Five Packers to watch vs. 49ers in Week 12 matchup
By Jesse Fry
3. Dean Lowry
In the Packers’ last game against the Carolina Panthers, Kenny Clark showed signs of being the dominant player the Packers know they have. While he didn’t rack up the stats, Clark was in the backfield all game long disrupting the Panthers at every step.
Now it’s time for Dean Lowry to awaken in the same way. Lowry has been relatively quiet since signing his contract extension. He has not recorded a sack.
Like Clark, Lowry’s job isn’t to rack up the stats. He is meant to occupy blockers and allow others to make plays. Eat up space and clog the running lanes. As evident by the Packers’ stats against the run, it would be safe to assume Lowry has taken a step back. But that wouldn’t be totally accurate. There are more things than Lowry causing those problems. With the way the 49ers run, Lowry can show just how much of an impact player he can be.
Shanahan’s system is based off the success of the play-action pass, and the run setting up the pass. If the Packers and Lowry can limit the impact from the backfield, the Packers can get after Jimmy G and force him into mistakes.
Teams have had some recent success stacking the box and making Garoppolo beat them. Let’s see if the Packers do the same.