After a 2-0 start, the Green Bay Packers looked like the cream of the crop in the NFC. It was apparent that they may have let that thought creep into their minds as well, per Rasheed Walker’s quote.
Two weeks later, it’s time for a reality check as Green Bay enters their bye week.
It all starts with figuring out how to get out of their own way.
Green Bay’s first drive on Sunday night was a masterpiece. It lasted eight plays and went 69 yards. Besides a false start penalty on right guard Sean Rhyan, it was flawless.
However, the second drive came unglued after a hot start due to a holding call on Jordan Morgan. It’s become an unfortunate theme.
Two stats stick out for the Packers. They are tied for the third-highest number of penalties per game at 8.8. And the trend is worsening.
Green Bay was tagged for four penalties in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions. In Week 2, that bumped up to 10 penalties. Against the Cleveland Browns in Week 3, the number ballooned to 14 —a truly outrageous total. In Jerry World on Sunday night, it was back down to seven, which still isn’t great by any stretch, but it feels like a whale of an accomplishment for this team.
Among the most frustrating ones are the pre-snap penalties. Outside of Minnesota, no team in the NFL has more pre-snap penalties than Green Bay.
Remember the kick the Browns knocked through as time expired to beat the Packers in Week 3? Had it missed, Cleveland would’ve had another crack at it. Why? Green Bay was lined up offside at the snap; it was a key pre-snap penalty that just happened not to go on the books.
Perhaps what’s most concerning is that these penalties aren’t coming from just one party.
Elgton Jenkins had a false start against Dallas. As did Rhyan. So did Darian Kinnard.
Penalties happen. Every team gets them. Still, pre-snap penalties are harder to justify, and Green Bay is second in the NFL in that department.
Nobody has been exempt. Even Micah Parsons was flagged twice against the Browns in Week 3 for lining up offside.
It continues to be a head-scratcher for Green Bay, and LaFleur is aware of it. After Week 2 he said the Packers had have far too many penalties. It’s an understatement.
Drawing fewer flags isn’t the only area of their game the Packers need to clean up, and this time it is more reliant on a single player.
Jordan Love‘s interception against the Browns in Week 3 was perhaps the turning point of the game. Green Bay was leading, 10-3, with a shade more than three minutes left in the game. Cleveland’s offense to that point had been lifeless. If Love doesn’t throw that interception, it’s fair to believe the Packers win that game.
On Sunday night, with the Packers leading 13-9 late in the first half, Love was strip-sacked with 21 seconds left until halftime. Dallas turned around and scored on one play to go up 16-13 at the break.
Prior to the turnover, the worst-case scenario is leading 13-9 at halftime. A Kinnard false start (more pre-snap penalties!) moved the Packers back five yards and set up a first-and-15 from their own 32-yard line.
We can appreciate a team staying aggressive. Lord knows the Packers could’ve used that mindset at the end of overtime instead of at the end of the first half. By all means, keep your foot on the gas — but you still have to be a little strategic about it. You can’t give up the back-breaking turnovers like Green Bay has in consecutive weeks.
If that strip sack doesn’t happen, who knows what the final score reads? If the pick against the Browns doesn’t happen, the Packers probably win.
Those massive mistakes create narratives, and rightfully so. You can credit the defense for making plays in both instances if you want, but a lot of this hinges on Green Bay’s inability to get out of its own way.
Green Bay dominated Detroit and Washington to start the year 2-0. They weren’t able to replicate that against the Browns yet. Had the Packers not shot themselves in the foot repeatedly, they probably would have won that game. The same can be said for the game against Dallas.
When you have 14 penalties in a game, that’s going to be tough to overcome that. We have to do a much better job coaching the fundamentals, the details, and we have to lock in at a high level in regards to the controllable penalties.
That’s what LaFleur said after the loss to the Browns. A week later, it was slightly better, but still not successful by any stretch of the imagination.
Sorting out these concerning trends, in particular the pre-snap penalties, must be a top priority during the bye week if the Packers hope to play the rest of the season like the team we saw in the first two weeks, not the one we saw in the last two.
