The Packers' season came to an end on Saturday night when Jordan Love — who had been so good for most of his first two postseason games — rolled out and threw a pass back across his body that was picked off by 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw. It was a critical mistake in a situation where Green Bay just needed a field goal to send their divisional round matchup to overtime.
It also looked a whole lot like one of the most infamous plays in Vikings history. 14 years ago, in the NFC championship game, the Vikings and Saints were tied at 28 with less than 20 seconds on the clock. Minnesota was already on the edge of field goal range when Brett Favre rolled to his right, tried to throw back across his body, and was picked off by Tracy Porter. The Saints went on to win in overtime.
The plays are eerily similar.
The 49ers were able to kneel out the clock on the next play, advancing to their third consecutive NFC championship game. Even though it was a disappointing end to a winnable game for the seventh-seeded Packers, their future appears to be bright. Love played at a very high level down the stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs, and the roster has plenty of young talent on both sides of the ball.
Favre himself chimed in after the loss (though he didn't mention the pick directly).
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