Packers: Za’Darius Smith making up for lost time vs. 49ers

Za’Darius Smith hasn’t played since the Green Bay Packers‘ regular-season opener, but it didn’t take long for him to make an impact on the opening possession against the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round.

After a strong start on the opening two downs, the 49ers faced third-and-12. Enter Smith, who got immediate pressure on 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and tripped him up for the sack.

It’s been a long wait to see Smith back in action for the Packers. Think he was ready for this moment?

Here is the moment Smith made his first sack of the postseason:

https://twitter.com/packers/status/1485062596214636549

The Packers needed to make a fast start against a red-hot 49ers team, and they couldn’t have asked for a better opening couple of possessions.

The offense started with the ball and marched down the field, resulting in an AJ Dillon touchdown.

Joe Barry’s defense then forced a three-and-out, ending with Smith’s sack on third down. There’s still a long, long way to go in this game, but the early signs have been encouraging.

At this stage, we don’t know how many snaps Za’Darius Smith, Jaire Alexander, and Whitney Mercilus will get in their first game back from injury. But as Smith has already shown, he doesn’t need to be out there on every snap to make an impact in the game.

If the Packers are to defeat the 49ers tonight and make a Super Bowl run, they will need their top pass rusher to make some big plays along the way. So far, it seems he’s making up for lost time.