In 2009, Aaron Rodgers lost his playoff debut after fumbling in the first game and then another in the last game.
2023 Jordan Love scored a touchdown in his playoff debut but had a last-second interception as the San Francisco 49ers beat the Green Bay Packers 24-21 in an NFC playoff game Saturday night at Levi’s Stadium. It won’t be much consolation for Love and the rest of the Packers, but a year after the team suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Arizona Cardinals in 2009, Rodgers led the Packers to victory in Super Bowl XLV.
“sick. Very tight,” Love said. “We had a chance to win that game and we didn’t take it. “It’s hard to end the season.”The love along the way was touching. The Packers went 3-6 as Love went from a struggling young quarterback to the next great quarterback. After a win against the Chargers in Week 11 and a huge playoff win over the Cowboys last week, Love is second with 21 tackles and first with an interception. For context, none of the 12 quarterbacks with at least 12 interceptions in that span had fewer than four.
It was one of the roles that made Rogers a legend.But as the season wound down and he was presented with the opportunity to lead the Packers to an unexpected appearance in the NFC Championship Game, Love suffered three major setbacks. Late in the third quarter, on third-and-11, Love threw up and Tucker Craft followed. Kraft threw the ball after an interception by Dre Greenlaw.
The 49ers converted it into a field goal to make it 21-17.On third-and-2 on the next drive, Love missed a chance to contest the first down and threw a pass to Aaron Jones. The ball went behind Jones and was almost caught.On the next drive, Jones’ 53-yard run put the Packers in position to score. On 3rd and 9, the 49ers offense was forced to fumble.
However, Love did enough to make it a seven-point game. But Anders Carlson missed from 41 yards.The 49ers converted on a field goal, but Love had 1:07 on the clock and all three timeouts occurred. In the NFL, that’s forever. Love has three wins this year, including against the Chargers and Panthers, after losses to Atlanta, Las Vegas and Denver.
