Matt LaFleur defends questionable decision that backfired in Packers’ loss to Vikings with an explanation that raises eyebrows
Green Bay accepted a facemask penalty on third down in the first quarter, and Minnesota turned that extra opportunity into a touchdown at Lambeau Field.
The Green Bay Packers fell 30-10 to the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field, and one first-quarter decision from Packers head coach Matt LaFleur shaped the rest of the game. The call was a questionable process from the jump and turned out to have a costly result.
The Vikings faced third-and-8 near the Packers’ redzone. Evan Williams pressured quarterback Kirk Cousins and forced an incompletion, but the officials flagged Minnesota for facemask on Williams. Green Bay surprisingly accepted the penalty instead of declining it, which would have forced the Vikings to settle for a field goal attempt.
Accepting the penalty pushed Minnesota back to third-and-23. On the very next play, Cousins found wide receiver Myles Price for a 38-yard touchdown.
Bad outcome, questionable process
The difference between outcome and process matters here. The outcome was terrible, but the decision would have been hard to defend even if the defense had gotten off the field.
Even with a stop for no gain on third-and-23, the Vikings would still have had a 56-yard field goal attempt. That is a much harder kick, for sure. But Will Reichard has been a very solid kicker for Minnesota, and he has been excellent this season. Reichard would probably make a 56-yarder anyway, so the extra 15 yards wouldn’t take points off the board in the most likely scenario.
Accepting the penalty also gave the Vikings another offensive play. That one could have produced a defensive penalty and an automatic first down, or a big gain like the one that actually happened. Green Bay took on all of that risk to push a field goal back by 15 yards, and that trade was probably not worth it.
LaFleur stood by the call. His frustration was with the defense’s execution on the next snap, though.
“You have to consider the field position,” LaFleur explained. “If it had been a five- or 10-yard penalty, we probably would have declined it. But a 15-yard penalty would have made it a 56-yard field goal. So I think you have to roll the dice. That was certainly a pivotal play in the game. We can’t give up on a conversion on third-and-23. The odds of that happening are low and they made us pay.”
LaFleur is right that a defense should not allow a conversion on third-and-23. But his logic depends on a 56-yard attempt being meaningfully less likely to succeed. With a kicker performing like Reichard, that assumption is questionable at best.
A costly hole in the division
The touchdown gave the Vikings a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, and the Packers never recovered. Green Bay responded in the third quarter with 10 consecutive points, but it was too little, too late.
Minnesota improved to 7-2, just like the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions are. The Packers dropped to 6-4, and that winning record still leaves them in last place in the division. Green Bay is now 1-3 against NFC North opponents, including two losses to the Vikings. Because of that, the Packers’ chances of winning the division are essentially zero.
Green Bay’s realistic goal is now another wild card spot, and the loss leaves the team in a much worse position in that race too.
An unusual stretch ahead
The schedule gets strange from here. The Packers have their official bye in Week 11. They return for a Thanksgiving Eve game on Wednesday, Nov. 25, and then they get another mini-bye before facing the New Orleans Saints on Dec. 6.
“We have seven more guaranteed games, and it’s one week at a time,” LaFleur added. “It’s staying together. It’s trying to learn. Obviously, I think there’s a lot to learn from this game when you get whooped like that. And you got to regroup and stay together.”
Green Bay plays two consecutive road games first, and then four of its final five games come at Lambeau Field. That home-heavy finish gives the Packers a real chance to climb back into the wild card race. However, they can’t afford many more decisions and execution mistakes like the ones that opened the door for Minnesota.
