The Green Bay Packers lost to the Atlanta Falcons and a big reason why is because the team shot itself in the foot on multiple occasions.

It looked like the Packers were about to cruise to 2-0 after going up 24-12 with :56 left in the third quarter, but poor execution kept the team from staying undefeated heading into Week 3.

"Obviously [I'm] very disappointed when you have a 12-point lead in the second half and you don't make the plays and don't play complementary football and then you have mistakes, all those get magnified," Packers head coach Matt LaFleur told reporters after the game. "And so [I'm] disappointed. You got to give credit to Atlanta they battled and did a better job than us obviously."

The mistakes came as early as the Packers' first drive. The offense received a huge break when Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell was called for defensive pass interference on the first play of the game. It was a 44-yard flag that set Jordan Love and co. up with a 1st and 10 at the Atlanta 31. Things quickly went awry, however, as Rasheed Walker was flagged for a false start on a 3rd and 7 just two plays later. The offense couldn't convert the ensuing 3rd and 12, so rookie Anders Carlson trotted out to attempt a 51-yard field goal.

That never happened, because a delay of game penalty was called. Instead of attempting the 56-yarder, the Packers punted.

"I mean that was a silly penalty," said LaFleur. "We can't have that. Those are penalties that get you beat and obviously, when we lose a game by one point, that's one of the critical points of the game."

Things really went off the handles after the Packers went up by double-digits, however. The offense couldn't get anything going and looked discombobulated and out-of-synch. It certainly didn't look like the same unit that racked up 14 points and 143 net yards on two drives in the third quarter.

One of the strangest moments occurred when the Packers faced a 4th and inches from their own 34. It looked like they were going to go for it, but then a miscommunication between Love and the offensive line created another false start that forced the offense into a 4th and 5. And, just like the earlier field goal debacle, the team had to punt the ball away. 

Except after that time, the Packers never touched the ball again. 

So what happened? Both LaFleur and Love had different perspectives on the situation when they spoke after the game.

"I mean, if he thought he could get it on the sneak, then it's on him to to check to it. I think he did. And nobody heard him," said LaFleur. "I mean, it was loud. And you know, it's an unfortunate situation. But yeah, we were definitely going to call time out there and and go for it."

Love, on the other hand, fell on the sword.

"I just messed up the operation with the cadence on that one," said Love. "And so not everybody got the call to get the sneak. So I just missed that operation up, right there.

"I said the wrong thing. So it's pretty much not a play until I give the live word, pretty much. I gave the wrong live word on that one."

It was a big mistake and Love showed tremendous leadership owning up to it. Sure, it's not going to reverse time and give the Packers another shot at winning the game. However, the ability to own up to mistakes and move on allows room for growth and improvement. That's more important than anything after a tough loss – you want to grow from it, not force yourself into a tailspin.

And that's what Love and co. plan to do: grow, not shrink.

"It's definitely something we expect to get right," said Love. "We had a chance to win that game and I think we hurt ourselves, more than anything. So we lost it for ourselves, but it's definitely something we expect to execute in those situations, you know, up 12 points. We expect to come away with win, and we've got to find a way to to get that one."

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Featured image via Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports