In Search for Finishing Touch, LaFleur’s Aggressive Approach Finishes Packers

MINNEAPOLIS – The Green Bay Packers went into this season with the goal of finishing games. After blowing the Week 16 game at Chicago and the playoff game at Chicago last season, coach Matt LaFleur knew the only way his team could finish the season on top of the football world would be to finish games.

So, when the Vikings jumped offside on Trey Smack’s 40-yard field goal, which gave the Packers a 25-17 lead early in the fourth quarter, LaFleur tried to finish off the Vikings.

He accepted the penalty, took the points off the board and sent Jordan Love back on the field on fourth-and-1.

“We’re going to be aggressive,” LaFleur explained in the aftermath of a game-turning mistake that ultimately doomed the Packers to a 39-22 loss in the opener. “It was going to be an eight-point game. If it would have been a two-possession game, I probably would have thought otherwise. But I thought we had a chance.

“We didn’t do very well in the red zone. I think we were 1-of-4. They were 4-for-4. Sometimes you live and die by that, but we’re going to be aggressive and we’re going to try to go for the throat in that situation.”

Instead, the Packers choked away the game, just like they did twice against the Bears, starting with Jordan Love getting stuffed on the quarterback sneak.

So, instead of a 25-17 lead while going against backup quarterback Carson Wentz, the Packers led only 22-17.

“The consideration really boiled down to try to make it a two-possession game,” LaFleur said about going for a touchdown rather than simply trusting his defense to beat Kyler Murray’s replacement.

When Love was stopped at the line of scrimmage, the momentum was gone. Soon enough, the lead was gone, too.

The Vikings outscored the Packers 29-0, with three of the four consecutive touchdowns coming after LaFleur’s decision.

“I’m sure the analytic people would say to go for it, but I don’t know. That doesn’t factor in,” LaFleur said. “What factors in is we liked our call, they gave us a look for the quarterback sneak, we checked to it and we didn’t get it.”

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz (11) and Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) meet after the game. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

What happened on the pivotal play? Love had one play called with the option to check to the sneak. Love checked to the sneak.

“Just thought we can get it,” he explained. “We’ve run a lot of QB sneaks in the past. I felt confident that we’d be able to get it, and we didn’t.”

The Packers don’t have a Tush Push in their arsenal. Tucker Kraft, who has run a few successful quarterback sneaks, was off the field. So, it was up to Love to find 36 inches. He gained about 30.

“Whenever you got the gaps filled, trying to find those open gaps,” Love said of what he could have done differently. “You know, so maybe let the rush come and try to find those open gaps and dive forward instead of maybe just going right up the middle. So, there’s some things you can do differently right there. We’ll look at it.

“We had two plays called right there and, obviously, QB sneak didn’t work. Hindsight, wish I would have run the other play.”

From there, the Packers were obliterated. It was as if they were trying to one-up themselves after last year’s meltdowns.

Three defensive penalties – one of which eliminated a third-and-11 sack, the second of which eliminated a third-and-3 sack and the third of which eliminated Evan Williams’ interception – essentially handed the Vikings the go-ahead touchdown

Still, it was only 25-22 and the Packers had all sorts of time to answer. But – just like last year – when the going got tough, the Packers got going on another of their vintage death spirals.

Green Bay’s next drive resulted in a run for minus-3, a sack-strip that Green Bay recovered and a sack-strip that Minnesota recovered. That set up a layup touchdown to make it 32-22.

Appropriately, Love was pressured and intercepted on the next possession and the Vikings piled on another touchdown.

“We need to figure this out ASAP,” linebacker Edgerrin Cooper said. “We got to take what we did on the field, correct the things we need to correct and prepare for next week.”

The corrections for the most pressing things imaginable – avoiding fourth-quarter debacles – didn’t show up in Week 1. Maybe LaFleur’s focus on finishing led to his team finishing with a face-plant on Sunday.

“I don’t know, guys,” LaFleur said. “The bottom line is – and I get it, that’s your job is to question us, and when it doesn’t work out, you’ve got to answer those questions – but I felt in my heart we could get 1 yard. We didn’t do it.”

Because they didn’t, the Packers lost their sixth consecutive game. Just like that, they are alone in last place in the NFC North, with the Bears and Lions also winning in Week 1.

The season, of course, is not finished – pardon the word usage – but it would have been impossible to start on a worse note.

“We talk about it all the time,” Love said. “That’s the NFL. All these games find ways to be close at the end. We’ve got to find ways to be at our best. We’ve talked about it time and time again, and I think we’ll keep talking about it until we figure it out and do something about it. We’ll be better. We’ll get back to work.

“It’s Week 1; we’ve got a long journey ahead of us but it’s all about getting back to work, getting back to the drawing board, look at everybody, finding ways that everybody in the locker room can improve, and what we did good and what we can improve on.”

The starting point is the finish. How they overcome that devastating weakness after focusing on it all offseason and training camp is anyone’s guess.

From @JacobWestendorf, here are the winners and losers - bet you can't guess the losers - from the Packers' embarassing loss to the Vikings today. ⬇️https://t.co/wLcbvgBBs5
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 14, 2026

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