Matt LaFleur shuts down scapegoating of heavily scrutinized rookie for 49ers loss

It wasn't just one guy, but a collective effort that led to Matt LaFleur's Green Bay Packers once again coming up short to Kyle Shanahan's San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs. No, this is not some Coach Klein nonsense from The Waterboy, but not even Bobby Boucher could have saved the Packers in this one. They were the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoffs after all, facing the top-seeded team.

While much will be made about Jordan Love moronically throwing the ball across his body to end the game with an interception, LaFleur made sure to not place the blame on rookie kicker Anders Carlson for his ill-timed missed kick in the fourth quarter. It wasn't a chip-shot field goal attempt for the former Auburn star, but it was of the makable variety from 41 yards. Santa Clara is not an easy place to kick, especially in the rain, but come on!

Green Bay should be proud of what the team accomplished in the second half of the year. Love proved us all wrong in that he is indeed a franchise quarterback. The Packers may have won the game if old reliable Mason Crosby was still tasked with splitting the uprights for them. If Carlson is half as good as his older brother Daniel is for the Las Vegas Raiders, the Packers are in great shape.

Here is LaFleur deflecting blame from his rookie kicker Carlson. This is what a good head coach does.

"There was plenty of opps... We had three possessions inside the red zone in the first half and had six points. That [missed kick] absolutely hurt us, but there were so many opportunities throughout the course of the game where we had opps to make plays and for whatever reason we didn't come away with making those plays."

Green Bay lost this game mostly because of turnovers and missed opportunities in the red zone.

Matt LaFleur smartly defends Green Bay Packers rookie kicker after loss

At this point, nobody in the league is a rookie anymore. It is not like Carlson didn't play in a bunch of big games during his college career at SEC blue-blood Auburn. While the stakes are different in the postseason than in most other games, you never want to put the game in the hands of a kicker. San Francisco did not look like a Super Bowl-winning team on Saturday night, but they just might be one.

Right now, Green Bay is in far better shape than two of its division-rival teams. The Minnesota Vikings are probably heading toward a rebuild, while the Chicago Bears feel like they are a year away from being a year away. As far as the Detroit Lions are concerned, they are fresh off their first playoff victory in a generation. Their Super Bowl window is wide-open, so let's freaking go, man. Get it done!

What I like about LaFleur defending his kicker this emphatically post-game is that he fully understands the kind of pressure career specialists have to work under. In time, there may come a point where LaFleur will have to call upon Carlson to make a big kick in a big moment to deliver the Packers a much-needed victory. It may not have happened on Saturday, but that day may be coming.

The most important thing the Packers needed to find out this year did happen: Love can really play.