SANTA CLARA — The 49ers handily defeated the Packers in their last meeting in Week 12, but San Francisco's players know that Sunday’s NFC Championship Game will bring an entirely new set of challenges for the team. 

Back in that first meeting, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had his way with the Packers defense, completing 14 of his 20 pass attempts for 253 yards and two touchdowns, giving him a passer rating of 145.8. He knows that type of performance won’t automatically happen again.

“Whenever you have to do that, it’s always different the second time,” Garoppolo said. “It’s a lot of the cat-and-mouse game where we think they’re going to do this and they think we’re going to do that. There’s a lot of back-and-forth with it, but at the end of the day you just have to go play and respond to what you see happening on the field.” 

Tight end George Kittle also had one of his best games of 2019 against the Packers. He caught all six of his targets for 129 yards. Kittle’s touchdown was the longest play of the game going a total of 61 yards, 29 after the catch. 

“You’re more used to the guys you’re going against because you’ve faced them before, but defenses change because they prepare for you differently,” Kittle said. “For example, our scheme from the first Arizona game to the second is completely different. 

“You know the players and tendencies but, other that, you still have to show up and play 60 minutes.”

On the other side of the ball, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is also not taking the team’s dominating win in Week 12 to heart. Playing a team twice in a season can be seen as either a blessing or a curse.

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“I don't know,” Saleh said. “I've been on both ends. I think 2013 we beat the brakes off of New Orleans on Monday Night Football in Seattle, and then they came into the division round and it went down to the wires. I've been on teams where we lost badly two times in a row, and vice versa. 

“Every game is independent of itself, and you just, you look at stuff, obviously, but you take the approach that every game is independent, and you attack each game as its own championship moment, and you prepare the best you can and you let the chips fall where they may.”

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

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 6:30 p.m.

MIAMI, Fla. – The 49ers defensive line can flat rush the passer with a group that’s as good as any.

DeForest Buckner’s the massive All-Pro on the interior. Dee Ford’s attacks off the edge like a lightning strike. Nick Bosa’s the newcomer taking the NFL by storm.

Arik Armstead’s the oft-forgotten member of this quintessential sub-package quartet despite being the 2019 unit’s sack leader.

He has been labeled with a deragortory, bad word in past seasons that starts with a B.

Yeah, that one. First-round bust.

It no longer fits the Sacramento native and former No. 17 overall pick after a dominant 2019 regular season with 54 tackles, 10 sacks, nine quarterback hits, 43 hurries and two forced fumbles. His 62 total pressures ranks in the top 16 among defensive ends. His pass-rush win rate sits at No. 21.

Armstead overcame earlier injury struggles and built off a healthy 2018 to show great progress over previous seasons and garnered respect across the league.

“He doesn’t get the pub that some others do, but he has probably been the most consistent player on our defensive line this year,” Bosa said. “He has really stepped it up when we needed him in the pass rush. I think he’s the best run player in the NFL right now, when it comes to defensive ends. People don’t give him credit, but he’ll reap the rewards from it this offseason some team, whether it’s us or someone else. He’ll reap the benefits, no doubt about it.” 

Armstead’s agent will spread the stats above far and wide this spring, after he formally hits unrestricted free agency. It could earn an eight-figure average annual salary with plenty guaranteed.

Not that Armstead worries much about that. That’s what he’s saying publicly, anyway. He should rest well and focus on playing Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Chiefs knowing he’ll get paid no matter what.

“Using brain cells on [impending free agency] is a waste,” Armstead said. “It’s not productive. I need to focus completely on the games. That includes the next one, which is the biggest game of my life. I’m going to do everything I can to help us win, so this team can be remembered forever.” 

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He might not get paid by the team that drafted him back in 2015. The 49ers have some complicated salary-cap math coming up, with Buckner and all-world tight end George Kittle due lucrative extensions in the near future. Armstead’s super-agent Joel Segal isn’t known for giving discounts (nor should he), so the 49ers might be forced to let Armstead walk out the front door.

