Aaron Rodgers and Matt LaFleur Were Furious With Officials As the Packers Lost the NFC Title Game

There were a few controversial calls during the NFC Championship Game on Sunday and the Green Bay Packers weren't happy about them. In fact, a late pass interference call against the Packers made head coach Matt LaFleur hopping mad and left quarterback Aaron Rodgers yelling at the officials.

On a third-and-4 play with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers up 31-26 with 1:46 to go, Tom Brady dropped back and fired a pass towards receiver Tyler Johnson. It fell incomplete but a few seconds after the ball hit the turf, a flag flew in. The call was defensive pass interference against cornerback Kevin King. On replay, it looked like a good call:

That flag essentially wrapped up the game, as it gave Tampa a first down with 1:39 to go and the Packers had just one timeout remaining.

Green Bay was upset, not only because the flag came in late, but also because officials had largely allowed contact between receivers and cornerbacks go without a flag all day. That was a point Rodgers was seen forcefully explaining to the officials after the play:

LaFleur was jumping up and down on the sidelines furious as well.

Perhaps LaFleur should be mad at himself though. The Packers faced fourth-and-goal from Tampa Bay's 8-yard line with 2:05 left. They trailed the Buccaneers by eight and instead of going for it, LaFleur kicked a field goal, took the ball out of Rodgers' hands and put it back in Brady's.

While I get being mad at the officials, the Packers had a number of chances to win the game and failed every time. LaFleur's decision to kick a field goal and not let his MVP quarterback go win the game was just the most glaring example.