This is no coincidence. Everything starts at the beginning.
There's a reason the 49ers and Packers keep finding themselves in situations like this.
After upsetting the Cowboys in the wild-card round, the Packers will face the 49ers, who received a bye as the No. 1 seed, in the divisional round on Saturday night.
These two franchises have a deep playoff history dating back to the heydays of Brett Favre and Steve Young.
Under their current team structure, the 49ers defeated the Packers in the divisional round after the 2021 season and lost in the NFC Championship after the 2019 season.
While the lineup will be very different Saturday, one thing will definitely remain the same: leadership.
The combination of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and president and general manager John Lynch, and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst have been at the helm of the team throughout.
This shows how important finding the right head coach and general manager combination is, even more important than finding a quarterback.
There are many similarities in how both leaders restored their teams to being among the league's elite.
They weren't necessarily the most highly regarded quarterbacks, and both were highly criticized choices, but both found the right quarterback and were gifted.
In both January 2020 and January 2022, Jimmy Garoppolo started at quarterback for the 49ers and Aaron Rodgers started at quarterback for the Packers. Now the team will be reunited with a new quarterback who defies conventional wisdom.
The Packers traded Jordan Love all the way to No. 26 in the 2020 draft, then left him alone for three years before eventually naming him the starter this season, a practice that has largely disappeared across the league. At the time, why couldn't the Packers simply use their draft picks to corral Rodgers with more weapons, especially from Rodgers himself, who was traded to the Jets this offseason? Afterwards, there were many questions about whether Love was ready to replace him. .
But with LaFleur's guidance and Gutekunst's roster around him, Love has grown. He improved his play toward the end, posting 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and a 64.2 completion percentage. He was instrumental in the win over the Cowboys, throwing for 272 yards and three touchdowns, posting a near-perfect passer rating of 157.2.
Would Love's development have gone as smoothly without the full LaFleur/Gutekunst leadership? Love has an exciting group of young receivers, top-end running backs and an elite offensive line, and guidance. He has been helped by his innovative offensive mind as a player.
The 49ers similarly set up quarterback Brock Purdy for success.
Lynch, a former Mr. Irrelevant and the final pick in the draft, provided Purdy with one of the best supporting casts in the NFL, including perhaps the league's best running back, game-changing receivers, and a great offensive line. And like Love, Purdy's development has been guided by Shanahan's innovative offensive spirit.
Lynch and Shanahan's brain trust was able to overcome even the debacle of drafting Trey Lance with the No. 3 pick in 2021. The 49ers didn't give up on that mistake as Lynch and Shanahan found other ways to win.
This dynamic is what makes this offseason so interesting for the Giants and Jets. The leaders of both teams, the Giants' Brian Daboll and Joe Schon, and the Jets' Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas, will return next season.
But how sure is anyone that either team's leaders are long-term keepers?
Daboll and Shane share a close relationship as they came together from the Bills. However, their early performance has been mixed, both on the field and in the draft/free agency.
Under normal circumstances, Saleh and Douglas would have been candidates for release, but they were endorsed by manager Rodgers, meaning owner Woody Johnson endorsed them, meaning they will be reinstated. are doing. To keep Saleh, the Jets are giving up the opportunity to pursue multiple high-level prospects, including Bill Belichick, Mike Vrabel, Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh.
If Love and Purdy started their careers as the Jets' leading duo, how confident are you that they would have been successful? Probably not.
The 49ers overcame the pick on Lance and are now Super Bowl favorites with Purdy. The Jets drafted Zach Wilson one spot ahead of Lance, but their leadership group can't even break above .500.
What’s the point of being a quarterback if you can’t trust the people who develop and support him?
The 49ers and Packers are prime examples. Their MVP is the person in charge.
It all starts with leadership. Nothing is more important than this.
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wink stop
Where will former Giants defensive coordinator Wink Marti-Donale go next?
A better question might be which teams and head coaches would be willing to work with his big personality.
Martindale's tenure with the Giants ended in a bitter parting after two seasons amid reports of discord with Daboll. According to the Post's Paul Schwartz, Martindale, along with his loyal assistants Drew Wilkins and Kevin Wilkins, sometimes undermined Daboll's authority and circumvented the chain of command.