That would be a blow to an awesome defensive line with every other starter coming back in 2020. It’s also an understood product of the modern NFL landscape where elite teams must make hard decisions.

Armstead’s teammates know the NFL business well, and are thrilled that Armstead stayed healthy, played well and shed an unwanted label. 

“Having a breakout season like he did shows that all the hard work really paid off,” Buckner said. “He did so over the last couple of years despite all the naysayers, and people calling him a bust. We all knew the type of player he was. He just needed to take it one day at a time and build. He needed to stay on the field and do that the last two years was key. When you’re unavailable, nobody can see what you’re capable of. He was able to build off the healthy year he had last year. That was huge.”

MIAMI, Fla. -- The stars come out for the Super Bowl.

And the 49ers certainly will look to their top players to show up in Super Bowl LIV against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Therefore, here are the 49ers’ top five players to watch at Hard Rock Stadium with the Lombard Trophy on the line:

5. LT Joe Staley

Six-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Staley is the only player from the 49ers’ last Super Bowl team that will see action in Sunday’s game. All the longest-tenured 49ers player is lacking is a ring. This is a great chance for him to accomplish that.

Staley is playing very well after missing a large portion of the season due to injuries. First, he sustained a fractured left leg. Then, he missed several weeks with a broken finger, which required surgery.

He will face a big challenge on Sunday against Chiefs edge rusher Frank Clark, whom he knows well from their days as opponents when Clark played for the Seattle Seahawks. Clark registered eight sacks in the regular season after piling up 13 sacks in his final season in Seattle.

4. CB Richard Sherman

Richard Sherman brought a lot to the 49ers even before he fully recovered from his torn Achilles. He had an OK first season with the 49ers. But this season, he earned his way back onto the NFC Pro Bowl team.

Sherman faces his biggest challenge of the season, as he goes against the Kansas City Chiefs’ explosive set of wide receivers. At various times, he will find himself in coverage against Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins and Mecole Hardman.

How much will Patrick Mahomes go to Sherman’s side? Will the 49ers leave Sherman to go handle things on own and provide more help for Emmanuel Moseley on the other side?

Sherman was on a Super Bowl-winning team with the Seattle Seahawks. His play will help determine whether he earns another ring with the 49ers.

3. TE George Kittle

Whether he is doing his job as a run-blocker or whether he’s amassing yards after the catch, tight end George Kittle has been the 49ers’ best offensive player for the past two seasons. He is probably the team’s best player. Period.

If Kyle Shanahan can scheme up some mismatches against the Chiefs’ linebackers, Kittle has the chance to have a huge day. Kansas City certainly will try a lot of different things in covering Kittle, with the possibility of all-purpose defensive back Tyrann Mathieu getting some one-on-one action against him, too.

2. DEs Nick Bosa/Dee Ford

The 49ers lacked a presence at edge rusher last season. This year, they made a dramatic improvement in the offseason with the trade to acquire Dee Ford and the selection of Nick Bosa with the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL draft.

Ford was acquired from the Chiefs, and here he is, in the Super Bowl with something to prove against his former team.

He had a good week of practice, and his legs are fresh for the biggest game of the year. The 49ers’ best hopes of containing Mahomes are with Ford crashing down from one end, while Bosa is applying pressure from the other side.

Bosa is a strong candidate for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year after registering nine sacks and playing well against the run. He added three sacks in the 49ers’ first two postseason games.

[RELATED: How Ford has moved on from key offsides penalty with Chiefs]

1. QB Jimmy Garoppolo

Jimmy Garoppolo might not be the 49ers’ best player. But, on this day, he is their most important player, for sure.

The entire feeling around the 49ers changed in the middle of the 2017 season when general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan decided to accept the New England Patriots’ offer of a second-round pick for Garoppolo.

This is why they got him. And you can be sure the 49ers will not be able to win this game with Garoppolo attempting just eight passes, as he did in the 49ers’ 37-20 victory over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game.

Don’t be surprised if the 49ers have to rely on Garoppolo’s arm to outduel Mahomes on Sunday.