The Green Bay Packers may have reached a new low on Monday night. It wasn't just that they scored a season-low seven points or that they couldn't hang with the defending Super Bowl champions, but the way things happened left a bittersweet taste in everybody's mouths.
Once again, Matt LaFleur's predictable and overly-conservative playcalling held the team back over and over. This time, it was so ugly that even star running back Josh Jacobs had to say something about it.
Josh Jacobs Calls Out Matt LaFleur's Playcalling
The Packers had a chance to make a late comeback, and after securing nine yards on first down, they lined up for a quick inside zone play to secure that additional yard. Per Jacobs, the Eagles' defense already knew what was coming because they had already run the same play multiple times. As a result, they stuffed the play for a four-yard loss:
"Fourth-and-1, they called out our play," Jacobs said, per NFL.com. "We ran it like four times, and they called it out… the clock was going down, we kind of snapped it fast, faster than we wanted to and they made a play. I tried to pitch the ball back to Jordan, where the fumble came, but at that point, you're playing backyard football, it's fourth down. So yeah, that's kind of how it went."
Jacobs, who usually takes the high road even in the losses, didn't stop there. He claimed that even he knew that the play wasn't going to work, and while he was still trying to get that extra yard, the Eagles had clearly figured it out:
"As a runner, it don't ever feel good," he admitted. "Never, I mean never when they know what we're doing, it don't feel good because it changes my mind on how I'm going to run the ball. If we're just being honest, it makes me kind of guess what I'm going to do. Obviously, people are smart, if we got code words or whatever, if you hear it a few times, like you're going to eventually react to it. You know, that's football, but it's never a good feeling."
Jacobs Hits On Worrying Matt LaFleur Trend
Playcalling issues on 4th down are nothing new for LaFleur, either. The dropoff in conversion rate in recent years is hard to ignore.
Year | 4th Down Conversion % Rank |
|---|---|
2019 | 8th |
2020 | 9th |
2021 | 9th |
2022 | 27th |
2023 | 16th |
2024 | 23rd |
What's especially worrying about these ranks is that they've been coming while the Packers are a winning team. These numbers aren't skewed by needing to go for challenging 4th-downs while trailing late in games.
The Packers also entered the week with the third-highest rushing rate vs. expectation this season, which adjusts for gameflow. That's despite the offensive line being banged up and underperforming while Jacobs averages the second-fewest yards per carry (3.8) of his career.
The Packers have now dropped consecutive games at home and are 5-3-1 for the season. They had 261 total yards of offense and insisted on trying to establish the run even after losing starting center Elgton Jenkins to an injury. They went 5-for-13 on third down and barely managed to run for 104 yards.
LaFleur's playcalling has been a recurring issue, especially this season. And with a Super Bowl-caliber defense, it'll be hard to justify keeping him around for much longer if he doesn't turn things around soon.