ESPN Search

Five nuggets of knowledge about the San Francisco 49ers' divisional playoff game against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday at Candlestick Park: Season of change: These are not your 2011 49ers. The three players most instrumental in San Francisco's...

Vic Fangio, the San Francisco 49ers' defensive coordinator, knows what his team's up against when facing Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Sunday. "A great way to explain him is, he's Drew Brees with great scrambling ability and actua...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Thoughts after the San Francisco 49ers' 36-32 divisional playoff victory over the New Orleans Saints on Saturday at Candlestick Park: What it means: The 49ers are headed to the NFC title game against the winner of the New York Gia...

Aaron Rodgers did not lead the NFL in passing yards, touchdown passes or completion percentage. What he did do was lead the Green Bay Packers to a 15-1 record while posting a ridiculous 45-6 ratio of touchdowns to interceptions. Rodgers was the sl...

As if additional evidence was needed to validate the NFL as a pass-oriented league, the 2011 season has already produced more individual 300-yard passing games than any other -- with two weeks left to play. The chart, courtesy of ESPN Stats & ...

The best NFL quarterbacks are good against standard and added pressure alike. Aaron Rodgers comes to mind. The Green Bay Packers' quarterback leads the NFL in Total QBR when opponents send four or fewer pass-rushers, and also when they send five o...

The San Francisco 49ers' Jim Harbaugh should be a relatively easy choice for NFL coach of the year unless the Green Bay Packers go undefeated. Trent Baalke, the 49ers' general manager, and Jed York, their team president, could qualify for consider...

Aaron Rodgers deserves his own special MVP Watch category as the prohibitive favorite for the annual NFL award. The rest of the field shouldn't even inhabit the same paragraph, let alone the same sentence. Out of respect for Rodgers, I'll stall...

The San Francisco 49ers did not win the Super Bowl during the recently concluded NFC West chat, but they took a few more steps in that direction. Fans are excited. Even fans from other NFC West teams are acknowledging what the standings have made ...

The best running backs are patient when they need to be, waiting for openings to develop before running into the clear. Frank Gore waited three weeks for his opening with the San Francisco 49ers this season. He's rushed for 252 yards over his past...

Aaron Rodgers' ascension to the top spot in the weekly MVP Watch requires no rationalization. The Green Bay Packers are the undefeated reigning Super Bowl champions. Rodgers is their best player, the Super Bowl MVP. Esquire has taken note by de...

San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis is the last man standing from the NFC West in the race to grace the "Madden NFL 12" cover. Willis beat out Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Hines Ward by a 60-40 percentage margin. He'll face Philadelphia ...

Those responsible for making sure fans had Super Bowl seats weren't responsible for maintaining seats on airplanes leaving Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. I'm home, in other words. Ten thoughts relating at least tangentially to the NFC...

The chart shows how the 12 playoff teams fared against one another during the 2010 regular season. Three playoff teams -- New England, New Orleans and Atlanta -- have winning records against the field. NFC West champion Seattle beat Chicago and...

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees knows what he's talking about. Asked about the Seattle defense he'll face Sunday, Brees mentioned the Seahawks' pass-rush ability and varied sub packages -- but only after noting that Seattle gives up quit...

The call for not-so-obvious MVP Watch candidates went out Tuesday afternoon. There were well-reasoned responses, such as the one from erik22lax nominating running backs Chris Johnson and LaDainian Tomlinson for flourishing without the benefit of p...