite Rodgers' standout career at nearby California. Rodgers then fell 23 humiliating spots in the first round to Green Bay.
SUPER MINDSET: Reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers, who grew up a fan of the Niners and will play his first NFL game at Candlestick Park tonight, is hoping to get Green Bay past the 49ers and another step closer to another Super Bowl appearance.
One Super Bowl victory, three Pro Bowls, a league MVP trophy and multiple NFL passing records later, Rodgers gets the chance to rub all that in the Niners' faces and end San Francisco's season at the same time when the Packers (12-5) visit Candlestick Park with a trip to the NFC title game at stake.
As impossible as it sounds, this will be Rodgers' first NFL game appearance at Candlestick. Considering he is famous for having a long memory and carrying grudges, that's a lot of pent-up energy Rodgers could be poised to unleash on San Francisco (11-4-1).
While the 49ers might be starting what amounts to a rookie opposite Rodgers in Colin Kaepernick, they also have the defense to foil the best-laid plans of arguably the NFL's best quarterback. The Niners allowed the fewest yards of any team in the league during the regular season (just 294.4 per game) and boast the bruising and ferocious pass-rush trio of Aldon Smith, Justin Smith and linebacker Patrick Willis.
While Justin Smith's effectiveness will be in question because of a triceps injury that has sidelined him the past month, Aldon Smith is a matchup nightmare for the Packers' retooled offensive line after leading the conference with 19 1/2 sacks in the regular season — including 15 in the last 10 games, but none in the last three games with Justin Smith injured.
San Francisco's attacking and extremely physical secondary also figures to pose problems for the Packers because Rodgers will need his crew of mostly undersized receivers to get open quickly — a difficult task made even more problematic by Green Bay's meager threat of a running game.
The Packers' high-octane offense also will lack the element of surprise. The Niners have already handled Green Bay once this season, claiming a 30-22 opening day victory at Lambeau Field — led by Alex Smith — that snapped San Francisco's embarrassing nine-game losing streak to the Pack.
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