QB Love says Packers’ playoff loss to 49ers provides more motivation as they prepare to meet again

AP Sports Writer

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love doesn’t hide the fact that the playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers lingered with him throughout the offseason.

Love can gain some measure of revenge Sunday when these two teams face off for the first time since the Packers squandered a fourth-quarter lead and fell 24-21 to the 49ers in last season’s NFC divisional round.

“That’s what you’ve got to kind of just sit with all offseason, is going back, watching that game, trying to see what you could have done better, could have done differently in that game,” Love said Wednesday. “It definitely sits with you through the offseason, and obviously you move on. Just knowing that that’s the team that knocked us out, we’re definitely hungry for this game.”

Love threw two third-quarter touchdown passes to continue his sizzling late-season run as Green Bay carried a 21-14 lead in the final quarter. Those two scoring strikes to Bo Melton and Tucker Kraft followed a nine-game stretch in which Love had thrown 21 touchdown passes with only one interception.

But with the Packers facing third-and-11 from their 48 later in the third quarter, Dre Greenlaw picked off Love’s pass intended for Kraft. The 49ers kicked a field goal on their ensuing possession to cut Green Bay’s lead to 21-17.

And after Christian McCaffrey’s 6-yard touchdown run put the 49ers ahead for good with 1:07 left, Love rolled right and threw a wild pass across his body that Greenlaw also intercepted to seal the Packers’ fate.

Love said he watched the game about three times during the offseason to see what went wrong, tough he noted that he didn’t necessarily view it any more times than he had other Packers games from last season.

“No matter who it was, you’re going to sit and reflect on what you could have done better to get over that hump,” Love said.

The stakes aren’t quite the same Sunday at Lambeau Field, but the game still has plenty of meaning for both teams.

San Francisco (5-5) is trying to work its way back into the playoff picture and bounce back from a 20-17 home loss to Seattle. The 49ers are in a three-way tie for second place and a game behind Arizona in the NFC West.

The Packers (7-3) want to maintain their playoff position while trying to work their way up in the NFC North standings, where they’re currently in third place and two games behind Detroit. They should benefit down the stretch from a healthier Love.

Love missed two games in September with an injured left medial collateral ligament and sat out most of the second half of an Oct. 27 victory at Jacksonville with a groin strain, but he’s feeling better now. That was evident Sunday as he showed plenty of mobility while going 13 of 17 for 261 yards with one touchdown pass, one touchdown run and an interception in a 20-19 triumph at Chicago.

Love said Wednesday he felt as comfortable moving around in the Bears game as he has since the first week of the season. Love’s knee injury happened during Green Bay’s final series of a season-opening 34-29 loss to Philadelphia.

That could prove critical if Sunday’s game again comes down to a drive in the final minute. If that happens, perhaps Love’s offseason viewings of the Packers’ playoff loss will pay off for him.

“The main takeaway is it sucks losing, obviously getting knocked out of the playoffs,” Love said. “There’s going to be things that we see, I think, plays that we’ll see, things that they did on defense that gave us fits and things that we did well. So just building on that for this week.”

NOTES: CB Jaire Alexander (knee) didn’t practice Wednesday after missing the second half of the Bears game. … RB MarShawn Lloyd went on the reserve/non-football illness list. Lloyd was activated from injured reserve Monday after dealing with an ankle issue that has kept him out since a Sept. 15 victory over Indianapolis. Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Friday that Lloyd had appendicitis. … WR Alex McGough was signed to the practice squad.

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