San Francisco 49ers start preparing for playoffs – NFL News
San Francisco 49ers qualified for the playoffs last year as the second-seeded National Football Conference (NFC) team, and although their regular season record this year is slightly below than last season they have still managed to gain the same honour again.
After winning the NFC West title for the second straight time, the 49ers have gained a first-week bye and home-field advantage in the postseason.
They could play their postseason game against the Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks or the Washington Redskins.
Two of these teams are familiar to the 49ers. They faced the Packers (and defeated them) earlier in the season, while Seahawks, being 49ers’ NFC West opponents, are a very familiar opponent.
The surprising package for the 49ers, however, could be the Redskins, who have services of pretty amazing rookies. The Redskins are led by quarterback Robert Griffin III (RG3), and running back Alfred Morris has added fuel to the rushing game.
The 49ers’ rushing defence is also very solid, but since they have not played any game against the Redskins, they will need some special preparations. Not to forget, though, there is no guarantee that the Redskins would face the 49ers in the postseason.
According to the 49ers’ website, head coach Jim Harbaugh said of playoff preparations and a possibility of facing the Redskins:
“I think we need to prepare equally. But, they’re the ones we haven’t seen yet. We have to run more computer data on them that we already have on some of the other teams.”
He added:
“So, not making any predictions on who we’re going to see, or that kind of thing. But, we’ll get prepared for all the teams across the board. But, yeah we’re going to have to run more data and log some more time on Washington. I think it just makes sense.”
Last season, the 49ers had a roster filled with players who had not played in the postseason season before. This time, however, most of their players have a playoff experience. It might motivate them, but Harbaugh has refused to rely only on this one factor
to keep the team going. 49ers proved last season by qualifying for the NFC championship game that even a roster without much playoff experience can do well.
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