Packers can’t capitalize on turnover opportunities vs. Falcons
By Paul Bretl
Every week, Matt LaFleur says that a goal for the Green Bay Packers is to go 2-0 in the turnover battle. Had the Packers been able to fully capitalize on the turnover opportunities that the Atlanta Falcons provided them, the outcome of this game might have been different.
Despite the loss, Green Bay still won the turnover battle 1-0 over the Falcons, which typically bodes well for a LaFleur led team. However, it very well could have been 3-0.
The first missed turnover opportunity came about halfway through the second quarter. The Falcons were going for it on fourth-and-four from the Green Bay 41-yard line, and quarterback Desmond Ridder threw a pass intended for Drake London that went right off Jaire Alexander’s hands. Had Alexander made the play, it very well could have gone for a touchdown with a lot of open field in front of him.
"I’m kicking myself for the next day or two,” Alexander said via The Athletic.“I always wanna be perfect, and I always wanna be the best and I didn’t display that today, so yep, a little frustrated,” Alexander said. “Nobody’s perfect.”"
The second dropped interception was by Quay Walker. With the Falcons facing third-and-15 from their own 20-yard line, Ridder tried to fit the ball into a tight window over the middle and threw it right to Walker. Had Walker made that play, the Packers would have started their drive in field goal range and near the red zone.
Even on the turnover opportunity that the defense did capitalize on, the offense then failed to do anything with it. On Atlanta’s first possession of the game, Rasul Douglas intercepted Ridder, giving the Packers the ball at their own 40-yard line. The offense, however, would go three-and-out, giving the ball right back to the Falcons.
"“You can look at everything,” said LaFleur, “and it gets magnified when you lose a game by one possession, one point. We shot ourselves in the foot in too many key, critical situations. You can’t do that if you want to play winning football.”"
Given that in each of these instances, the Packers got the ball back right away, the missed interception opportunities didn’t feel massive in their respective moments because they didn’t lead to additional points or even plays for the Falcons offense. However, taking advantage of those gifts from Ridder would have, at the very least, given the Green Bay offense some very good starting field position and perhaps put points on the board.
As I wrote prior to the season, it’s going to be vital to Green Bay’s overall success in 2023 that the defense takes advantage of the turnover opportunities that come their way. It gives an inexperienced and, at times, what will be an inconsistent offense additional possessions and improved field position.
We can play the ‘what if’ game all day. Who knows, maybe coming away with one of those interceptions would have been the difference in the game by giving the Packers some additional points and forcing Atlanta to be less reliant on the run game. Or maybe the offense wouldn’t have been able to take advantage of the starting field position, or the Falcons would have been able to overcome the additional deficit anyway, with how poorly the Packers played in the fourth quarter.
Without a crystal ball, we don’t have those answers. But what we do know is that the Packers’ odds of winning would have increased drastically had those plays been made, especially with Green Bay only losing by a point.