49ers attempt to bounce back and boost their postseason chances as they visit Green Bay

San Francisco (5-5) at Green Bay (7-3)

Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, FOX

BetMGM NFL odds: Packers by 2 1/2.

Against the spread: 49ers 4-6; Packers 4-6

Series record: Packers lead 38-34-1

Last meeting: 49ers beat Packers 24-21 in NFC divisional playoff game Jan. 20, 2024, in Santa Clara, California.

Last week: 49ers lost 20-17 at home to Seattle; Packers won 20-19 at Chicago

49ers offense: overall (2), rush (7), pass (4), scoring (T-8)

Packers offense: overall (4), rush (4), pass (9), scoring (T-8)

49ers defense: overall (6), rush (8), pass (8), scoring (T-16)

Packers defense: overall (12), rush (14), pass (13), scoring (10)

Turnover differential: 49ers plus-3; Packers plus-5

QB Brandon Allen: With Brock Purdy unavailable due to a sore right shoulder, Allen will make his first start in three years. The 32-year-old Allen has made nine career starts, and his teams have gone 2-7 in those games. His last start came with Cincinnati in the 2021 regular-season finale when the Bengals rested usual starter Joe Burrow to get ready for the playoffs. Allen has thrown three passes in the last three seasons, including none since joining San Francisco in 2023. Allen was a member of the Los Angeles Rams in 2017, when Packers coach Matt LaFleur was that team’s offensive coordinator.

RB Josh Jacobs has 838 yards rushing this season to rank third in the NFL entering Week 12. He ran for 76 yards and a touchdown while also catching five passes for 58 yards against the Bears. Jacobs has scored four touchdowns (three rushing, one receiving) over his past four games. He has at least 90 yards from scrimmage over his past six games, matching Houston’s Joe Mixon for the NFL’s longest such active streak.

49ers RB Christian McCaffrey vs. Packers run defense: McCaffrey rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns — including the game-winner with 1:07 left — in the 49ers’ playoff victory over the Packers last season. Green Bay is coming off a performance in which it allowed a season-high 179 yards rushing to the Bears.

Purdy isn't playing due to a sore throwing shoulder. ... The 49ers also won't have Nick Bosa after he injured his left hip and oblique against the Seahawks. ... Niners CB Charvarius Ward will miss a third straight game following the death of his 1-year-old daughter. ... Niners LT Trent Williams (ankle) is questionable. ... Niners TE George Kittle is expected back after missing last week’s game with a hamstring injury. ... Packers CB Jaire Alexander (knee) and LB Edgerrin Cooper (hamstring) have been ruled out. … Packers guard Jordan Morgan (shoulder) is on injured reserve.

The 49ers have beaten the Packers in the playoffs three of the past five years. That includes a 37-19 victory in the 2019 NFC championship, a 13-10 upset at Lambeau Field in the 2021 divisional round and the 24-21 thriller last season. The past three matchups between these teams — including a Packers 30-28 road victory on Sept. 26, 2021 — have been decided by a total of eight points. This marks the first time these teams have faced off at Lambeau Field during the regular season since a Packers 33-30 triumph on Oct. 15, 2018. Each of the past three Packers-49ers games at Green Bay have been decided by three points. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and Packers coach Matt LaFleur worked together as assistants at Houston (2008-09), Washington (2010-13) and Atlanta (2015-16).

