‘This is a special opportunity’

“I’m excited about our opportunity, excited about the leadership we have on the football team, excited about the guys coming back and excited to have a full crowd this year as opposed to last year,” Rodgers said. “Hoping for a loud crowd.”

Their opponents Saturday night, the 49ers, already have become road warriors of sorts.

Needing a win in their regular-season finale to make the playoffs, San Francisco went to division rival Los Angeles, overcame deficits of 17-0 and 24-17 against the Rams, and won in overtime.

Then they jumped on top at Dallas, 13-0, in last weekend’s wild-card round and hung on for dear life in a rather hostile place.

“If you look at them as of late, this is a confident group,” Head Coach Matt LaFleur said of the Niners. “You can see it on tape. You can see it in how they’ve played. We’re going to have to play every play like it’s our last play for the duration of the game.”

Back in Week 3, the Packers and 49ers battled to the last play, a walk-off field goal by Green Bay’s Mason Crosby.

But the extent of both teams’ battle-tested-ness goes well beyond that game. Each team played nine contests decided by one score or less in the regular season.

Both have an overtime win over Cincinnati, one of the AFC’s final four, and a close loss to a top seed in that conference – No. 1 seed Tennessee beat San Francisco, 20-17, while No. 2 Kansas City topped Green Bay (minus Rodgers), 13-7.

Both also have beaten the NFC West champion Rams (the 49ers did so twice) and overcame early rough patches, with the Niners losing four straight games at one point and the Packers rebounding from a Week 1 disaster.

All that said, these teams know each other well enough, with this the fifth meeting in the last three seasons, that both are focused more on themselves than their opponents.

In the Packers’ case, that means following Rodgers’ lead and playing a steady hand.

Last week, he mentioned this team is capable of something special, as it has been before, and it’s earned another chance. His words then provide the simplest of perspectives.

“It’s been a fun season,” he said. “Now, we’ve just got to find a way to finish it off with winning our last game.”