49ers Packers Football

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers leaves the field after the Packers lost an NFC divisional round game to the San Francisco 49ers, 13-10 on Saturday night in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Morry Gash/Associated Press

GREEN BAY, Wis. — 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.

Advertisement

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.”

Advertisement

TITANS: Tennessee had the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage along with Derrick Henry making a return just in time for the postseason.

Once again, playing in Music City just wasn’t enough for this franchise.

Not with all the mistakes the Titans made Saturday in losing their AFC divisional game to Cincinnati 19-16.

“It’s super shocking,” Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan said. “None of us expected this.”

The Titans clinched the AFC’s No. 1 seed with a win in the regular-season finale. This loss snapped a three-game winning streak for a team that had won four of its previous five.

“We didn’t get the job done,” said receiver A.J. Brown who had five catches for 142 yards and a touchdown. “We’re not here to see how good the regular season can be. We’re trying to win the Super Bowl.”

The Titans (12-6) lost for the third time as the AFC’s No. 1 seed, all to an AFC North team with this joining a pair of divisional losses to Baltimore after the 2000 and 2008 seasons. This also is the second straight playoff loss at home for Tennessee, which lost a wild-card game to Baltimore a year ago.

Tennessee has not won a playoff game at home since January 2003, a skid that will continue for another year.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.