The Green Bay Packers looked to be on their way to a 1-0 start against the rival Minnesota Vikings. Entering halftime, the Packers were up 19-10 over a Vikings team that was relying on backup quarterback Carson Wentz, who entered in relief of an injured Kyler Murray. All the Packers had to do was keep up at their pace to secure the win.
Instead, the Packers endured another epic collapse. Up 22-10, Green Bay allowed 29 unanswered points to Minnesota to lose 39-22. That's how quickly the tide turned for the Packers. Sure, there were some iffy penalties called on the Packers to keep the Vikings' chances alive in the fourth quarter, but the decision-making from head coach Matt LaFleur played a role in the collapse as well.
There was one call that caught the attention of Packers fans in the fourth quarter.
Matt LaFleur's QB sneak call on fourth down sunk the Packers' chances of beating Vikings
On 4th-and-6, LaFleur called upon Trey Smack to go for a 40-yard field goal attempt, which was good, but Vikings edge rusher Dallas Turner was called for an offsides penalty. That gave the Packers a chance to go for it on 4th-and-1 or accept the field goal to go up 25-17.
LaFleur, feeling aggressive, decided to accept the penalty and go for it. You can give LaFleur credit for deciding to extend the Packers' drive.
The thing is, LaFleur's play call was not a good one. Out of all the plays he could have gone with, he decided to go for a quarterback sneak with Love. The play fell short of the first-down marker and allowed the Vikings to gain possession.
The following drive, the Vikings scored on a 15-play drive, albeit helped out by three Packers penalties to take a 25-22 lead. So, instead of a tie game, the Packers were down three points. Add in two turnovers from Love, and you have yet another epic collapse on LaFleur's resume.
Matt LaFleur defends fourth-down call, while J.J. Watt voices criticism
After the game, one of the many questions that LaFleur had to face was about his thinking behind the quarterback sneak call instead of accepting the field goal. LaFleur defended the call, saying that they were planning on being aggressive.
"We're going to be aggressive, it was going to be an eight-point game," said LaFleur. "If it would have been a two-possession game, I probably would have thought otherwise. I thought we had a chance...But sometimes you live and die by that. But we're going to be aggressive and we're going to go for the throw in that situation."
Former Houston Texans pass rusher J.J. Watt, who was on the call for the game on CBS, agreed with LaFleur going for it on 4th-and-1. However, he was not a fan of the quarterback sneak call.
"What I don't like is that they did a quarterback sneak with no pusher. That's just not effective enough," said Watt. "In today's world, the quarterback sneak is such an effective weapon if you practice it and do it well. That was not a good quarterback sneak, and so if that's your play call, then I don't like it."
Love revealed during the post-game press conference that he had two play calls at his disposal and opted to go for the quarterback sneak. Love says he could have done a better job with the play.
"They did a good job of stopping it," said Love. "I think there was some stuff I could have done better with my operation and even the play call. We had two plays called right there, one was the quarterback sneak. I thought we could get it, and we didn't."
We can understand being aggressive on the call to try to extend the drive to eventually put points on the board. LaFleur was feeling it and thought the offense could gain the one yard necessary.
But the quarterback sneak was the worst call he could have made in that situation. Sure, the turnovers and the penalties cost the Packers their lead, but the momentum truly shifted after the quarterback sneak fell short.
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