Packers' Aaron Rodgers never has won game as touchdown or more underdog

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Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers know they have their work cut out for them Sunday when they face the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game at Levi's Stadium as heavy underdogs

Rodgers and the Packers already showed up to Levi's this season and got dump trucked, with the 49ers rolling to a 37-8 Week 12 win. That result won't hold a lot of weight in the mind of either team this week. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur has vowed to change almost everything from last time the two teams met, while Kyle Shanahan has said it would be stupid for the 49ers to feel confident based on a game that happened two months ago. 

The Packers have won six straight games since getting shredded by the 49ers, so perhaps they've turned the corner. While the 37-8 L might not worry Rodgers and the Pack, the star quarterback's record as at least a touchdown underdog is ... not ideal.

In his career, Rodgers has been an underdog of seven points or more three previous times -- across 191 starts, including the playoffs -- and he's never come out with a win, according to ESPN's Rob Demovsky. Rodgers was a 7.5-point underdog to the Los Angeles Rams last season, a 29-27 Rams win. The Packers were 7-point underdogs to the Arizona Cardinals in the 2016 NFC divisional round, a 26-20 overtime win for the Cardinals. Finally, Rodgers was an 8.5-point underdog against the Seattle Seahawks in the 2015 NFC Championship Game when Russell Wilson engineered a 28-22 overtime win.

While Rodgers went 0-3 in those games, he did cover the spread in each matchup.

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History appears to be on the 49ers' side, but this game promises to be closer than the first bout.

Rodgers made several throws in the Packers' divisional-round win over the Seattle Seahawks that showed the spell of mediocrity he fell under during the regular season might already be in the rearview mirror. The Packers will need him to be great Sunday in order to have a chance at a packed and raucous Levi's Stadium.

Of course, if Green Bay's offensive line can't keep Nick Bosa and Co. at bay, it'll be a long afternoon for Rodgers and the Pack.

Programming note: NBC Sports Bay Area feeds your hunger for 49ers playoff coverage with special editions of “49ers Central” all week (8 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday)

Also tune in at 2:30 p.m. Sunday for “49ers Pregame Live,” with Laura Britt, Jeff Garcia, Donte Whitner, Ian Williams and Grant Liffmann previewing the NFC Championship Game against the Packers. That same crew will have all the postgame reaction on “49ers Postgame Live,” starting at approximately 5:30 p.m.

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