A desire to remain aggressive and a chance to give his team a two-score lead drove Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur to take points off the board and go for it on 4th-and-1 in the second half of Sunday's season-opening loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
And LaFleur stands by the decision, even after sleeping on it.
"Yeah, I think so. Just trying to push it to a two-score game. When you're up two scores, that changes the whole complexion of the game," LaFleur said Monday.
The situation: The Vikings jumped offside on Trey Smack's 40-yard field goal with 13:21 left in the fourth quarter, and instead of keeping the three points and extending the lead to eight points at 25-17, LaFleur sent his offense back on the field in attempt to convert 4th-and-1.
But Jordan Love's quarterback sneak attempt was stopped six inches short, and the Packers turned the ball over on downs with the score 22-17.
Had the Packers converted the fourth down and went on to score a touchdown, the lead would have grown to at least 11.
"Typically, we're going to be aggressive and go for it on 4th-and-1. Over our history of doing QB sneaks, we've been pretty successful. Unfortunately it didn't work out."
After the game Sunday, LaFleur called the turnover on downs a "big momentum shift" in second half. The Vikings scored the go-ahead touchdown on the ensuing drive, and the Packers never led again.
"I felt in my heart we could get one yard, and we didn't do it," LaFleur said Sunday.
Ironically, Smack's missed extra point in the first half might have influenced LaFleur's decision. Had Smack converted the extra point, the Packers would have led 23-17 instead of 22-17, and so kicking the field goal in the same situation in the fourth quarter would have extended the lead to nine points, or two scores.
In the end, the three points didn't doom the Packers, who gave up 22 points over the rest of the fourth quarter and lost, 39-22. But the failed sneak was still a turning point play in a game the Packers led for a majority of the first 40 minutes.
In terms of the sneak mechanisms, LaFleur confirmed Tucker Kraft could still run the team's variation of the "Tush Push" sneak despite coming off from last year's knee injury, and the Packers have aspects of a "Tush Push" style play with Love that they could implement into the offense if need be.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers coach Matt LaFleur doesn't regret decision to take points off board vs. Vikings
