Through the early part of the 2025 regular season, there has been a lot to celebrate about the Green Bay Packers. The Packers’ defense looks to be one of the best in the league, thanks to the addition of the star pass rusher Micah Parsons. And on offense, starting quarterback Jordan Love looks like a different QB than we saw at the end of last season.
However, in Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns, Packers fans didn’t have much to celebrate as Green Bay lost 13-10.
The Packers played undisciplined football, as they were penalized 14 times for 75 yards. For a team like Green Bay, which has Super Bowl aspirations, they’ve struggled with penalties early this season, and this is one clear weakness that will hold this team back until they figure it out.
Packers Need to Play Clean Football After 14 Penalties in Week 3
In Week 2 against the Washington Commanders, the Packers were penalized 10 times for 77 yards. Thankfully, those penalties didn’t come back to harm them, as they walked away with a 27-18 win in primetime.
However, when Packers head coach Matt LaFleur met with the media earlier this week, he was critical of his team’s number of penalties, saying, “we had far too many.” And those penalties had affected Green Bay on both sides of the ball.
The Packers did not learn their lesson from last week, as they had a false start with 1:12 left in the game, which forced them into a 3rd and 15 instead of a 3rd and 10. Josh Jacobs was able to pick up two yards on third down, but the Packers were forced to settle for a 43-yard field goal, which was blocked by the Browns.
Then, on the Browns’ final drive of the game, Green Bay was penalized twice as Parsons had a neutral zone infraction, which turned a 1st and 10 into a 1st and 5.
Cleveland was able to move the ball from their 47-yard line to Green Bay’s 37-yard line, setting them up for a game-winning field goal by the Browns kicker Andre Szmyt. The Packers were penalized on the final play for an offside, but the penalty was declined.
As we can see just in those two drives, one penalty can change the complexion of a game. In football, the little things matter. Whether it's getting a key block or getting a penalty, every yard and play matters.
The Packers were able to get by the Commanders despite having 10-plus penalties, but it came back to haunt them on Sunday. This is clear warning sign, and it'd be malpractice by LaFleur and the coaching staff if they don't make aggressive moves to rectify the problem. Otherwise, it'd be no surprise if flags come back to bite this team in close games all season long.