SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS AT GREEN BAY PACKERS (State TV)

WHEN: 4:25 p.m. est September 9th
WHERE: Lambeau Field
TV: Joe Buck (play-by-play) and Troy Aikman (analyst), with Pam Oliver on the sidelines for FOX.
RADIO: Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) & Larry McCarren (analyst) for AM-620 and Packer Radio Network
INTERNET: Cheesehead TV Gameday Live Blog

SERIES

2011 STATS

NOTES

49ERS: Team led NFL with +28 turnover differential, tied for 2nd best mark in NFL since 1970…QB ALEX SMITH has won 14 of past 17 starts. Had 1st career 3,000-yard season (3,144) & threw 5 INTs, tied for 3rd fewest in season in NFL history (min. 400 att.). In career, 49ers are 10-0 when Smith starts & has 100+ rating…RB FRANK GORE rushed for 1,211 yards, his team-record 5th 1,000-yard season. Has 29 career 100-yard games, most in club history…WR MICHAEL CRABTREE had career-high 72 catches & 874 yards. Since 2009, TE VERNON DAVIS has 26 TDs, most among NFC TEs & 2nd most by NFL TE. WR-KR-PR TED GINN JR. ranked 3rd in NFL with 27.6 KR avg. & was 4th in NFL with 12.3 PR avg. Only player to rank in top 5 in both…Rush defense led NFL allowing 77.3 yards per game. LB ALDON SMITH led NFL rookies with 14 sacks, 2nd most ever by rookie. DT JUSTIN SMITH had 7.5 sacks & is 1 of 3 players in team history with 6+ sacks in 4 consecutive seasons. LB NA VORRO BOWMAN led team with 173 tackles. LB PATRICK WILLIS has been selected to Pro Bowl in each of 1st 5 seasons…PACKERS: Have 52 wins on KO Weekend, tied for most ever. Scored 560 points in 2011, most in franchise history & 2nd most all-time…QB AARON RODGERS was AP MVP & had 122.5 rating, best single-season mark in NFL history. Set NFL season record with 13 games with 100+ rating & 12 games with 110+ rating. Had franchise record 4,643 pass yards & 45 TDs. Is only QB in NFL history to pass for 4,000+ yards & have 6 or fewer INTs. Is 2-0 vs. SF with 5 TDs, 0 INTs & 118.9 rating…RB CEDRIC BENSON makes GB debut. Is 1 of 5 with 1,000+ rush yards in each of past 3 years…WR JORDY NELSON had career-highs in catches (68), yards (1,263) & TDs (15). His 15 rec. TDs were 3rd most by Packer in season. WR GREG JENNINGS has 11 catches for 248 yards (124 per game) & 3 TDs in past 2 vs. SF…Since joining GB in 2006, S CHARLES WOODSON has 37 INTs (2nd in NFL) & 9 INT-TDs (1st in NFL). Has INT-TD in each of 6 years with GB & is only player in NFL history with INT-TD in 6 consecutive seasons. Since 2010 (incl. playoffs), CB TRAMON WILLIAMS leads NFL with 13 INTs. LB CLAY MATTHEWS had 6 sacks & 3 INTs (1 TD) & is 1st player in team history with defensive TD in each of 1st 3 NFL seasons.

From the Dope Sheet:

LAST MEETING, REGULAR SEASON

• Dec. 5, 2010, at Lambeau Field; Packers won, 34-16.
• QB Aaron Rodgers threw for 298 yards and three TDs with no INTs on 21-of-30 passing for a 135.1 passer rating. His touchdown passes of 57 yards to Greg Jenningsand 61 yards to Donald Drivergave him two 55-yard TD passes in the same game for the first time in his career.
• RB James Starks73 rushing yards on 18 carries were the most by a rookie Packers RB in his first game since Ralph Earhart posted 78 yards at Boston on Sept. 17, 1948.
• The Packers wore a third jersey that was a re-creation of the team’s uniform from 1929, the year of Green Bay’s first world championship.

STARTING STRONG

• Under Head Coach Mike McCarthy, the Packers have won five straight season openers (2007-11), which matches the franchise record. The only other time that the Packers emerged victorious in five consecutive opening games came from 1980-84.
• Green Bay is one of only two NFL teams to win its season opener each of the past five years, joining New England as the only clubs in the league to do so over that span.
• McCarthy is the only head coach in franchise history to win five consecutive season openers.
• Green Bay has 52 wins on Kickoff Weekend, which ties them with Chicago for the most in league history.
• For the sixth time in seven years under McCarthy, Green Bay will start its season at Lambeau Field. The only season that saw the Packers start the year on the road over that span was in 2010 at Philadelphia.
• Home openers have become near habit for the Packers, as 32 of 43 regular-season openers since the AFL-NFL merger (1970) have been in front of a home crowd.
• The Packers have 49 wins overall in home openers, tied with Detroit and the N.Y Giants for the second most in NFL annals (Chicago, 63).

PACKERS HOST 49ERS IN SEASON OPENER

• Green Bay kicks off its 94th season in team history – and 92nd as a member of the National Football League – by hosting San Francisco at Lambeau Field, a meeting of the top two teams in the NFC in 2011.
• The Packers were the top seed in the conference last season at 15-1, with the 49ers checking in second at 13-3. Not since 1999 (15-1 Vikings at 14-2 Falcons) have two teams with this many combined wins from the previous season squared off in Week 1.
• This marks the third straight year that the top two seeds in the NFC from the previous season met in Week 1 the next season (Atlanta at Chicago, 2011; Minnesota at New Orleans, 2010).
• It will be the first time in franchise history that Green Bay will face a team in Week 1 that won 13 or more games the previous season.
• This marks the fifth straight year that the Packers’ opening game of the season will be either a nationally televised prime-time contest or a late-afternoon tilt seen by the majority of the country.
• Sunday’s game will be a matchup of the highest-scoring offense in the league in 2011 (Green Bay, 35.0 ppg) against the No. 2 scoring defense (San Francisco, 14.3 ppg) from last season.
• Including playoffs, the Packers have won eight consecutive games over the 49ers in Green Bay. In the overall series, the Packers have also won eight straight, and 13 of the last 14, including a 4-1 mark in postseason action.
• Frequent foes in the 1990s and 2000s, this will be the fourth meeting (2006, 2009, 2010) between the clubs during Head Coach Mike McCarthy’s seven-year tenure. McCarthy’s last stop as an NFL assistant came in San Francisco, where he served as offensive coordinator in 2005.
• This will be only the second time in franchise history that the Packers will face San Francisco in a season opener, with the other meeting (Sept. 12, 1976) also coming at Lambeau Field

Official Friday injury report: