Matt LaFleur’s explanation to kick the FG will make Packers fans sick
Matt LaFleur explained his controversial decision to kick a late field goal and all it will do is make Packers fans sick.
The last thing a head coach wants to do is make a decision that costs his team a game. Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur made a controversial decision in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that had fans losing their minds.
The play that will have fans talking all offseason came with just over two minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The Packers faced a fourth-and-goal from the 8-yard line after Aaron Rodgers threw three straight incompletions. The score stood at 31-23, and while the Packers had all their timeouts, a touchdown was needed and needed fast. As we know now, LaFleur opted for the field goal and the Packers lost 31-26.
The explanation he provided for the decision is only going to make fans feel even worse than they did when it happened.
Matt LaFleur says "it was just the circumstances of having three shots and coming away with no yards" that led to him kicking. He says needing a 2-point conversion and essentially having four timeouts left also played into the decision to kick.
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) January 25, 2021
LaFleur ignored the obvious
The Packers had three timeouts and the two-minute warning. However, they needed to make sure Tom Brady didn’t get a first down and still needed to get the ball back to score a touchdown. Having the timeouts would’ve been nice if there was more time left. But getting it down to the two-minute mark made it a tough task to even get the ball back to attempt a game-winning drive.
LaFleur ignored not only the clock, but also the fact the quarterback he was up against is widely considered the greatest of all time.
He also ignored the fact his offense failed to punch it in on three tries from the 8-yard line. What made him think worse field position and less time would have set the offense up with a better shot?
There are so many layers to this situation and it is different than simply calling out a coach in hindsight. Fans were losing their minds on Twitter when the call was made, and LaFleur going conservative was enough to break the heart of any Packers fan.
Next. Packers waste Rodgers’ best chance to win another title. dark
Rodgers was the hero for the Packers all season. In the end, the ball was taken out of his hands with a chance to add to his legendary resume. That will have Packers fans feeling awful for a long time.