Kyle Shanahan Tasks Trey Lance With Crucial Role Ahead of Divisional Round

The San Francisco 49ers will aim to go on the road and upset the No. 1 seeded Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs on Saturday. In order to prepare the defense, head coach Kyle Shanahan has Trey Lance imitating quarterback Aaron Rodgers during practice sessions.

This isn't the first time Lance has been asked to watch tape on opposing signal-callers before emulating them on the scout team. For example, the rookie out of North Dakota State has already gone through this same strategy ahead of facing Kyler Murray and Kirk Cousins.

Of course, it has to be hard to live up to the play of a quarterback expected to win the NFL MVP Award this season. Shanahan simply wants Lance to let it rip and make the unexpected plays he knows he is capable of. That'll help the defense get ready for the real thing this weekend.

"We need him to be aggressive in everything he does because Aaron doesn't miss many of those opportunities when they're presented to him."

- Kyle Shanahan

San Francisco fans know all too well about Rodgers' dominance against their hometown team. The 38-year-old owns the highest career passer rating as a starter by any QB versus the 49ers (12 starts). Green Bay also sent San Francisco home with a loss back in Week 3 thanks to a walk-off field goal.

The 49ers will have to hope that they can find some of the magic from the 2019-20 postseason given they beat the Packers to move on the Super Bowl that year. For now, Shanahan's team heads into Lambeau Field as 6-point underdogs, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

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Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.