In yesterday's press conference, Coach Singletary mentioned that the 49ers were not going to leave for Green Bay until Saturday. His thinking about that was this:
On whether traveling on Saturday is odd for a game which will be played east of the Mississippi and the thinking behind it:
"Well the thinking is, it's really the time of travel and the time change. I think the further east, you know, if we were going to Philadelphia or something like that we'd probably leave Friday. But having it that maybe it's a three-and-a-half hour flight, maybe four or something like that, I think a two hour change, I think we'll just leave the day before."
Matt Barrows put together a nice rundown of the 49ers practice schedule this week and how the team is adjusting to another quick turnaround. As he mentions, the last time the 49ers had a quick turnaround like this they came off a tough loss to the Saints and were subsequently blown out by the Chiefs. The difference this time is that one the one hand the 49ers are coming off a win, but on the other hand they had to travel back to SF before a week of practice and then heading out to Green Bay.
This is the first of two such trips before the end of the season. Next week the 49ers host the Seahawks and then travel to San Diego for Thursday Night Football the week before Christmas. That's not an East of the Mississippi game, but considering the Chargers have never lost in December under Norv Turner, that could be arguably their toughest matchup.
In fact, during Press Conference Live on Tuesday, Eric Davis decided that he actually thought the 49ers game at Green Bay this weekend was their most winnable road game the rest of the way. Aside from Green Bay and San Diego, the 49ers travel to St. Louis during week 16. I'd argue the Rams game could be considered a bit easier, but the Rams have been playing some solid football at home. The Packers have one home loss in overtime against Miami, while the Rams lost at home to Arizona and Atlanta.
Is Eric Davis crazy to think the 49ers have a better shot of winning at Green Bay than at St. Louis?