The Green Bay Packers got off to a terrible start against the Philadelphia Eagles, and things never really got better. One special teams error set the tone for the eventual playoff loss, and Green Bay’s season is over.
It wasn’t entirely special teams’ fault. The offense struggled in familiar ways we saw all season, even before the Grim Reaper collected his toll of injured players. But the portent of a dire future at the hands of the maligned third phase was apparent last week.
While pondering the orb (the television), I foresaw an omen. After roughly half a season of competence, the Packers backslid with three terrible special teams plays in a row, including giving up a return TD.
I posed the question: “Is this a blip on the radar or a sign of regression?”
Dear readers, unfortunately, it was the latter.
While no phase of the game was mistake-free in Philadelphia, special teams set the tone for a day of misery by putting the team in a hole they’d never escape from only seven seconds into the game.
We’re fresh into Green Bay’s offseason, and emotions are running high. While the bowels of hell (read: Packers Twitter) call for a complete overhaul of the team by firing everyone, I resist the siren’s call to give into this despair. Yet, there is one ultimately fair position to question.
Should this latest postseason special teams failure signal the end of the Rich Bisaccia era?
The Eagles are a 14-win team that Green Bay lost to 34-29 in Week 1 on a sloppy neutral field that led to a Jordan Love injury. Considering the Packers fell just short of victory in that tilt and that quarterback Jalen Hurts could be rusty after missing multiple games in concussion protocol, it was fair to believe the Packers could pull off the upset.
Keisean Nixon dashed those hopes on the game’s first play, returning the opening kickoff when he probably shouldn’t have and not holding on to the ball. In football, this is generally not ideal. Realistically, the ball should have stayed with the Packers because it looked like Nixon recovered his fumble. But, to the horror of the “the Packers get all the calls” crowd, the refs awarded the ball to Philadelphia.
Philly was on the board moments later, a brutal blow to the vibes and momentum of the visiting team.
The next time the Packers went to return a kick, a holding penalty brought the ball backward, putting the offense in a not-wonderful starting position.
The defense kept the team alive while the offense floundered. Jayden Reed showed some life on a punt return, giving the Packers their best scoring opportunity of the first half. The offense then got in position for a 38-yard field goal attempt, which could have put the Packers on the board.
Surely Brandon McManus, a bright spot on the team, would deliver?
We know where I’m going with this.
One special teams error led to seven early points for the Eagles. Another kept three points away from the Packers. It didn’t matter as much as in other losses this season, but it set the stage for a rough day at the football store.
Unfortunately, special teams playing a part in a postseason loss is common for the Packers. Again, it’s not like LaFleur’s offense did much to help. Eventually, so many injuries piled up that it was hard to see the Packers making a run, even if they somehow won this one.
But you’re paying Bisaccia a lot of money, and special teams is making silly mistakes in the playoffs. Bisaccia is a seasoned and well-respected special teams coordinator. Still, did things really look that different from the Shawn Mennenga or Mo Drayton eras over the past two weeks?
I have not been a “fire everyone” guy in my storied Packers writing tenure. I’ve been a major advocate of Bisaccia’s reign, loving the energy he brings. Bisaccia is a true leader of men. His players consistently speak highly of him and want to play for him.
However, that hasn’t translated to a good special teams unit in Green Bay. Bisaccia earned the assistant head coach title after one season with the Packers, and they improved — but still weren’t great — after that first season. But that’s likely because of his leadership ability rather than his coordinator skills.
Bisaccia was beloved as the Los Angeles Raiders’ interim head coach, even earning Coach Of the Year votes. Still, those special teams units weren’t amazing, peaking at a respectable but not top-of-the-league 11 (in 2021) on Rick Gosselin’s annual rankings.
I could listen to Bisaccia talk for hours. He fascinates me. But the highest-paid special teams coordinator hasn’t turned things around, and it bit the Packers in the booty on Sunday.
Bisaccia’s hire represented a change in philosophy for the Packers. No longer would it be a thrown-together unit of bottom-of-the-roster players. Bisaccia would help scout players specifically to be special teamers, and veterans would play on the we-fense to add a reliable presence. That’s a great philosophy, but it hasn’t worked.
Three years in, and Green Bay still doesn’t have a reliable special teams group. Even their two-time All-Pro returner and Super Bowl-winning kicker played poorly today. Special teams is such a transient group, meaning keeping a core around for a long time is difficult. That means even more pressure falls on the coordinator, and Bisaccia hasn’t held up. I don’t know the right answer, but LaFleur must at least consider a change at coordinator.
