Charles Woodson had the perfect explanation for what went wrong with the Green Bay Packers' defense against San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
"We couldn't stop him," Woodson said after Saturday's divisional playoff loss, via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "He continued to hurt us running the ball and he made some big throws."
Yup. That pretty much sums it up.
Kaepernick threw for 263 yards, and his 181 rushing yards were the most ever by a quarterback in any NFL game -- regular season or playoffs. He finished with a combined four touchdowns.
"It was just about trying to execute the defense we were in," Woodson said. "That's what it really boils down to. We didn't execute it. If it works, then it works. If it doesn't, then hopefully, or maybe, you make a change.
"Going forward, you have to learn from it. And the next time you're in a situation when you're playing a team like that with a quarterback like that, make them do something different. It is what it is. It happened."
Woodson's remarks leads us to a question many asked: What was Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers' plan? The Packers just didn't seem prepared for the 49ers' version of the read-option or Kaepernick's ability to run. No one seemed responsible for the quarterback in man-to-man, and Kaepernick simply took off.
"We didn't anticipate the quarterback running the way he did," Woodson said. "I guess that was the X-factor."
Why wasn't that anticipated?
That's why Kaepernick is the 49ers' starter -- his running ability makes him more dangerous than Alex Smith. And even if Kaepernick's speed caught the Packers off guard, there was no second-half adjustment. Or fourth-quarter adjustment, for that matter.
Capers deserves criticism, but he shouldn't lose his job, as some fans have suggested. The Packershave won a Super Bowl, gone 15-1 (2011) and won the NFC North twice in the past three seasons.
Woodson admitted a need to learn and adjust going forward because this mold of quarterback -- Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III, Cam Newton, Russell Wilson -- is here to stay.
"It's hard to just continue to do the same thing over and over again and have it continue to burn you," Woodson said. "So that's what I was talking about, going forward, you have to figure out, could we have done something differently as far as our game plan is concerned?"
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
