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Green Bay Packers fans will have to wait a little bit longer to see their favorite team return to action after this week’s bye, but it comes with a better stage for their highly-anticipated matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.
The NFL on Tuesday night announced the clash between two NFC division leaders has been flexed to the Sunday Night Football at 7:20 p.m. CT on Nov. 24, putting a spotlight a matchup that could have serious playoff implications for both the Packers (8-2) and 49ers (8-1). It makes for the fifth prime-time game this season for the Packers, who still have a Monday night game in Week 16 against the Minnesota Vikings (7-3).
The Seattle Seahawks (8-2) road game against the Philadelphia Eagles (5-4) was bumped from the slot and will instead kick off at noon CT.
The Packers are coming into Week 11’s bye at their healthiest of the entire season and have a bounce-back 24-16 win over the Carolina Panthers (5-4) in their pockets as momentum, giving them considerable time to ice their bruises and plan for their trek into San Francisco.
As for the 49ers, a third straight NFC West matchup looms this week with the Arizona Cardinals (3-6-1) coming to town. The Seahawks just barely dealt the 49ers their first loss of the season in overtime Monday night, while the Cardinals came within three points of doing the same two weeks ago in their home stadium.
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Packers Preparing for Long Season
Given the chance to recalibrate against the Panthers after losing in Los Angeles, the Packers are coming into the bye with the intention of resting up for the rest of their season — and not just the final games of the regular season.
On their current trajectory, the Packers are primed for a deep push into the playoffs this season after missing out during the past two years, which means Week 11 R&R sessions are in order. Star wide receiver Davante Adams said Monday he was planning on staying in Green Bay to get treatment on his still-mending turf toe injury, making sure he is “3 million percent myself.”
As for running back Jamaal Williams, who acts as the other half of the Packers’ two-headed rushing attack, he wants to kick back, watch some movies and spend time with his family while he has got some.
“Just have a couple of days of don’t have to come in here, that’s it, to get my mind right because we know what’s at stake and we know we have a long way to go and we plan on not finishing until February,” Williams told reporters Monday.
49ers Need Their Own Tune-Up Game
Mistakes — far too many in the second half — doomed the 49ers’ chances at staying perfect on the season after an overtime loss to the Seahawks, who have won three straight games and are looking to pry away the division lead from San Francisco. The Cardinals, feisty but inexperienced, could give the 49ers an opportunity to set things right before the Packers visit.
Jimmy Garoppolo couldn’t get the job done late after the 49ers defense came up with an interception that gave the team new life Monday night, but he was missing his top receiving target, George Kittle, from the start and lost his second-best option, Emmanuel Sanders, partway into the second quarter with a rib injury.
Losing Sanders, who was set to undergo an MRI, would force the 49ers to adjust after trading for the former Denver Broncos star ahead of last month’s trade deadline, but the Cardinals are a favorable team against which to sort things out. They do, after all, house the second-worst passing defense in the league.
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