A loss would give the 49ers a losing record more than 10 games into a season for the first time since going 6-10 in 2020. ... San Francisco has lost a league-worst three games this season after leading in the final two minutes of regulation. ... The 49ers have allowed 36 points in the final two minutes of regulation, second most in the NFL. ... The Niners had only one play from scrimmage go for at least 20 yards last week, tied for the fewest in any game in eight seasons under Shanahan. … San Francisco is outgaining the opposition through the air by an NFL-best 53.9 yards per game. ... McCaffrey has topped 100 yards from scrimmage in his first two games back from Achilles tendinitis and has five straight games with at least 100 yards from scrimmage going back to last postseason. ... McCaffrey’s 57 games with at least 100 yards from scrimmage are the most for any active player. ... The 49ers are 1-5 this season when Purdy turns the ball over and 4-0 when he doesn’t. ... Purdy’s four rushing TDs are the most in a season for a Niners QB since Colin Kaepernick had four in 2013. ... This is the first of three games the Packers are playing in a 12-day stretch. They host the Miami Dolphins on Thanksgiving night and visit the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions on Dec. 5. … The Packers are tied for fourth in the league with 19 takeaways, but they don’t have any over their past two games. … Packers S Xavier McKinney has six interceptions this season to rank second in the league, behind Detroit’s Kerby Joseph (seven). McKinney has seven total takeaways, putting him in a tie for first with Joseph. … Jacobs’ 838 yards rushing and 1,024 scrimmage yards this season are the most any Packer has had in his first 10 games with the team. Jacobs’ 1,024 scrimmage yards are the most for any Packer through the first 10 games of a season since Ahman Green had 1,057 at this point in 2004. … Packers DL Rashan Gary had his 35th sack against Chicago to overtake teammate Kenny Clark for ninth place in franchise history. Clark, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, is still seeking his first sack of the season. … The Packers and 49ers have the NFC’s best regular-season winning percentage since 2019. The Packers are 63-30 and the 49ers 59-34 during that stretch. … San Francisco’s George Kittle has seven touchdown catches to lead all NFL tight ends. Green Bay’s Tucker Kraft has five touchdown receptions to match Baltimore’s Mark Andrews for the second-highest total among tight ends. ... The 49ers rank 26th in the league with TDs on 48.8% of their red zone drives. Green Bay is 27th in that category and has scored TDs on 48.7% of its drives.

Packers WR Christian Watson’s slow start to the season means he might have been stashed on someone’s bench or perhaps even became available on some fantasy football waiver wires. Now would be a good time to try to acquire him. Watson had four catches for a career-high 150 yards against the Bears. After getting targeted just 14 times over his first six games, Watson’s had 17 targets in his past three. He had a catch each of the four times Jordan Love targeted him in Chicago.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur argues a call during the first half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Green Bay Packers' Jordan Love throws a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Green Bay Packers' Josh Jacobs runs during the second half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) is pressured by Seattle Seahawks defensive end Dre'Mont Jones (55) and defensive tackle Jarran Reed (90) during the first half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) runs against Seattle Seahawks safety Julian Love (20) and defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris (98) during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

It’s the ultimate celebrity redemption tour, two decades in the making. In the annals of pop culture, few characters have undergone an image makeover quite like the Wicked Witch of the West.

Oh, she may have been vengeful and scary in “The Wizard of Oz.” But something changed — like, REALLY changed — on the way from the yellow brick road to the Great White Way. Since 2003, crowds have packed nightly into “Wicked” at Broadway’s Gershwin Theatre to cheer as the green-skinned, misunderstood Elphaba rises up on her broomstick to belt “Defying Gravity,” that enduring girl-power anthem.

How many people have seen “Wicked”? Rudimentary math suggests more than 15 million on Broadway alone. And now we have “Wicked” the movie, director Jon M. Chu’s lavish, faithful, impeccably crafted (and nearly three-hour) ode to this origin story of Elphaba and her (eventual) bestie — Glinda, the very good and very blonde. Welcome to Hollywood, ladies.

Before we get to what this movie does well (Those big numbers! Those costumes!), just a couple thornier issues to ponder. Will this “Wicked,” powered by a soulful Cynthia Erivo (owner of one of the best singing voices on the planet) and a sprightly, comedic, hair-tossing Ariana Grande, turn even musical theater haters into lovers?

Tricky question. Some people just don’t buy into the musical thing, and they should be allowed to live freely amongst us. But if people breaking into song delights rather than flummoxes you, if elaborate dance numbers in village squares and fantastical nightclubs and emerald-hued cities make perfect sense to you, and especially if you already love “Wicked,” well then, you will likely love this film. If it feels like they made the best “Wicked” movie money could buy — well, it’s because they kinda did.

Much credit for that goes to Chu, who has said he spent so many years working on “Wicked” that three of his five children were born during that span. Chu clearly has musical theater in his DNA, as we already knew from “In the Heights.” His actors don’t break awkwardly into composer Stephen Schwartz’s famous pop-show tunes: they run headlong into them, and sometimes blow the roof off with them.

Another question: Will people be turned off when they see “To Be Continued” at the end, after two hours and 40 minutes, realizing they must wait a year for Part 2? Also tricky. Surely this COULD have been one movie. But then, how would they have followed “Defying Gravity,” which brings down the Act 1 curtain (and the house) in the show? It’s hard to imagine just continuing with the plot.

