Daily Madden: 49ers Need To Be Ready For Shootout
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - Two Northern California quarterbacks face off in Saturday's divisional playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park.
"Aaron Rodgers is a quarterback that can score a lot of points," John Madden said of the Chico native who leads the Packers. "He's in that mold of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. When you play a quarterback like that... you better be ready to get in a shootout because he can score a lot of points. And if he's hot and gets that thing going, he can roll it on you. You can still win, but you better score a lot of points."
That challenge falls on Turlock's Colin Kaepernick, the 49ers quarterback. This will be the first playoff start for Kaepernick, while Rodgers holds the highest career passer rating in the postseason (105.5).
Rodgers' father Ed joined the conversation with the KCBS morning crew, and noted his son was competitive from a very young age, but always a good sport. "I was so impressed with the way he handled all that Brett Favre stuff," Madden said. "He was kind of right in the middle of it... and he just stayed calm and was quiet, stayed in the background, and when he got his turn he really shined." Rodgers was Favre's backup in Green Bay for three seasons before getting his chance to start.
In Saturday's AFC game, Madden said he likes Denver over Baltimore. "I like (Denver quarterback) Peyton Manning in that," John said. "Not only because of Peyton Manning, but they're playing at home, the altitude, the up-tempo game that he can play, and they're hot now. Sometimes you do get carried away with Denver and the Peyton Manning story, but they have a running game and their defense is very good. I think of all the teams in the playoffs, I think the Denver Broncos are the best team."
Daily Madden
Listen to the John Madden segment live weekday mornings at 8:15 on KCBS All News 740 AM/106.9 FM. And catch John's extra report at 9:15 a.m. Mondays and Fridays through the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl.
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