Last week was our last edition of Fantasy Index Weekly, but we'll preview the final three games -- the conference championships, and the Super Bowl -- here at the website. We'll take a look at each of the final four teams over the next couple of days, then combine the projections into player rankings at the end of the week. Up first: Green Bay.

Overview:
These teams have met seven times in the playoffs, with Green Bay winning four of them (ancient history; all were quarterbacked by Brett Favre). The more recent postseason games were 49ers wins after the 2012 and 2013 seasons, both quarterbacked by Colin Kaepernick. Green Bay won a 33-30 shootout at Lambeau last October, but that was a much lesser San Francisco defense. The more meaningful encounter came in Week 12, a 37-8 San Francisco blowout at Levi’s Stadium. That beating might have been a wakeup call for the Packers, who have gone 6-0 since then, including last week’s win over Seattle. … San Francisco is favored by 7.5, with an over-under of 45; suggesting a 26-19 type of game. Weather shouldn’t be a factor; temperatures around 50 degrees, with just a 10-20 percent chance of rain and not much wind expected.

Packers:
Green Bay’s offense crashed and burned in the Week 12 loss, managing only 236 total yards and 1 touchdown. But it’s rebounded since then, scoring 17 touchdowns in six games – nearly 3 per game – some against credible opposition (3 TDs against Chicago, 2 at Minnesota, and 4 more against Seattle last week). They’ve averaged over 24 points in those contests. Considering the caliber of this defense, playing at home and healthy, that’s probably their ceiling. About 2 TDs, we figure, with the 7.5-point spread looking reasonable.

RUNNING BACKS

Despite its offensive struggles in the earlier meeting, Green Bay had some success on the ground, rushing for 117 yards and a respectable 4.2 yards per attempt. Unusually (for Green Bay) the Packers were better running the ball (15th) than passing it (19th) during the season, while San Francisco was a whole lot tougher defending the pass (1st) than the run (17th). That needs to be qualified, since San Francisco was without linebacker Kwon Alexander the second half of the season. With him healthy the first seven games, this defense allowed 96 rushing yards per game and 2 TDs; after he got hurt, it allowed 126 rushing yards per game, with 9 TDs in nine games. Alexander returned last week and this defense bottled up Dalvin Cook (9 carries, 18 yards), although Minnesota curiously didn’t try to run much. Bottom line, this defense should be closer to its first half of the season performance, but the Packers should try to work the ground game anyway. Aaron Jones will likely be featured; certainly as a runner. He played over 80 percent of the snaps last week, carrying 21 times for 62 yards (no other back had more than 2 attempts). That’s just 3.0 yard per carry, but he’s their guy in what was more of a committee with Jamaal Williams in the earlier meeting. Back then the two split time, and Williams was the back of choice in passing situations, catching 7 balls for 35 yards (just 1 target for Jones). But Jones was more involved as a receiver over the final four games both played in (77 yards to just 52), and then last week Williams played only 9 snaps, barely more than Tyler Ervin (who handled the ball twice for 25 yards as a change-up in the backfield). Only Jones’ role looks secure. With San Francisco being more vulnerable to the run (and the Packers favoring it for much of the season anyway), we’re thinking Jones runs for 60-70 yards, and reasonable chance he gets in the end zone. He had 16 of the team’s 18 rushing scores during the season, and 2 more last week. Packer running backs caught 8 touchdowns during the season (3 for Jones, 5 for Williams), but Jones should get most of those opportunities now. San Francisco didn’t allow any of those touchdowns during the season, however, and was all over Cook in the passing game last week (his 6 catches went for just 8 yards). Not an easy matchup, but Jones will be a focal point of the offense.

