For the fourth time in the last three years, the Packers came to Santa Clara to play the 49ers on national television.
The 49ers won the first two of those bouts, including the NFC Championship to reach Super Bowl LIV, but the Packers routed them on Thursday Night Football last season (and lead the all-time series 37-32-1).
Reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers’ story has been told each time, so we’ll just give you the highlights: He’s from Chico, he rooted for the Niners as a child, and he’s very good at football. This year, there’s the added nugget that he spent all offseason angry at the Packers, but they refused to trade him.
Fans were out in force for the first home game of the NFL season.
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. – SEPT. 26: A Green Bay Packers fan hugs a San Francisco 49ers fan in the second quarter of their game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. – SEPT. 26: Football fans tailgate in the parking lot before their game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 26: Zach Zeoli, center left, and his brother Miles, center right, both from Delaware, try and get autographs before the San Francisco 49ers game against the Green Bay Packers at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. – SEPT. 26: Football fans tailgate in the parking lot before their game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. – SEPT. 26: San Francisco 49ers fan Sergio Rocha, of Visalia, unbuckles the seatbelt of his Joe Montana cardboard while in his 1985 Mazda as he arrives to the game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. – SEPT. 26: B.J. Moore, both of Jackson Mississippi, from left, and Carlos Keaton, walk past Green Bay Packers fans while walking in the parking lot before their game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. – SEPT. 26: Stacy Samuels, of Fairfax, gestures to fans as he walks through the parking lot playing the banjo before their game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 26: The San Francisco 49ers head out for warm ups before their game against the Green Bay Packers at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. – SEPT. 26: Four T-38 jets from Beale Air Force Base perform a flyover before the start of the game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 26: San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers fans do a selfie duringwarm ups before the San Francisco 49ers game against the Green Bay Packers at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. – SEPT. 26: Brady Higgins, 15, left, of Alamo, and Joey Betterncourt, 16, of Lafayette, play catch in the parking lot Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 26: San Francisco 49ers’ Josh Norman (26) is introduced before their game against the Green Bay Packers at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. – SEPT. 26: Jessie Tram, of San Jose, barbecues lobsters and oysters before their game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)