Aaron Rodgers’ press conference following Sunday’s devastating NFC Playoff loss to Seattle had to be one of the most difficult he has conducted in his career.
Going into the second half of the game, the Packers had a 16-0 lead over the Seattle Seahawks. Explaining how that lead slipped away, score by score, Rodgers had some raw words to share with the media (via NFL.com).
It’s going to be a missed opportunity that we’re probably going to think about the rest of my career. We were the better team today and we played well enough to win and we can’t blame anybody but ourselves.
You can’t let them complete a pass for a touchdown on a fake field goal, you can’t give up an onside kick and you can’t not get any first downs in the first quarter and expect to win. And that’s on top of being really poor in the red zone in the first half. Put it all together and that’s how you lose games. We had a great opportunity. We were right on the cusp.
When asked how he deals with such a painful loss, Rodgers said
You just go home, think about it, and move on. Start getting ready for the offseason program. This one’s going to hurt for a while because of the close proximity to the feeling when the clock hits zero and you’re ahead. We gave it away.
It was definitely a gut-punching experience letting what looked like a win from the beginning slip away, and losing out on a trip to the Super Bowl. To sit and watch from their couches isn’t exactly the way the Packers had hoped this one would play out.
Photo: USA Today