The Green Bay Packers dominated the NFL’s regular season as they have many times in the past, only to get eliminated after one playoff game. This has become the norm in January in frigid, snowy Green Bay. Get home-field advantage and find a way to lose before the Super Bowl.
This loss came in the NFC divisional playoff, after consecutive losses in the NFC Championship Game. Head coach Matt LeFleur has gone 39-10 in three seasons as the Packers head coach, but he’s come up short of the Super Bowl all three seasons despite his team having homefield advantage and a bye the last two.
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) January 23, 2022
LaFleur sounded like a guy who doesn’t know what the future holds for Rodgers in Green Bay following this surprising loss:
“Certainly we want him back here. I think we’d be crazy to not want him back here. He’s going to be the two-time MVP. This guy does so much for our football team. Not only what you guys see on Sundays or every game day, but what he does in the locker room. How he leads … just what he puts into this thing. And certainly, I’m extremely disappointed that we couldn’t get over the hump, for not only him, but everyone in that locker room.”
LIVE: Head Coach Matt LaFleur meets with the media following #SFvsGB 🎥 https://t.co/aTq2NVk3sy
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) January 23, 2022
Rodgers 0-4 Versus San Fran In Playoffs: Accolades Don’t Equal Playoff Wins
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is now 0-4 versus the Niners in the playoffs, with all four losses coming to teams led by Colin Kaepernick and Jimmy Garoppolo. Now another offseason of uncertainty will settle upon Green Bay, Wisconsin, as they await Rodgers’ decision to return or move on. That 0-4 mark against a single opponent is the worst record for any starting QB since 1950.
His sixteen playoff starts since his only Super Bowl win in 2010-11 is the most ever by a QB who didn’t reach the Super Bowl again.
Aaron Rodgers is 0-4 in the playoffs vs the team that was supposed to draft him. pic.twitter.com/hUiF7H9rSq
— StatMuse (@statmuse) January 23, 2022
For all of Rodgers’ accolades and individual achievements, he and the Packers have come up small in the postseason often. And the Niners have been his kryptonite. Two losses at home and two on the road against the guys from the Bay.
Maybe this is some sort of karma for what Rodgers said on draft night in 2005. Being a Bay Area native and Niners fan, Rodgers was visibly upset when they didn’t draft him.
A reporter asked Rodgers how disappointed was he that the Niners didn’t draft him?
“Not as different as the Niners will be that they didn’t draft me.”
Moments after the Green Bay Packers selected him with the 24th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, Aaron Rodgers was asked how disappointed he was that he wouldn’t be a member of the San Francisco 49ers, the team he grew up rooting for: pic.twitter.com/0joayFEMt7
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 22, 2022
Rodgers Sounded Like Someone Who’s Truly Undecided On If He’ll Give It Another Run: Only Time Will Tell
Rodgers says he’s numb following the season-ending loss, but he did say he needs to talk to Packers brass. This is much more than what he said following last season’s NFC title game home loss to the Bucs. There was a lot of dissension following LaFleur taking the ball out of his hands with a trip to the Super Bowl hanging in the balance.
Aaron Rodgers says he’s “numb” after the 49ers eliminated Green Bay pic.twitter.com/rM8EN20DlJ
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) January 23, 2022
“I did not think we’d be talking about this after the game, but I’m gonna take some time and have conversations with the folks around here and then take some time away and make a decision. Obviously, before free agency or anything gets going.
“It’s fresh now, it’s a little shocking for sure. Was hoping to have a nice week after the NFC Championship to enjoy leading-up (to the Super Bowl) then start contemplating things. I haven’t really let that moment sink in yet.”
Aaron Rodgers weighs in on his future with the Packers. pic.twitter.com/fBsMFiXnrb
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 23, 2022
To The Future With Jordan Love?
Green Bay hasn’t drafted a receiver in the first round during Rodgers’ entire tenure. To have 30 consecutive years (1992-present) of Hall of Fame quarterback play and just two Super Bowls wins isn’t good.
That’s what the Pack have between Rodgers and Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre, and a ton of playoff shortcomings. This shortcoming may have been the most detrimental, as it could have ended Rodgers’ career in Green Bay. His backup, Jordan Love, hasn’t proved that he can take assume the reins just yet. So if Rodgers does part ways, the Packers will find themselves in a place they haven’t been in for years, which is searching for a field general.
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