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Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers refuse to look too far ahead on their schedule. Especially this week while staring at a showdown with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.
The thing is, though, this matchup could go a long way in helping determine the teams' seeding when the playoffs start. So, this one Sunday night at Levi's Stadium will have a bit of a postseason feel for both the 49ers (9-1) and Packers (8-2).
"With the (49ers) faithful and everything, having them helping out the defense and just getting the place rocking will be huge," Garoppolo said. "The louder they can be, the better. But, yeah, it'll be a big game Sunday.
"This is a great opportunity, great challenge for us."
It's also the highlight of a Week 12 slate of games on the NFL schedule.
San Francisco begins a three-game stretch against teams currently in first place — and all with 8-2 records — including Green Bay, Baltimore and New Orleans.
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"I don't even think about playoff seeding right now," 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. "Our goal is to get in the playoffs. We're all right there. There's still a lot of football left. Each game we win, we've got a better chance at getting in there. You don't think about seeds, at least I don't, until you can narrow it down to one or two games. I think we're far from that right now."
The 49ers showed some resilience last week, rallying from 16 points down to beat Arizona for the team's biggest regular-season comeback since 2011.
Meanwhile, the Packers are coming off a 24-16 victory over Carolina at home, giving them five wins in their past six games.
"We've been finding a way to win, different ways," Rodgers said. "I think great teams understand their roles and embrace them and make it more about the team."
And, Green Bay is no stranger to playing in front of big TV audiences: The Packers are 3-1 in prime-time games this season.
Week 12 started with Houston's 20-17 home victory over Indianapolis.
Deshaun Watson threw two touchdown passes to DeAndre Hopkins and finished with 298 yards to help the Texans take the AFC South lead. Houston (7-4) rebounded from a 41-7 loss to Baltimore on Sunday. The Colts dropped to 6-5.
Arizona (3-7-1), Minnesota (8-3), Kansas City (7-4) and the Los Angeles Chargers (4-7) are the final teams this season to take their bye-week breaks.
