Special teams has been an issue for the Packers all season, and it certainly did not flip the script upon the start of the playoffs.
Green Bay turned in a pair of special teams lowlights in the final five minutes of its season-ending loss Saturday night. Trailing the NFC's top-seeded team by a touchdown late in the divisional-round contest, the 49ers returned a blocked punt for a game-tying score and swung the momentum back in their favor.
San Francisco ultimately came out on top thanks to a game-winning field goal, which Green Bay was not properly set up to defend. In a rather fitting final moment of the season, the Packers only had 10 men on the field when Robbie Gould sent a 45-yard kick through the uprights at Lambeau Field.
Matt LaFleur acknowledged the blocked punt was the turning point in the primetime game.
"You could argue that was the difference in the game but I think it was more than just that play," the Packers coach told reporters, per NFL.com. "I don't know exactly what happened, I'll have to go back and take a look at the tape. We had two blocks in this game and obviously, it played a big part in us coming up short."
As for the undermanned field goal defense, LaFleur took responsibility.
"That can't happen. It's unacceptable," LaFleur said. "And, again, that's on me."
Saturday night very well could have been the last time we see LaFleur lead a Packers team in a playoff game for a while. Aaron Rodgers is among the slew of players with uncertain futures in Green Bay.
