Nobody apologizes for wins in the NFL, no matter how the job gets done. And it’s true that winning can mask a lot of issues.
That isn’t the case for the Green Bay Packers, who won on Sunday but keep making the same mistakes. They entered the game leading the league in penalties and penalty yards, and even in victory racked up 10 more penalties for 68 yards.
The controllable ones are the most frustrating. False starts bedeviled them again. Head coach Matt LaFleur talked about constantly being behind the chains after the game.
“We were in first-and-20 quite a bit, and that’s not winning football,” LaFleur said. “There were some positive things, but we’re never going to be satisfied with scoring 17 points in a game. It’s not to our standard.”
There’s no doubt that when Week 4 officially comes to a close on Monday night, the Packers will still lead the league in penalties and penalty yards.
On top of that, the Packers keep turning the ball over at the most inopportune times. There’s never a good time to turn the ball over, but some giveaways are worse than others.
While there weren’t any back-breaking ones on Sunday, even though the Packers eked out a win, two came pretty damn close.
With Green Bay leading 17-14 in the fourth quarter and looking for a knockout punch, running back Kaleb Johnson fumbled at Tampa Bay’s three-yard line with nine minutes to go. Instead of going up two scores, the Bucs took back control, trailing by only three.
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Jonathan Gannon’s defense stood tall and forced a punt on the ensuing drive, and the Packers marched right back down the field. However, a false start moved the ball from Tampa Bay’s 21-yard line to the 26. On a first-and-15, quarterback Jordan Love was late on a read to wide receiver Matthew Golden and threw an interception. Yet again, the Bucs were given a Get-out-of-Jail-Free card in a game that should have been all but over.
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“We have to find ways when we have opportunities in the red area to convert,” LaFleur said. “We can’t be turning the ball over, can’t have penalties. … We have to clean up a lot of stuff.”
Love explained afterward that he was late going through his progressions.
“I was late on the read,” he said. “I can’t make a mistake in that area. We’re in scoring position and can’t turn the ball over right there, plain and simple.”
Finally, clock management became an issue again.
In the first half, the Packers ripped through a pair of timeouts that a more organized group wouldn’t have needed to burn. Green Bay’s usage of their final timeout was also perplexing.
With 29 seconds left, Love completed a one-yard pass to running back MarShawn Lloyd to get to Tampa’s 40-yard line. Instead of using the last timeout with more than 20 seconds left and a third down coming up, LaFleur let the clock melt away to two seconds before signaling for the timeout. Out trotted rookie kicker Trey Smack, who, thankfully, benefited from a timeout decision himself.
Smack missed the 58-yard attempt, but Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles used a timeout of his own to ice him. On the second go around, the one that mattered, Smack piped the 58-yard attempt to put the Packers up 10-7 at halftime.
Still, why did LaFleur let the clock trickle away instead of trying to get a closer look for Smack, rather than relying on the kicker from 58 yards? It worked out in the end, but that doesn’t mean it was the right process.
Green Bay should feel fortunate they were facing the Buccaneers. The same effort from the Packers wouldn’t have been enough for 20 or so other teams in the league. This win doesn’t mask the ongoing issues.