Rodgers enters uncertain offseason after short postseason
GREEN BAY, WIS. (AP) » Aaron Rodgers heads into another offseason of uncertainty after one more frustrating finish to a brilliant year.
Rodgers drove the Packers to a touchdown on the game’s opening possession, then couldn’t get them back in the end zone the rest of Saturday night. Their season ended with a stunning 13-10 NFC divisional playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Robbie Gould’s 45-yard field goal as time expired won the game for the 49ers, who scored 10 unanswered points in the final five minutes.
“A little numb, for sure,” Rodgers said. “I didn’t think it was going to end like this.”
But was this just the end of Rodgers’ season? Or is it the end of his remarkable tenure in Green Bay?
The shocking finish capped a turbulent year in which Rodgers skipped the Packers’ mandatory minicamp; missed a game due to a positive COVID-19 test after making misleading comments about his vaccination status; but still earned All-Pro honors and put himself in position for a possible fourth MVP award.
Rodgers didn’t want to speculate on his future. He said last month that he hadn’t ruled out any possibility, including returning to Green Bay, requesting a trade or retiring.
“I don’t think it’s fair to anybody or myself to really go down those paths at this point,” Rodgers said. “It’s disappointing, sad
and fresh. I’ll have conversations in the next week or so and start to contemplate after that.”
Rodgers did say Saturday night that his relationship with general manager Brian Gutekunst had improved this season.
Rodgers entered Saturday having thrown 20 touchdown passes with no interceptions over his last seven regular-season games. But he once again wasn’t spectacular in the postseason. He went 20 of 29 for 225 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. He was sacked five times while working behind an offensive line missing injured tackle David Bakhtiari.
When the Packers had the ball in a tie game in the closing minutes, they went
three-and-out and punted, which eventually led to the 49ers’ winning field goal.
“I think Aaron did everything he could,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “He was under a lot of duress. I think it’s more to do with I didn’t put our guys in position to make enough plays. I take that very personally.”
It was only fitting the game came down to a kick because the Packers’ special teams breakdowns enabled San Francisco to pull off this comeback. Green Bay’s kick teams were its biggest weakness all year, and that was never more evident than Saturday night.
The 49ers tied the game with 4:41 left when Jordan Willis blocked Corey Bojorquez’s punt and Talanoa Hufanga returned it 6 yards
into the end zone.
There was an equally big special teams mistake on the final play of the first half.
After Rodgers threw a 75yard pass to Aaron Jones – the longest completion of his playoff career – the Packers had the ball at the San Francisco 14 with a chance to build on their 7-0 lead. But after Nick Bosa sacked Rodgers and forced a fumble the Packers recovered, Jimmie Ward blocked Mason Crosby’s 39-yard field goal attempt.
Green Bay needed to capitalize on that long pass from Rodgers to Jones because the Packers didn’t create enough big plays. After A.J. Dillon scored from 6 yards to cap the game’s first possession, the Packers did relatively little with the ball.