Three days removed from a lopsided season-ending loss to the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, it’s clear that the defeat still stings and decisions need to be made for the Packers.
Glaring most in Green Bay’s 37-20 loss to San Francisco was its inability to hold back the 49ers‘ running game, as Raheem Mostert exploded for a conference championship-record 220 yards.
Hence, when Packers coach Matt LaFleur addressed the media Wednesday, defensive coordinator Mike Pettine’s future status with the franchise was asked about.
“Yeah, we’re still working through everything right now,” LaFleur said. “Just trying to evaluate everything. Like you said, I think our defense did a lot of great things. Obviously the last game was really disappointing in terms of our performance. It just wasn’t good enough, especially when you get to a championship game like that. You know what’s at stake. Just all across the board, it wasn’t just the defense our offense and special teams weren’t up to par as well.”
As Mostert ran wild and the 49ers collected 285 yards on the ground as a team, Pettine came under fire as the Packers failed to adjust before the game was out of hand.
LaFleur didn’t harp on a failure of scheme in the loss, though, but was truly upset by the lack of fire the Packers exhibited with a berth in the Super Bowl on the line.
“I was just disappointed with just it didn’t seem like we had the same energy and effort that we had displayed throughout the course of the season,” LaFleur said.
The 2019 season was one in which the Packers rebounded from a previous losing campaign to win the NFC North and advance to the conference title game. However, it’s clear some changes will be made; it’s just unclear after LaFleur’s season-ending presser if moving on from Pettine is one of them.
“I think it was a combination of a lot of things,” LaFleur said of the loss. “You gotta give San Francisco credit. They definitely out coached us. I just didn’t feel we played with the same urgency, the same tenacity, the same toughness.
“It’s disappointing, because it’s not like we didn’t know what they were going to try to do. We knew exactly what they we’re gonna try to do. We knew they were gonna run the football. For them to be able to do that, was extremely disappointing.”