For a Green Bay Packers team that had to overcome mountains of adversity just to make the playoffs, it was hard to accept that they came up just one play short in a 23-20 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in a wild card playoff game Sunday at a frigid Lambeau Field.
After tying the game at 20-20 on a 24-yard Mason Crosby field goal with 5:06 left to play in the fourth quarter, the Packers allowed the 49ers to drive 65 yards and eat up the rest of the clock. Phil Dawson, the 49ers kicker, then hit a 33-yard field goal for the 23-20 win.
It was a bitter loss for the Packers, who battled through a bevy of injuries and setbacks this season to make the playoffs, and their fourth loss to the 49ers in the last two seasons.
“It hurts,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “Yeah, it hurts.”
After pulling off remarkable wins against the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears in the last month to reach the playoffs, it was hard for the Packers to accept that this season was over.
“(It was a) frustrating way to end the season,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “I think a lot of us felt with the way things had gone the last four or five weeks that there was something special about this year, and everything might be aligning right for us to make a run.”
There was no doubt that the Packers fought hard, especially on defense early on.
Despite going three-and-out on their first three possessions offensively, the Packers limited the 49ers to two field goals in the first quarter.
The Packers' offense wouldn’t come alive until the second quarter following an interception by cornerback Tramon Williams.
The Packers then drove 70 yards in 14 plays and ate 7:18 off the clock, scoring on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to receiver Jordy Nelson.
San Francisco responded with a five-play, 68-yard touchdown drive capped by a 10-yard Frank Gore touchdown run.
With both teams held scoreless in the third quarter, the Packers had to wait until the fourth quarter to take a lead, scoring on a 1-yard dive by fullback John Kuhn to put the Packers up 17-13.
Again the 49ers had a quick answer, scoring on a 28-yard pass from quarterback Colin Kaepernick to tight end Vernon Davis, setting up Crosby for the game-tying field goal.
“We were probably one play away,” McCarthy said. “We were one play not good enough.”
Rodger finished 17 of 26 passing for 177 yards and a touchdown. Nelson had seven catches for 62 yards and a touchdown. Rookie Eddie Lacy rushed for 81 yards on 21 carries. Running back James Starks added five carries for 29 yards.
Kaepernick once again gashed the Packers both passing and rushing. He had 227 yards through the air on 16 of 30 passes, a touchdown and an interception. He also rushed seven times for 98 yards.
“We know that he’s going to count on his legs to make plays, and as a defense we understood that,” Williams said. “We can understand it, but it’s still just a little bit tougher to get him down on the ground. He still broke the pocket.”
Kaepernick’s biggest run came on third-and-8 with 1:13 left in the game. The Packers blitzed cornerback Jarrett Bush, who nearly blocked a Kaepernick pass, but the quarterback pulled the ball down and scrambled to his left. Kaepernick went 11 yards, giving the 49ers a fresh set of downs and the ability to run the rest of the clock down.
Gore was held to 66 yards on 20 carries. Michael Crabtree had eight catches for 125 yards.
Linebackers Brad Jones, Nick Perry and defensive tackle Mike Daniels each sacked Kaepernick once. The 49ers got to Rodgers four times.
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