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This morning, we kicked off our coverage of Sunday's upcoming Wild-Card game between the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers by examining which 49ers player would make the best addition to the Green and Gold. This afternoon, we'll instead look at which single player or factor on the Packers' next opponent scares us the most.
Our choice for this distinction is not based on performance over the entire 2013 season, but rather on what a single player has done to the Packers in the last two games these teams have played. That's right, the one player who Packers fans should fear more than any other is quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Just look at the two stat lines. In the Divisional round of last year's playoffs, Kaepernick completed 17 of 31 passes for 263 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, but ran the ball 16 times for 181 yards (a quarterback rushing record) and two more scores. Also, he basically turned Erik Walden into a pariah among the Packers fan base.
In week one this season, he did his damage with his arm, going 27 for 39 for 419 yards and three touchdown passes (easily the best passing performance of his career).
There are reasons to think that Kaepernick has regressed somewhat from those remarkable highs, whether by the design of the 49ers' offense or other means. He threw for 300 or more yards only once since that week one game (in Week 17 against Arizona) and he has had only two games this season with more than 55 yards on the ground. But just based on what he has done to the Packers in recent memory, Kaepernick should be treated as the most dangerous weapon in the 49ers' arsenal.
