Penalties continue to haunt the Green Bay Packers this season, and head coach Matt LaFleur has seen enough.
It’s possible to get away with unforced errors against bad teams, but the Detroit Lions punished the Packers for their self-inflicted mistakes. After Keisean Nixon cost them 15 yards on the opening kickoff, Green Bay lost yards on four penalties on its opening three possessions.
Penalties happen. The Packers know they need to improve in that department, but offensive linemen occasionally move too early or grab a defender to prevent a sack. Sometimes you get away with it, other times not, but it’s part of football.
There’s a difference between what LaFleur deems as a “technical” penalty, such as moving too early pre-snap, and what he refers to as “selfish.”
Either one is unacceptable and the Packers need to play with better discipline, but LaFleur has made his stance perfectly clear on unsportsmanlike penalties.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur won’t tolerate any further ‘selfish’ penalties from his team
LaFleur made his point as clear as day.
“You have the ones that are completely unacceptable, and it better be pretty clear to our team, is what I deem the selfish penalties. Jawing, getting an unsportsmanlike. Those cannot happen and I take those very personally,” said LaFleur. “So next time that happens, you can take your helmet and come and stand right next to me, and we’ll watch the game together.”
The irony is that the Packers have had two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties this season, and one of them was on LaFleur for his outburst against the officials in the loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
But he’s spot on. They need to clean up the “technical” penalties, no doubt, but every team gets them, and it’s a matter of concentration. There’s rarely a good explanation for a “selfish” penalty like most unsportsmanlike calls, and yes, that includes LaFleur’s in Week 4.
Penalties continue to hurt the Packers, and it should be a point of emphasis during their bye week. Only five teams have more than LaFleur’s team.
Green Bay’s self-inflicted errors present the biggest bye-week challenge. While there are concerns over the cornerback depth and inconsistent pass rush, two areas the team failed to address before the NFL trade deadline, it’s the repeated errors, including penalties and drops, that must improve.
According to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman, the Packers rank No. 2 in pre-snap penalties and No. 4 in drops. Both areas need attention.
LaFleur needs to find a solution, and he’s already found one for unsportsmanlike penalties. If that happens, players can expect to get pulled from the game and stand in shame next to the Packers’ head coach.
