When Matt LaFleur took three points off the board on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis, the goal was clear: he wanted his Green Bay Packers to go score a touchdown and take a commanding two-possession lead over the Minnesota Vikings.
Instead, wiping out a field goal meant his offense needed convert a 4th-and-1 to keep the drive alive, which they didn’t do, and from that point on the whole team fell apart.
There’s a process vs. results aspect to the analysis of this decision. If Love picks up the yard
he needed on a quarterback sneak and the Packers go punch the ball into the end zone, we might be having a different discussion. Then again, the Vikings’ blitz might have gotten to Love later on that drive and forced a turnover — like they did on the Packers’ next two possessions — making the whole thing moot.
Ultimately, another blown double-digit second-half lead will only further inflame the discourse around LaFleur and whether he’s the right coach to lead the Packers in the future. Unfortunately for those who believe otherwise, he just signed a new contract extension in January. In all likelihood, he’s not going anywhere; at least not unless the Packers completely bottom out this season.
Still, this collapse came about in a rather different way than those of the last few years. It wasn’t just the offense stalling out and the defense hemorrhaging yards on long drives; instead, the defense was put in terrible positions all second half, first by a long kickoff return, then by garbage penalties, then by multiple turnovers by an offense that looked like it couldn’t block a Pop Warner squad. To that end, three of the Vikings’ last four touchdown drives saw them take over inside the Packers’ 30, with two inside the 15 and one at the one-yard line.
The way the collapse happened raises new questions, and yet the same old questions will swirl around LaFleur until this team figures out how to close.
Rapid reaction: It’s up to the Packers to change the narrative | Packers.comOne of LaFleur’s common lines after the game yesterday was “You’ve got to answer.” Hopefully that’s directed at himself and his offensive staff as much as his players, as the coaches had no answer for a Vikings pass rush that finally opened the floodgates in the second half.
Offensive line struggles continue to haunt Green Bay Packers offense | Packersnews.com
That said, this team has enormous questions at guard, and it was rapidly clear on Sunday that Donovan Jennings and Jacob Monk were in over their heads.
In Search for Finishing Touch, LaFleur’s Aggressive Approach Finishes Packers | SI.com
Your mileage may vary on how much blame you put on the decision to eschew points in favor of a 4th down attempt. Personally, I don’t know that the final result would have actually changed whether they took the points or if they had converted on Love’s sneak attempt.
Packers lost to Vikings in a uniquely terrible way to open season | Packers WireIsn’t it great to make history right out of the gate? Apparently this was the first time in NFL history that a team led by 12 or more points with 20 minutes to go and ended up losing by at least 17.
LISTEN: The Repack, Week 1 — Here We Go Again | Frozen Tundra FrequenciesNormally, there’s a silver lining to a loss. It sure is tough to find one coming out of this game, though, but at least one APC commenter is trying:
Snoop Dogg wants to pay someone US$10K a month to taste ice cream | Globalnews.ca
Sure, why not. Nothing they can make you try will be worse than the taste in Packers fans’ mouths after that game.
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