Aaron Rodgers Threw Shade on Matt LaFleur's Decision to Kick a Field Goal Late in NFC Championship Game
Aaron Rodgers was visibly upset during his postgame press conference after the NFC Championship Game. The likely NFL MVP missed a great chance to reach his second Super Bowl as the Green Bay Packers lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-26. During his presser, Rodgers appeared upset with head coach Matt LaFleur's decision-making.
The most controversial call of the afternoon came with 2:05 left in the game. The Packers were down eight and facing fourth and goal from the 8-yard line. Instead of keeping the ball in Rodgers' hands and trying to tie the game, LaFleur opted to kick a field goal, then send the kickoff deep, giving the ball back to Tom Brady. Green Bay got the three points, cut the lead to five, but never got the ball back again.
When asked about the decision to kick the field goal, Rodgers did not seem happy about it, saying, "It wasn't my decision." Here's video:
Aaron Rodgers on Matt LaFleur's decision to kick the FG late in the 4th qtr:
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) January 25, 2021
"It wasn't my decision." pic.twitter.com/eZVuCD1igY
On the third down play of that series, Rodgers didn't have any open receivers, but it did appear he had room to run for the score. Instead he threw the ball to a heavily-covered Davante Adams and it was knocked down. When asked about his decision not to run it in, he said the following:
"I felt like I had a chance maybe to run it (on third), but I had a guy closing on me. If I had known we were going to kick it, we would have maybe gone with some crossing routes, but I thought we were going to have four chances to go."
— Stephen Watson (@WISN_Watson) January 25, 2021
Aaron Rodgers on the final red zone series
So apparently, he didn't run it because he figured he'd be getting another shot at the end zone.
The decision by LaFleur to kick the ball may wind up creating a rift between Rodgers and his coach. It's not like the Packers have done much to help their star quarterback over the last few years, but this was just an insane decision that didn't make sense in any universe. Rodgers deserved better.