49ers vs. Packers: 5 keys to winning home opener and neutralizing Aaron Rodgers

SANTA CLARA – Once the pregame fun is done, once the cornhole boards and tailgate spreads are packed up in the parking lots, welcome sights await inside Levi’s Stadium on Sunday.

First, fans are back to cheer on the 49ers’ first game since the 2019 season’s NFC Championship Game. They were locked out amid COVID precautions last season, and the 49ers haven’t even played an official game there since last Nov. 5 because of Santa Clara County’s health blockade.

And look who the 49ers will be hosting: the Green Bay Packers, the same team from that Super Bowl-clinching rout in January 2020 and even the same opponent from Nov. 5.

A rallying cry emerged from players and coaches alike this past week: Get rowdy, 49ers Faithful.

Kickoff is not unitl 5:20 p.m. under NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” spotlight, and that prime-time start could trigger a home-field advantage. More noise, more fun, right?

“The more rowdy the fans are, the better,” coach Kyle Shanahan said, “And usually the longer they have to do that and play corn hole and tailgate, usually the better for us.”

Added 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo: “I can’t wait to get all them screaming and everything like that. It’s going to be a fun atmosphere.”

A 2-0 start has the 49ers feeling like it’s that 2019 NFC Championship Game all over again. The Packers, meanwhile, evened their record at 1-1 Monday night, and their quarterback remains Aaron Rodgers, the Cal product whose 17th season with the Packers was in doubt in April.

Rodgers, whose name surfaced in trade rumors involving many teams, including his boyhood favorite 49ers, is as eager as anyone to see a full house at Levi’s Stadium, saying: “It’ll feel good, feel like normal football to have a crowd to deal with and the environment. … We’ll be ready.”

Rodgers led the Packers to a 34-17 win last November when the 49ers’ stands were empty – as well as many lineup spots because of injuries and COVID issues. This time, the 49ers are more at full strength, and here are five ways they can improve to 3-0:

RATTLE RODGERS

Remember how discouraged Rodgers looked in that NFC Championship game, his third playoff loss to the 49ers? Well, this past offseason, he wanted off the Packers because of a front-office conflict. It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement about their franchise’s potential this season or in coming years.

So don’t blame Shanahan and general manager John Lynch for inquiring about a draft-day trade that confirmed the obvious: there was no way the Packers were trading the reigning NFL MVP, much less to a NFC rival that whooped them for the conference title 15 months earlier.

Now what? Rodgers already feels jaded by his childhood team not drafting him in 2005, then beating him in three playoff meetings. He’ll be motivated. As will be the 49ers’ defense, whose marching orders are to close the pocket and get Rodgers off his routine drop.

“We just want to get off to a good start and have him feel the pressure overall,” 49ers sack leader Nick Bosa said. “Because, in 2019, we obviously made him uncomfortable.”

If Josh Norman makes his second straight start at cornerback, he’s bracing for what he calls “the best of the best.” Rodgers is 0-3 in games against Norman, too, by the way.

DON’T GET STARSTRUCK

The most simplified way to stop Rodgers is to take away his best weapons, running back Aaron Jones and wide receiver Davante Adams.

“I wish it was that easy,” defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans said. “… Those guys have been successful for a lot of years and they’re not slowing down now.”

Still, one way to attempt that is putting linebackers Fred Warner or Azeez Al-Shaair on Jones’ every step; Jones scored four touchdowns (three receiving) in Monday night’s win against Detroit.

Al-Shaair, by the way, faced Jones in Conference USA action, and Jones ran for 229 yards in Texas-El Paso’s 2016 win over Al-Shaair’s Florida Atlantic squad; “He was a good running back then. So I have the utmost respect for him,” Al-Shaair said. “He’s not even a big guy, like 200 pounds, but he brings it like a back who’s 230 (pounds).”

Another defensive strategy: shade safety Jimmie Ward to help whichever cornerback draws Adams, the NFL’s leader in yards after the catch. Fellow safety Jaquiski Tartt is super familiar, too, with Adams, a Palo Alto High product who Tartt first met playing basketball with him in past years at a local gym.

