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For all the battles the 49ers and Packers have waged over the last few years, none of them came down to just a matter of inches the way Sunday's NFC wild card playoff game did.
Phil Dawson's last-second field goal literally flew threw the arms of an outstreched Packers defender, and eventually through the uprights. If either of that player's arms were an inch or two closer together, the kick would at least have been tipped, and possibly diverted from the destination that would end the Packers' season.
Instead, San Francisco escaped for a game at Carolina in the divisionals, and Green Bay's season ends with a loss to the 49ers for the second consecutive year.
San Francisco, the defending NFC champion, played an outstanding all-around game in what was without question the best-played game of a sloppy weekend of playoff football. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick threw for 227 yards and rushed for another 98, helping make up for a less-than-stellar completions game (16-for-30) along with an interception. Aaron Rodgers, playing his second game since missing seven straight with a broken collarbone, was 17-for-26 for 177 yards and a touchdown.
