San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick runs for a pivotal first down on third-and-8 with under 2 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of the Packers 23-20 loss. Credit: Mike De Sisti

Green Bay — It started on that snowy, postcard-pretty night 11 years ago when a young, scrambling quarterback by the name of Michael Vick ran the Green Bay Packers silly.

The hated Minnesota Vikings took the measure of the Packers two years later, and then the New York Giants — in their white shirts with the blood-red numerals — took over like they owned the joint in January 2008 and then again in January 2012.

Home turf, where the Packers had been invincible (13-0) in the postseason since their first state playoff game at Milwaukee's State Fair Park in 1939, no longer is meaningful.

Green Bay fell to an unthinkable 3-5 in its last eight playoff games at Lambeau Field on Sunday with a crushing 23-20 defeat at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers.

Trusty veteran Phil Dawson's 33-yard field goal as time expired sent the crowd of 77,525 trudging into the night with the temperature hovering around zero and their team's season extinguished in an NFC wild-card defeat.

"That's all she wrote," nose tackle Ryan Pickett said. "We couldn't get off the field."

This time, it was the blazing feet of Colin Kaepernick, a latter-day Vick but only right-handed, who did the Packers in.

Starting at the 20 with 5 minutes 6 seconds left and needing a field goal to win, Kaepernick led the visitors from the West Coast to five successive first downs when even one misstep would have given Aaron Rodgers a final shot at glory.

The 49ers converted on third and 10, third and 8 and third and 3, beating the Packers in the postseason for the second year in a row and for the fourth time in 16 months overall.

San Francisco (13-4), the No. 5-seeded team in the NFC field, will play at No. 2 Carolina (12-4) Sunday in the divisional round. Green Bay, seeded fourth, had to be satisfied with a .500 finish at 8-8-1.

"This is what playoff football is all about," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said in wrapping up his eighth season. "We've been playing these kinds of games here the last month. The confidence never wavered. Unfortunately, we were one play away from getting it done today."

It would be easy to parcel out most of the blame to the defense. After all, Micah Hyde dropped an interception on the third play of the 49ers' march to victory, and none of his defensive teammates came through in the clutch, either.

But the offense, with a minuscule injury list compared to the beleaguered defense, was mediocre as well.

Rodgers, in his second game back after missing two months with a broken collarbone, was outplayed by Kaepernick for the third consecutive time. He managed just 188 yards of total offense and, compared with Kaepernick's 325, there was a telling 137-yard differential.

"True winners rise to the occasion," 49ers tight end Vernon Davis said. "When no one is open, (Kaepernick) is going to step up in the pocket and make a play. He will do everything that he possibly can to get yards."

Whereas Kaepernick, 26, started quickly and led the 49ers to a pair of first-quarter field goals, the 30-year-old Rodgers didn't complete a pass in the opening three possessions that resulted in 6 total yards and three punts.

In the first quarter, Rodgers was indecisive in the pocket, held the ball and was sacked twice. In the third quarter, Rodgers also held ball too long for a third sack before going down on the next play as he tried to escape the pocket despite only moderate pressure.

"On a couple (sacks) it seemed like we were blocking forever," guard T.J. Lang said. "We knew we'd have to extend some plays because of how good their defense is. They threw our timing off on a few of those plays. Don't know what was going on downfield."

In the fourth quarter, Rodgers completed two brilliant passes to Randall Cobb for gains of 26 and 25 yards, eluding dead-to-rights sacks by defensive end Ray McDonald and nickel back Perrish Cox.

The first completion set up John Kuhn's 1-yard touchdown run, giving the Packers their largest lead at 17-13.

The second completion gave the offense a first down at the 9.

From there, McCarthy inserted Cobb at running back, but his carry off left tackle was stuffed by linebacker NaVorro Bowman for a gain of 1. On the next two plays, Rodgers couldn't find an open receiver against a 49ers secondary minus cornerback Carlos Rogers (hamstring) and the Packers settled for Mason Crosby's tying 24-yard field goal.

"We didn't get enough mileage out of our action-passing game," said McCarthy. "We had some primary throws in those situations that we just didn't get done. We knew that we needed to score more than 20 points."

San Francisco defensive coordinator Vic Fangio played his safeties deep the entire game, daring McCarthy to beat him with Eddie Lacy and James Starks.

The Packers did rush for 124 yards, but it wasn't enough to force Fangio's hand and open up the deep passing lanes against his vulnerable cornerbacks.

Green Bay's defense lost cornerback Sam Shields (knee) on its second snap, and linebacker Mike Neal (knee) a few plays later. Neither returned, and for a platoon already missing Clay Matthews and Johnny Jolly it was an unfortunate stroke of bad luck.

But Davon House played one of his finest games in place of Shields, covering tightly many times with no safety help, and Nick Perry sucked it up on a bad foot and went the distance for Neal.

So with the freezing fans at full throat, Kaepernick set out to win the game for the defending NFC champions. On the third play, he threw left for Anquan Boldin. Hyde fell underneath the route at the 34 but dropped the pass.

"I don't think I'd ever drop it again," said Hyde. "I had the flat. I was reading the quarterback and he threw it my way. Just dropped it. I've got to make that play."

Capers rushed four on the next play, a third-and-10 against zone coverage with the Packers' in their 4-1 defense. Michael Crabtree found space near dime back Jarrett Bush and speared the football for 17.

"I saw Crabtree kind of sitting and I kept floating, floating," Bush said. "I saw the ball come out and broke and just made the tackle. I was trying to get off the field."

Frank Gore slipped away from Brad Jones on a check-down for 11 and a first down at the Green Bay 40. Two minutes remained.

"That last drive, I just knew we were going to get off and give our offense the ball with time left," B.J. Raji said. "We believe we're going to win. That's why we've had so much success here."

Finally, it reached third and 8. This time, Capers decided to take matters into his own hands, sending a six-man blitz with A.J. Hawk attacking the middle and Bush firing hard off the slot to Kaepernick's blind side against Gore.

Bush's job is two-fold: harass if not sack Kaepernick, and not permit him to scramble around his end.

Kaepernick pump-faked to Crabtree and, as Bush was leaping high to bat the pass, pulled the ball down and sprinted for 11 yards.

"My job is the back," said Bush. "I saw him getting ready to throw it and so I got my hands up.

"It was a short drop, and he pulled it down and made a play. At the end of the day, that's what it's all about."

Of Kaepernick, Raji said: "He's a great player for what they do. He played well. He made the plays when he had to make them. That's how you're kind of defined as a player at that position."

Still, the 49ers were only at the 27, meaning it would be a treacherous 45-yard attempt for Dawson.

Then the Packers' run defense, a stubborn group all night, gave in despite having nine and even 10 players milling around in the box.

Limited to 66 yards (long gain of 10) in 20 carries, Gore made Dawson's chore easier by chewing out 12 yards in four straight rushes.

Then, just like that, a season was over.

"It's like a knife in the heart," said Raji. "Dom called a heck of a game. I'm sorry we weren't able to execute."

In some ways, this game played out exactly true to form. The 49ers, three-point favorites, won by three points.

The Packers lost despite not turning the ball over one time. They were adequate all night long, and adequate doesn't win in the playoffs.

Special wins in moments like this ... special like Colin Kaepernick.