Of course, Rodgers is daring (and great) enough to attempt throws into tight windows. He’s savvy enough to look elsewhere, such as a quick slant to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who can be blanketed by nickel back K’Waun Williams. Another target: tight end Robert Tonyan.

RUSHING ROULETTE

Only 10 running backs in 49ers’ 75-year history have run for 1,000 yards. None have since Shanahan’s arrival in 2017, and it looks more challenging than ever this year amid running back injuries.

Perhaps they summon wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk on jet sweeps, or unleash Trey Lance’s zone-read rushing ability (four snaps in Week 1, none in Week 2). Anything is possible.

Elijah Mitchell’s shoulder injury in his first career start last Sunday complicated matters, as did JaMycal Hasty’s high ankle sprain and Trey Sermon’s concussion, all of which came after Raheem Mostert’s season-ending knee injury from Week 1.

The hodgepodge of rushers also includes Trenton Cannon (claimed off waivers from the Ravens), Jacques Patrick (poached off the Bengals’ practice squad) and two veterans recently signed to the practice squad, Kerryon Johnson and Chris Thompson.

(Trivia answer: the 49ers’ other 1K rushers are Joe Perry, J.D. Smith, Delvin Wiliams, Wendell Tyler, Roger Craig, Ricky Watters, Garrison Hearst, Charlie Garner and Frank Gore.)

TIME TO AIR IT OUT?

Garoppolo’s short- and intermediate-range throws are his wheelhouse, like it or not, thanks to his fast release and quick processing. If he needs to air it out, this game offers a showcase to do so.

The 49ers have a fully healthy receiving corps, their stoutest offensive line in a decade (no sacks through two games) and perhaps the most efficient Garoppolo to date (no interceptions in 55 attempts this year).

The Packers? They don’t have All-Pro pass rusher Za’Darius Smith (injured reserve), nor do they have a single sack defensively.

But a horizontal and short passing game can move the chains, help the 49ers win the time of possession and essentially play ballhog away from Rodgers.

So much attention will be on Deebo Samuel (NFL-best 282 receiving yards) and Brandon Aiyuk (“It’s truly just a matter of time,” Garoppolo said of Aiyuk) that don’t forget about tight end George Kittle (7 of 14 career touchdowns have come in prime time).

COACHING DUEL

It’s been well documented how Shanahan and Packers’ counterpart Matt LaFleur coached together, from Houston to Washington to Atlanta between 2008-16. That bond and friendship got tested this offseason when Shanahan inquired about Rodgers’ availability, even if it was just due diligence.

“Kyle’s a great friend of mine,” LaFleur told reporters Wednesday. “I haven’t talked to him in a while, [but] it’s just part of the business [and] you start kind of getting into your own routine. But yeah, absolutely, I hold no ill will toward him.”

Said Shanahan on Friday: “I definitely heard people talking about our friendship. I’ve got a lot of friends in the league: players, coaches, equipment managers. I promise you, friends never affect how you do your job.”

Mike Silver of NFL Network reported this week that Shanahan got “visibly upset” during a draft-night FaceTime exchange that he joined between 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel and former 49ers assistant Mike LaFleur, Matt’s brother. “The fact that Rodgers and Niners GM John Lynch share an agent, David Dunn, contributed to the perception that there had been a coordinated effort to get Rodgers from the Packers to the Niners,” Silver tweeted. “And to Mike LaFleur, blood is clearly thicker than water.”

No matter who he’s coaching against, Shanahan is capable of unleashing newfound ways of creating mismatches, and, considering his history with LaFleur and the 49ers’ storied rivalry with the Packers, more gamesmanship could be afoot.

As Kittle said: “Coach Shanahan likes to have fun under the lights. We have a lot of fun plays, always. But whenever we have prime-time games, there are little things here and there opponents might not be looking for. We have a good time out there.”

And a good time out in the parking lot. Those open at 1:20 p.m. Spend those four hours wisely, tailgaters and cornholers.