12:05 p.m. Central, Fox
LINE - 49ers by 1
LAST MEETING Panthers beat 49ers 10-9 on Nov. 10 LAST WEEK 49ers defeated Packers 23-20, Panthers had a bye RANKINGS 49ers: offense (24), defense (5); Panthers: offense (26), defense (2)
NOTES San Francisco Coach Jim Harbaugh and Carolina Coach Ron Rivera were teammates with Chicago Bears. … Harbaugh is first coach to lead 49ers to playoffs in first three seasons. … QB Colin Kaepernick was held to 91 yards passing and 16 yards rushing in 10-9 loss to Carolina on Nov. 10. RB Frank Gore has franchise-record seven consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Gore averages 91.3 yards rushing in postseason with a TD in past four playoffs games. … Carolina lost last home playoff game as No. 2 seed to Arizona in 2008, 33-13. … Carolina’s 12 victories tied team record. … Panthers defense allowed second-fewest points in NFL (241). … QB Cam Newton has 11,299 yards passing in his first three seasons, third-most in NFL history. Newton has 2,032 yards rushing in first three seasons, most by quarterback in league history. … WR Steve Smith is expected to start after missing Week 17 with sprained knee ligament. … LB Luke Kuechly has NFL-high 320 tackles since 2012.
Sports, Pages 26 on 01/12/2014