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Why is it the Packers have failed to contain 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in three of Green Bay’s last four losses to San Francisco?

Is it lack of playmakers on defense? Faulty scheme? What?

We put those questions to ESPN’s Trent Dilfer on Thursday when he was chatting with reporters about the NFL playoffs.

“Green Bay has been a get-right game for Colin,” Dilfer said.” And they have come at really good times. Playoffs last year. Opening day this year to create some momentum. And playoffs this year. . . . There are match-ups for certain quarterbacks where it just fits their eye. They have a certain sauce when they go into it. They know they own them.”

Dilfer said there was a simple answer to the question of why Kaepernick owns the Packers. And then there’s a more technical answer.

“Simple answer, all of the above,” Dilfer said. “They lack some twitch on defense. They lack some dynamic guy who can pursue, close down angles, make it difficult for him to beat them with his legs.

“GRo - Greg Roman, the offensive coordinator for the 49ers - does a really good job against the Packers from a play-calling standpoint,” Dilfer said. “He is kind of the puppet master, more than responding. Done a really nice job in those three games, dialing up plays, getting the right play called at the right time.”

The more complex answer has to do with the kind of defense Green Bay plays, or more precisely, the kind of defense it doesn’t play against Kaepernick.

“I would challenge people, you can see this on your TV - you don’t need the coaches’ film to see this all the time - one pattern I’ve seen against Colin that is very effective and that the Green Bay Packers hardly ever do is when defenders drop with eyeballs on him.”

Dilfer cited three kinds of defense from a quarterback’s perspective: trail, glove and retreat.

In trail coverage the defender trails the receiver with no eyes on the quarterback. In glove, zone defenders sometimes are looking at the quarterback and sometimes at the receiver.

The third kind is the most effective against Kaepernick, according to Dilfer.

The retreat defenses include Tampa two, or spot dropping like Seattle employs.

“As linebackers get depth into their zones, their eyeballs are on the quarterback,” Dilfer said. “They are staring at you. Colin has really struggled against that kind of defensive profile. I don’t know why, but that is a profile defense he has yet to figure out. The Green Bay Packers never play that style of defense in their repertoire. So he doesn’t have to have that discomfort playing against a profile defense he hasn’t quite figured out yet.

“Don’t take my word for it,” Dilfer said. “Watch it. You’ll see a lot of Colin’s bad plays - and Carolina plays a lot of this type of defense - their eyeballs are on him. And they are dropping back. OK, are you throwing it? We’re going to break on the ball. Oh, you’re going to run it? OK, we’re going to come up. I’m seeing you run. So I’m going to come up and I’m going to try and make a play on you. He doesn’t play with the same confidence when he is playing against that style of defense.”