Going back to his time with the Ravens, this is the second consecutive time Martindale, 60, has left the team due to personality conflicts. Martindale had disagreements with Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, and the two parted ways after four years together.
Martindale led the Ravens to the No. 19 scoring defense in the NFL in his final season in 2021, and the team has produced the No. 3 and No. 1 scoring defenses the past two seasons without him.
Now, Martindale will leave the Giants in 2023 as the 26th leading scorer.
Are those results worth the headache he might cause?
Martindale has established himself as a culture changer and a character that players flock to, but how many head coaches want to trust him after falling out with his last two managers? Is there one?
His next team will likely need to be a team looking for a cultural reset.
It could be the Eagles, who collapsed in the second half of the season before being eliminated by the Buccaneers in the wild-card round. The Eagles' late-season switch from defensive playcaller Sean Desai to Matt Patricia was a disaster, and head coach Nick Sirianni will likely need a new defensive coordinator if he wants to keep his job. .
The Eagles' defense, which fell apart late in the season, is in dire need of fresh energy and new ideas, and Martindale would be a strong option to provide that.
The NFC East could present other interesting opportunities for Martindale. Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn could be in the market for a coordinator with a big personality if he is hired as head coach. But head coach Mike McCarthy will be operating as a lame duck after Jerry Jones promised to keep him around until 2024.
The leaders will soon hire a new head coach and will need a new defensive coordinator after that.
The Jaguars' defense struggled during the team's second-half collapse, and defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell and his staff was fired as a result. Does head coach Doug Pederson think Martindale is the answer? Martindale reportedly met with the team this week.
At this point in his career, coaches know exactly who Martindale is. It's a big personality with a clear and blitzing defensive scheme.
They know what they're getting if they hire him. So who will be Martindale's new boss?
Traveling to and from Saudi Arabia
How will Jordan Henderson be welcomed into European football?
The long-time Liverpool midfielder and captain moved to the Saudi Pro League this summer. The professional leagues have lured famous soccer stars with exorbitant annual salary offers, in the same way that Saudi-backed LIV Golf has attracted top players.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar were also among the players who decided to leave.
Henderson is one of the first stars to want to leave.
Henderson has reportedly agreed to terminate his $443,000-a-week contract with his club Al Etifaq within six months. Transfer to Dutch club Ajax officially confirmed. Mr. Henderson will take a significant pay cut in the process.
Henderson, 33, received a lot of criticism for his move to Saudi Arabia. He has long been an outspoken advocate for the LGBT community and was ridiculed for joining a league from a country with poor human rights records.
Henderson's stay in Saudi Arabia proved that while the payday may be nice, a move to a controversial league can be risky. seriously damage a player's personal brand and a public position.
In some cases, the personal costs may outweigh the financial rewards.
What we're reading 👀
🏀 Jalen Brunson (30 points) returned to the lineup, Julius Randle (31) paced the scoring, and the Knicks (24-17, 7-2 under OG Anunoby) held off the Rockets. The paper's Mike Vaccaro documented the hopeful energy inside Madison Square Garden.
⚾ Darryl Strawberry said he was “hoping.”[s] and pray[s]” The Mets re-sign Pete Alonso, and Alonso persists in his bid to break the franchise home run record.
🏀 Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic passed away on Wednesday at the age of 46 after suffering a heart attack during a team dinner the night before. The Warriors-Jazz game has been postponed.
⚾ The Post's Joel Sherman asks: Are the mighty Yankees really going to hang up the “Nobody Believed in Us” card?
⚾ The Yankees' rotation is set by signing Marcus Stroman, but there are questions about their durability and depth beyond the top five.
🏒 Kaapo Kakko doesn't have to try to justify his high draft status and could be exactly what the Rangers need, writes the Post's Larry Brooks.
🏀 The upset Nets (16-24) lost again as the Trail Blazers' Anfernee Simons scored at the buzzer for Mikal Bridges. Will Dejounte Murray help?
🏈 The Jets have been plagued by injuries on the offensive line for years. How can I avoid them?
📻 The Post's Andrew Marchand talks about the departure of WFAN's programming director and why the station remains relevant.
🏀 The Raptors' rebuild after the Pascal Siakam trade went pretty well, says Stephen Bondi of the Post.
🎾 Get to know Alex Michelsen: The next new hope for American men's tennis. Australian Open 3rd round When I was 19 years old.
