The San Francisco 49ers will open up their preseason against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. We've already talked at length about how it will be one of the toughest matchups for Jim Harbaugh and his team this season, but we've neglected to serve up a prediction on the matter. There's a couple reasons for that.
For one, we're going to have our picks come after the initial stream is posted each week. For two, it's a really, really hard game to predict.
When a team is as good as the Packers, you don't simply state one way the 49ers can win and then call that your prediction. They have so many ways that either team can win this game, it'd simply be irresponsible. However, to make a pick, one must simplify. Given that this matchup is something akin to a toss-up, we'll have to go with some general knowledge.
That knowledge says that elite defenses can beat the elite offenses of the league. San Francisco will be coming out of the gate hungry and heavy, and the Packers will be immediately fighting a field position battle that, granted, they could win, but if the 49ers manage to sustain the percentages of 2011, they'll hold off the Packers.
A 49ers fan picking the 49ers to win. How original.
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