The Green Bay Packers’ pass rush unit has been one of the most productive in the NFL so far this season in pressuring quarterbacks. Through five games, new arrival Micah Parsons leads the NFL in pressures per game (according to at least one source), and Rashan Gary is operating at nearly a sack-per-game pace.
But while Gary’s sack production has tipped upward, the team has not recorded as many sacks as one would expect with their pressure rate. Some of that is due to facing quarterbacks who get the ball
out quickly — including Joe Flacco twice in three games — but there’s another factor in play.
Simply put, officials are rarely throwing flags for holding on opposing offensive lines, and the Packers are getting sick of it.
That finally came to a head this week during player media availability. Parsons sounded off on his frustration with the officials, which surely his teammates and coaches share. He joked about drawing a fine for his comments, but between that and Matt LaFleur saying that he plans to talk to the referees before Sunday’s game in Arizona about watching out for it, there’s certainly an awareness throughout the organization that calls are being missed.
This week’s game might be when the dam breaks. The officiating crew for Sunday’s game has thrown a ton of flags this season, more than any other crew in the NFL. Alex Moore’s crew has seen 12 teams through six games, and they have called 7 or more penalties on 10 out of those 12 teams. Seven of them have been flagged 10 times or more!
All that is to say that if there’s ever a time for holding calls to start showing up, it’s this Sunday. So hopefully the Packers won’t have to complain about a bunch of missed calls after this week’s game, at least.
Packers’ Micah Parsons calls out one-sided officiating, tush push | ESPN
Frankly, it’s hard to argue with him on this when you watch the film and see how blatantly teams are wrapping Parsons up.
Packers QB Jordan Love has been on a run with his feet this season | Packers.com
Love is running more this year than ever before, averaging 4 attempts and 17.6 yards per game. His previous high for a season, in 2023, was 2.9 attempts and 14.5 yards per game.
Why Jordan Love’s Going to Rookie Matthew Golden in Key Moments for Packers | SI.com
It’s pretty simple for Love: Golden has been working really hard in practice and he knows the playbook really well already. Beyond that, though, he’s catching the ball cleanly and making some great adjustments in-game and mid-play, and that goes a long way as well.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur warns against overlooking 2-4 Cardinals | Packers Wire
Well, yeah. The Packers didn’t focus on the Browns the way they should have and they’re 3-1-1 instead of being 4-0-1. More specifically, though, every Cardinals game has been decided by 5 points or less, but they won their first two and lost their last four, with those losses coming by a combined 9 points.
Bengals’ Joe Flacco shines in battle for the ages vs. Aaron Rodgers, Steelers: ‘This is what we do it for’ | NFL.com
Meanwhile, the Packers’ 9-point win over the Bengals looks a bit better after Cincinnati upset the Steelers on Thursday Night. Though that will probably make a certain quarterback more angry and fired up to face his old team next Sunday.
Smucker sues Trader Joe’s, saying its new PB&J sandwiches are too similar to Uncrustables | AP
At issue here is that the marketing materials are allegedly too similar to Smucker’s. So at least they’re not trying to take away the competition entirely — after all, NFL teams apparently need all the frozen crustless PB&J sandwiches that they can get their hands on.
