Jordan Love going down with an injury was no problem for the 2-1 Green Bay Packers. They have performed admirably, going 2-0 with backup Malik Willis. Matt LaFleur, understandably, has been receiving his flowers from local and national media alike and getting buzz as an early Coach Of the Year favorite.
However, for a well-coached team, the Packers have had a surprising number of penalties throughout the beginning of the season. The Packers are the fifth-most penalized team in the NFL (drawing 26 flags), with the third-most net penalty yards going against them (104). It’s undoubtedly a concerning trend.
The Packers need to clean up some simple mental lapses. They had 10 penalties in the game against the Philadelphia Eagles, their only loss this year. One of the most critical was having 12 men on the field during a Jayden Reed touchdown pass.
If they hadn’t taken this penalty, the Packers could have been undefeated and avoided Jordan Love injuring himself on the game’s final play. With this type of penalty, attention to detail and transitioning personnel packages are crucial. If they can clean this up, they could start to take advantage of opponents having 12 men on the field, like Aaron Rodgers used to do.
In response to a general question about the Packers penalty issues through the first three weeks, Matt LaFleur said, “We got to be better with our technique. We’ve had some costly penalties that have shown up in every game. Certainly, it’s going to come back to bite us if we don’t get it cleaned up.”
In some respects, the penalties have already negatively impacted Green Bay’s season.
Additionally, you don’t want to build the reputation of being a team that tends to commit penalties and could draw additional scrutiny from referees. For example, the Packers lead the NFL with nine offensive holding penalties. Specifically, Rasheed Walker has had four offensive holding penalties* and Elgton Jenkins has had two. While concerning, Green Bay’s offensive line still performs admirably in the run and pass games.
In terms of the run game, the Packers ball carriers have generated 127 rush yards over expected on designed runs this season, the most in the NFL, per NFL Pro. In the passing game, Green Bay’s offensive line ranks in the top third of the NFL in pressures allowed.
There is an argument to be made that, with a new primary running back in Josh Jacobs and working with a backup quarterback for two weeks, the offensive line is still learning the tendencies of their teammates in terms of how they run. If that’s the case, there’s a bit of an increased likelihood of holding penalties on certain plays like outside runs for a running back or a quarterback escaping the pocket.
Finally, there’s the issue of the league having a “point of emphasis” for certain penalties each year. This year, NFL officiating is emphasizing illegal formation penalties, a penalty called when there are not enough players on the line of scrimmage or players are not lined up in the correct spot. The Packers have had three such penalties called against them, two of which were on punt plays when primarily defensive players were lined up incorrectly. We’ve seen in past seasons that “point of emphasis” penalties are often called excessively early in the season and then tail off due to teams correcting their technique and officials getting a bit lazier about how often they call penalties.
Overall, Green Bay‘s penalties are concerning. However, my concern level is low, given the Packers’ positive play and other factors like “point of emphasis plays” and the chemistry the players are building. But that will be a different story if we still see the same level of penalties from October onward.
*Rasheed Walker’s representation reached out Thursday, saying that he is actively working with his coaching staff to refine his technique to positively impact the team.
