The Green Bay Packers are preparing to play the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL’s divisional round of the playoffs on Saturday night. Of course, they are in this improbable position after defeating the Dallas Cowboys 48-32 on Sunday in the Wild Card round. In that unexpected blowout, Jordan Love threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns (with no interceptions) with a passer rating of 157.2 and a QBR of 99.3, the highest mark achieved by any quarterback in any playoff game in NFL history.
Indeed, the ascension of Love and the Packers has been one of the most interesting storylines in the NFL over the last month. There are many reasons for this, including Aaron Jones getting healthy and putting together four consecutive 100+ yard games on the ground. The young wide receivers have improved as the season has gone on and have stepped up when needed as injuries have popped up.
Love, of course, has improved a great deal this season as well. The quarterback that defeated the Chicago Bears in Week 18 was a much more fluid and confident one than that which defeated that same Bears team in Week One. His progression as a project quarterback in the 2020 NFL Draft to face of the franchise is the result of hard work and effort by many people: himself, Matt LaFleur, Tom Clements, and Aaron Rodgers among them.
Under Love, the offense has looked somewhat different than it has in past seasons, even under LaFleur. 49ers star Nick Bosa believes there is a reason for that.
San Francisco 49ers Star Nick Bosa Says the Green Bay Packers Are Better with Jordan Love Because Aaron Rodgers Ignored Coaching
When asked about facing the Packers, Bosa said that the current team has a few players that he is familiar with from their previous matchups, but there is one major difference that will make preparing for them a bit more challenging: Love does what he is coached to do while Rodgers did not.
Nick Bosa said Packers have, “a quarterback who does exactly what he’s coached to do. Aaron Rodgers is a HOF’er & unbelievable but he kinda went outside of the realm of coaching & sometimes it’s good when you have a guy who does what he’s coached to do.” pic.twitter.com/T0yAXDqm5L
— KNBR (@KNBR) January 16, 2024
“The Packers have a quarterback who does exactly what he’s coached to do. Aaron Rodgers is a Hall of Famer and unbelievable but he kind of went outside of the realm of coaching & sometimes it’s good when you have a guy who does what he’s coached to do.”
The notion that Rodgers frequently ignored LaFleur’s coaching and play calls is something that is well-known among Packers fans, as demonstrated below:
I don’t think the #Packers are going to win. But I am excited to have a QB who doesn’t have baked in rules that prohibit him from throwing the ball to various regions of the field because “I’m smarter than you”
— Mike Kawano (@KawanoMike) January 16, 2024
The matchup with the 49ers will certainly be a challenge. On top of Rodgers being 0-4 against them in his playoff career, they are this year’s top seed in the NFC. That being said, there is some level of confidence in the Packers because they will follow the game plan laid out for them.
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