NFC CHAMPIONSHIP

The facts: 1 p.m., 3Com Park, Channel 11, KNX (1070), XTRA (690), KAVL (610).

Head to head: First meeting this season.

Storyline: The game of the year if the 49ers are for real.

The Packers have ended the 49ers’ season in the playoffs the past two years, and decisively. San Francisco fell in Green Bay last year, 35-14, but Steve Young was hampered because of injured ribs. Two years ago, the Packers came to San Francisco and jumped to a 21-3 halftime lead on the way to a 27-17 victory.

A few years ago, this would have promised to be a shootout with two of the game’s most dynamic quarterbacks pitching footballs everywhere for touchdowns. But Young has been shortchanged by age, the loss of wide receiver Jerry Rice, and the unpredictability of the 49ers’ running game.

J.J. Stokes and Terrell Owens have been given a big buildup, but neither produced a 100-yard receiving game during the regular season. Stokes broke that barrier last week against the Vikings’ 29th-ranked defense.

Running back Garrison Hearst ran for 1,019 yards, broke his collarbone, and, although he is cleared to play today, how long will he last?

The 49ers, taking advantage of an easy schedule, have avoided being upset by one of the poor teams on their schedule because of a consistent defense, which suffered only one letdown all season long--at Kansas City.

The Packers counter with a defense that, despite being embarrassed against Indianapolis, has limited eight of its last 10 opponents to 17 points or fewer.

The NFL’s No. 1 passing offense is directed by Brett Favre, who has been the NFL’s MVP the past three years. Favre, unlike Young, has a pair of proven wide receivers in Robert Brooks and Antonio Freeman.

The key to Green Bay’s success, above and beyond Favre and the Packers’ defense, has been the emergence of running back Dorsey Levens, who stepped in for the injured Edgar Bennett and has dictated the terms of surrender in big games this season. Levens has accounted for 1,805 yards from scrimmage, including 1,435 on the ground; in last year’s NFC title game, he ran for 88 yards and caught passes for 117 yards.

Keys to the game: Can the 49ers run? Can the Packers get to Young? Can the 49ers stop Levens? Can San Francisco’s cornerbacks stay with Brooks and Freeman?

The Packers finished the season with the NFL’s No. 1 passing attack, and the 49ers were the NFL’s No. 1 defense, but Green Bay has Favre and the 49ers piled up their stats against the likes of Kerry Collins, Heath Shuler and Tony Banks. Linebacker Kevin Greene, who has been relatively unimpressive so far since joining the 49ers, has the outside speed to chase down Favre.

But first Bryant Young and Dana Stubblefield will have to muck up the middle and keep Levens in check, or the Packers will dictate how this game is going to be played.

Now you know: The 49ers are playing in the NFC championship game for the 10th time since 1981 and are 5-4, 4-2 at home. They are also the only team to lose the NFC championship game at home in the ‘90s, falling in 1990 to the Giants and 1992 to the Cowboys.

They said it: 49er tackle Kirk Scrafford will have to contend with Packers’ defensive lineman Reggie White. Scrafford, recalling his first meeting with White, while White was with Philadelphia and Scrafford was with Cincinnati in 1991, said, “He was pushing me back so fast he didn’t have time to get to the quarterback.”

The line: Green Bay by 2.