Yes, the plot: We begin with Grande’s Glinda descending on Munchkinland in her glistening bubble, which since 1939 has been upgraded with a comfy sofa, to announce that, indeed, the wicked witch is dead.

But someone challenges Glinda: Is it true you were her friend? Well, er, yes, Glinda replies carefully. Their paths did cross — back at school.

Cue opening day at Shiz University. Glinda — well, for now, Galinda “with a ga” — an aspiring sorcery major, arrives in her pink suit looking like a mix of Grace Kelly and Elle Woods. She already has a fan base and a private suite.

Also arriving is Elphaba to help her sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode) settle in. The students are horrified at her green skin. But when imperious Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), dean of sorcery at Shiz, gets a glimpse of Elphaba’s unharnessed magical powers, the green girl becomes her prized student.

Elphaba hopes her sorcery lessons will lead to a meeting with the all-powerful Wizard of Oz, whose glorified head is carved into the campus and who, she secretly hopes, will grant her wish to be “de-greenified.” She sings of this wish in “The Wizard and I,” a lovely number introducing Erivo’s uniquely supple vocals.

Another upbeat number, “What is this Feeling?," introduces the “loathing, unadulterated loathing” between Elphaba and Glinda, forced to room together. These early songs have a zippy appeal, and the best is “Dancing Through Life,” a bang-up dance number that showcases the rakish charm of local prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey of “Bridgerton,” dripping with charm) who proudly urges fellow students to join him in his shallowness.

“Life’s more painless, for the brainless,” sings Bailey, accompanied by acrobatic dancers on huge, coordinated “tornado wheels” in a fabulous library. “Life Is fraught less, when you’re thoughtless.” Fiyero will develop into something different in Part 2. For now, he woos Glinda and strikes up a friendship with Elphaba.

But “Wicked” is about female friendship, and the sudden, surprising bond between polar opposites Glinda and Elphaba — chirpy vs. deep, pink-clad vs. black-clad. In the delightful makeover song “Popular,” Glinda's tour de force, Grande swings from the chandelier, kicks like a can-can dancer, and gallivants around a to-die-for bedroom set that includes pink-sequined shoes popping out of nowhere.

Erivo’s tour de force? That would be “Defying Gravity,” the show’s huge signature song, coming as the mood has changed into something far more ominous. Both young women are in the Emerald City, where they — or at least, Elphaba — have discovered that the wizard is not powerful and beneficent, but, more like, well, Jeff Goldblum: charming and weak, with a big, dark secret.

“So if you care to find me,” belts out Elphaba, having discovered the power of her broomstick, “Look to the western sky.” Where, exactly, is she going?

Hold that thought. For exactly one year.

“Wicked,” a Universal Studios release, has been rated PG by the Motion Picture Association “for some scary action, thematic material and brief suggestive material." Running time: 160 minutes. Three stars out of four.

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Cynthia Erivo, left, and Ariana Grande, with director Jon M. Chu, right, on the set of the film "Wicked." (Universal Pictures via AP)

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Jeff Goldblum, left, and Michelle Yeoh in a scene from the film "Wicked." (Universal Pictures via AP)

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Jonathan Bailey, center, and Ethan Slater, right, in a scene from the film "Wicked." (Universal Pictures via AP)

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Michelle Yeoh in a scene from the film "Wicked." (Universal Pictures via AP)

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Ariana Grande, as Glinda, left, and Cynthia Erivo, as Elphaba, in a scene from the film "Wicked." (Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures via AP)

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Bronwyn James, left, and Bowen Yang in a scene from the film "Wicked." (Universal Pictures via AP)

his image released by Universal Pictures shows Marissa Bode, seated center, and Cynthia Erivo in a scene from the film "Wicked." (Universal Pictures via AP)

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Ethan Slater, left, and Marissa Bode in a scene from the film "Wicked." (Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures via AP)

This image released by Universal Pictures shows a scene from the film "Wicked." (Universal Pictures via AP)

This image released by Universal Pictures shows a scene from the film "Wicked." (Universal Pictures via AP)

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Ariana Grande in a scene from the film "Wicked." (Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures via AP)

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Cynthia Erivo, left, and Ariana Grande in a scene from the film "Wicked." (Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures via AP)

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Cynthia Erivo in a scene from the film "Wicked." (Universal Pictures via AP)

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Cynthia Erivo, left, and Ariana Grande in a scene from the film "Wicked." (Universal Pictures via AP)