defensive end With a knee injury, free agent Clelin Ferrell, a 17-game starter for the 49ers, was placed on injured reserve, thereby terminating his season.
SANTA CLARA: It was hoped that defensive end Clelin Ferrell, who had a knee injury in the final game of the regular season, would be able to play in both the NFC Championship Game and, should the 49ers advance that far, the Super Bowl.
That is not going to occur. After being placed on injured reserve on Saturday, Ferrell will miss a minimum of four games and won’t be able to play again this season. He started 17 games.
Prior to Saturday’s divisional playoff game (5:15 p.m., Fox) against the Green Bay Packers, George Odum, a safety and special teams player, was placed on injured reserve (IR) in order to make room for him. Odum missed the last six games of the season due to a torn biceps. Two more 49ers practice squad members were activated: Alex Barrett and defensive lineman T.Y. McGill.
The Raiders refused Ferrell’s rookie contract’s fifth-year option, thus he signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal with the 49ers as a free agency. The nation’s best defensive lineman, Ferrell was selected fourth overall and won the Ted Hendricks Award out of Clemson in the same year that Nick Bosa was selected second. Bosa said that Clint Ferrell “had the best effort on the team,” despite the fact that Ferrell was never as dominant as his draft position would suggest. Ferrell had a good season with the 49ers.
Ferrell recorded 28 tackles, 3 1/2 sacks, and 13 quarterback hits in 17 games.
Washington traded for Chase Young, who will start and take on a bigger role.
MOSTERT MEMORIES: After a modest regular season in which he led the club with 772 yards running while not starting for the 49ers, Raheem Mostert ran for 220 yards on 29 attempts with four touchdowns the last time the 49ers met the Packers in the postseason at Levi’s Stadium.
With a 27-0 halftime lead, the 49ers ran for 285 yards on 42 carries and were not forced to pass. Jimmy Garoppolo, the quarterback, completed just two passes in the second half while going 6 of 8 for 77 yards. By then, Mostert had gained 160 yards on 14 carries, including the game’s first touchdown run of 36 yards.
Oren Burks, a linebacker with the Packers in 2019, has vivid memories of it.
This week, Burks stated, “That was the game plan at the beginning, to stop the run.” “We were unable to complete that, and in the NFL, you must find a method to halt the run.”
DIVISIONAL DOMINANCE: Since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, the 49ers have won six straight divisional round games, starting with an 18-7 record. These victories have come against Dallas (19-12 in 2022), the Packers (13-10 in 2021), Minnesota (27-10 in 2019), Carolina (23-10 in 2013), Green Bay (45-31 in 2012), and New Orleans (36-32 in 2011).
In 2002, the 49ers suffered their most recent divisional round loss, 31-6, at Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers went on to defeat Philadelphia in the NFC title game and the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXV.
Things have not gone as planned for the NFC Championship Game. The 49ers are 7-11 with a Super Bowl berth on the line after those 18 divisional wins; they have lost to the Philadelphia Eagles (31-7) and the Los Angeles Rams (20-17) in each of the last two seasons.
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