QUARTERBACK

Aaron Rodgers had his worst game of the season at San Francisco: 104 yards and 1 touchdown, while taking 5 sacks. He lost tackle Bryan Bulaga early in that one, which was one factor, certainly in terms of protection. Rodgers threw for 425 yards and 2 TDs against this defense a year ago, but that doesn’t look meaningful; this was a lesser pass defense that allowed 35 touchdowns, fewer than only Oakland. In general, Rodgers put up modest numbers this season. He threw for even 250 passing yards just five times: Philadelphia (in a lopsided defeat), Kansas City (in a shootout) and against a couple of lousy pass defenses (Detroit twice, and Oakland). In his other 12 games, including last week, he averaged 207 passing yards, and threw 12 touchdowns. Rodgers remains one of the league’s best quarterbacks, but it’s a different offense, and he’s been content to let the ground game lead the way. San Francisco ranked 1st in pass defense, though it was shaky down the stretch. In the last four games of the regular season – all against top-12 passing offenses, from the Saints, Falcons, Rams and Seahawks – this defense allowed an average of 279 yards, with 11 touchdowns. But it was missing some key starters (not only Kwon Alexander, but also Dee Ford and Richard Sherman at times), and those guys are healthy now. This defense held Kirk Cousins to 172 yards and 1 touchdown last week, sacking him 6 times and forcing a pair of turnovers. Rodgers is a better quarterback, but it’s a tough defense to crack when healthy and on its game. We’re putting him down for 240 yards and 1-2 TDs, with just 1 a little more likely. Rodgers didn't run much during the season (11 yards per game, with 1 TD). He ran for 13 at San Francisco and 14 last week.

RECEIVERS

Tough matchup for the passing game or no, no one should be fooling around sitting down Davante Adams. He’s been on fire over his last four games, catching 35 balls for 472 yards and 4 touchdowns – an average of 9-118-1. And of the 24 touchdowns thrown against San Francisco (including last week), three quarters (18) went to wide receivers. Adams himself caught 7 passes for 43 yards and a touchdown in the earlier meeting, also catching a 2-point conversion in that one. He caught 10 balls and 2 touchdowns in last year’s home win. After Adams, Allen Lazard is the next best bet. He averaged 50 yards and scored twice over his last five games. But he played only a third of the snaps and wasn’t targeted against Seattle; he may have picked up an ankle injury during the game, though Adams’ dominating looks was the primary factor. But a tough matchup, and he can’t be counted on to have a major role. None of the other wideouts can be counted on to even catch a pass. Geronimo Allison, Jake Kumerow and Marquez Valdes-Scantling each saw one target against Seattle. The final six games of the season (including at San Francisco) they combined for just one game over 20 yards (by Kumerow) and no touchdowns.

Jimmy Graham didn’t have a good season, catching just 38 passes and 3 TDs. But he’ll probably be the 2nd-best receiver after Adams. He caught 3 passes for 49 yards last week (Seattle fans might say 48), and came on some the final month of the season. That was his third game with exactly 49 yards in his last five. San Francisco allowed 6 touchdowns to tight ends on the season, 5 of which came in their last eight games. Only negative is that other tight ends will get on the field; Jace Sternberger actually played more snaps than Graham last week, and Robert Tonyan could also see a target or two. Marcedes Lewis (for his blocking ability) will likely play the most, though Lewis caught only 6 passes in his final 10 games. Graham is definitely the best bet for production.

KICKER/DEFENSE

Mason Crosby didn’t get to attempt any kicks in the Week 12 meeting, and only kicked extra points last week. This is a tough matchup for kickers, with San Francisco allowing just 5 kicking points per game and 17 field goals – only Buffalo allowed fewer.

Straight off the numbers, the Packers Defense has potential in some areas. Jimmy Garoppolo threw 13 interceptions during the season, which is more than twice as many as any of the other three quarterbacks still playing. He took 36 sacks, tied with Aaron Rodgers for most (on a per-game basis, Ryan Tannehill, taking 31 sacks in 12 games, was worst). The Packers had 41 sacks and 17 interceptions during the season, the fewest sacks but most interceptions of the final four teams. But they only had 7 fumble recoveries, while San Francisco lost 10, slightly worse than average. The 49ers allowed 3 touchdowns on defensive or special teams plays, but Green Bay didn’t have any of those touchdowns during the season. The other three teams still playing had at least 4 such scores. Relative to the other teams, Green Bay looks like the best choice for interceptions but an average option for sacks and the worst choice for touchdowns. Tyler Ervin is handling returns now and he had a 45-yarder on a kickoff the last month of the season, but no touchdowns in four seasons (mostly with Houston). The Packers had 3 sacks but no takeaways in the earlier meeting.

Player projections are below; at the end of the week, after all four teams have been analyzed, we'll see how the rankings shake out.

--Andy Richardson