Daily Madden: Another Tough Test For The 49ers
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - The 49ers face the Detroit Lions at Candlestick Sunday in a rematch of a hard-fought game won by San Francisco last season.
"It was kind of before you knew who the 49ers were going to be and who the Detroit Lions were going to be, and I thought it was a really good game," John Madden told the KCBS morning crew. "To me that was the point when (the 49ers) kind of broke through... (Detroit) gave them a good battle last year and I think it's going to be a tough game for (the 49ers)."
Last year's game ended with an angry exchange between the two coaches as they met at mid-field while the 49ers celebrated their victory.
"That's the most over-rated thing I think of all last year that's carried over into this year," John said. "If both coaches had a list of 100 things that were important in getting ready for this game and things that they had to do... that handshake thing would be 121... The players don't think about it and don't know about it, and if the coaches do, they're taking their eye off the ball."
The Green Bay Packers rebounded from their loss to San Francisco last weekend with a win over the Chicago Bears Thursday night.
"I think (the loss to the 49ers) was a wake-up call for the Packers," the former coach said. "I think they probably under-rated the 49ers...They took everything that they did a week ago and threw that out and changed it." (7:50)
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 during the NFL season.
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