Boos echoed around Lambeau Field throughout Thursday Night Football as the Green Bay Packers suffered utter humiliation against the Atlanta Falcons.
Nobody could blame the fans, who watched their defense surrender 498 total yards, Jordan Love take 12 hits, receivers drop passes, and the running backs average 1.9 yards per carry. Yeah, that'll do it.
Tucker Kraft wasn't pleased, though, and he said as much in his postgame interview.
"That's pretty tough. Like everyone pictures Lambeau Field and not boos. I don't picture boos. I picture my home stadium. That's tough. It's pretty disappointing, especially for a home opener. It's pretty disappointing. It's not going to help us win," Kraft said, via The Athletic's Matt Schneidman.
"Like I don't know what people think that's going to rally us or something like that. But that's -- we're grown men. We're mentally strong enough, capable enough to get back on the field and play ball. But it'd probably much easier with the 70,000 people behind us rather than opposing us."
Kraft normally hits the nail on the head when he speaks to reporters. He says what he thinks and isn't afraid to be brutally honest. But he broke the golden rule: Never blame the fans.
They do have the players' backs, but they're also allowed to make their opinions heard.
The fans aren't on the field missing tackles. They're not allowing free rushers to hit Love. Or dropping passes (Kraft dropped two). They're also not getting paid millions to do so. Fans hand over hard-earned money to follow their team, and they have every right to express themselves and let their frustrations be heard.
As a lifelong and suffering Tottenham Hotspur fan, I'm no stranger to watching my team get booed off by its home fans. The solution? Play better. Give fans a reason to cheer.
With Tottenham, the frustration has built up over several years. The boos aren't about one individual performance, but rather years of neglect from ownership. Poor decisions in the transfer market. And repeated disappointments on the pitch, week after week. The boos stem from a deeper frustration.
The same is likely true of the Packers.
Packers fans booing is likely an indication of a much deeper frustration
Many of those fans at Lambeau were there for the Packers' last home game, a 41-24 defeat to the Tyler Huntley-led Baltimore Ravens. Green Bay allowed 307 rushing yards and four touchdowns that day.
They may have been at the playoff loss in Chicago, too. They've also witnessed their team melt down in massive moments and lose seven of their past eight games.
I'm willing to bet that many in attendance have strong opinions about Matt LaFleur, Brian Gutekunst, and Ed Policy. Many would've wanted change in the offseason.
Maybe that's the GM. Or the head coach. Or LaFleur's assistant coaches. Or simply the offensive line. Instead, the team maintained the status quo – Policy handed extensions to Gutekunst and LaFleur – but we're seeing no improvements. If anything, things are getting worse rapidly.
Think of the fans who watched LaFleur's team meltdown twice at Soldier Field, get taunted by Ben Johnson, and then take an offseason of abuse from Bears fans. Only for the Packers to do it all over again at U.S. Bank Stadium in Week 1.
And then the Packers deliver that performance in their home opener? Fans have every reason to boo.
Some will call it Entitled Town. Many will mock Packers fans for finally experiencing the misery their teams have endured far more frequently. But it's simple: Buy a ticket, and you have a right to make your voice heard.
Kraft doesn't like it, but unlike the fans, he can directly impact the game. Allow Christian Watson to be the voice of reason:
"At the end of the day, it's an entertainment business, so we have to put a better product out on the field if we want to have the fans have our back," he said, via Matt Schneidman. "Obviously, we like to think that the fans will be there through the ups and downs, but we've got to put out a better performance than that."
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