Cautious prediction, for the record....

In the last two seasons, the San Francisco 49ers have had the Green Bay Packers' number, beating them handily twice in regular season play and once in the playoffs. But for some statistically anomalous reason, 12-4 SF is visiting 8-7-1 GB in this weekend's wild-card play-off game. 

The Packers are NFC North leaders, sure, but their anemic record (did I mention 8-7-1?) is nowhere near the Niners' record, especially with one of those 12 SF wins being the season-opener win against GB, who are division champs, but in, perhaps, the worst division in the entire NFL. Therefore, when these facts are combined with a couple of teams having better records than Green Bay's, it could easily be argued that the Niners should be at The Stick against someone else, but here we are with a play-off game at Lambeau, so c'est la vie + QED = WTF in the NFL.

These are the playoffs, after all, and to paraphrase Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign staffer's gaff, they definitely do "shake the Etcha-Sketch" in terms of what's come before them. The cocked hat into which this wild card will also be thrown is the weather, which at game time might yield an insanity-inducing, Barbados-beckoning high of z-z-zero degrees F. That's -17.7 for all you Canadians who might tune in and a brutal "brrr" in either country. 

The frigid weather could force a turn to the ground game by both teams, and even though Aaron Rodgers has the passing advantage against the Niners' struggling secondary, throwing effectively could be difficult, at least, which might very well play to the Niners' advantage as their run defense is so stout, and the Packers' run offense is, well, not. Yes, Aaron Rodgers can run too, but the Niners pretty well hobbled him in their previous three meetings, even as The Packers could find no restraints for Colin Kaepernick's ankles in the latter two. Certainly, other teams have managed to contain Colin at times this season, but the fact remains that Dom Capers is a fairly one-dimensional Defensive Coordinator, so watch Colin, Frank Gore, Kendall Hunter, and the Niners' tandem team of Will Tukuafu and Anthony Dixon get loose and make things happen on the ground this Sunday. 

Don't get me wrong, having grown up watching the Packers beat the Lions black-and-blue on black-and-white TV, I love both teams, but my affection edge is clearly in San Francisco's favor these last 25 years (and after SF's narrow loss in last year's Super Bowl, I know they'll be back even if GB prevails at home), and as the song suggests, I know where my heart is, so all this said, here's my prediction: Niners will prevail 30 to 24. I don't mind being wrong, as I do it so regularly and so well, but I wanted to post this cautious prediction, for the record, nevertheless.