The One Enormous, Ominous Takeaway from Packers-Cardinals Joint Practice

GREEN BAY, Wis. – At the NFL owners meetings in March, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur made clear how his team would jump from playoff contender to championship contender.

Finishing games.

“That’s been on the forefront of mind,” LaFleur said at the time, a sentiment he repeated during the OTAs and minicamp. “I think it definitely starts with the mentality but it’s got to be in everything we do from as soon as we get on the grass, and whether it’s individual (drills), there’s got to be a start and finish to every drill, and I think it’s got to be constantly on our mind because that is the one thing that we did not do last year.

“We lost way too many games late in the game where we had leads or just had opportunities to close people out, and we didn’t get it done.”

On Wednesday, the Packers got a chance to practice what had been preached.

Finish.

At the end of a practice that stretched more than 2 hours, could they finish strong during a series of 2-minute drills?

No, they could not.

The starters and backups both lost.

“I think we started off the day really hot and we were making a lot of plays,” quarterback Jordan Love said. “And I think towards the end, we didn’t finish as well. That’s obviously something we’ve harped on throughout the offseason, throughout training camp. So, I think that was the lowest point of the day was just (the) finish.

“In the joint practices, I think it gets a little chippy, things happen, emotions start running a little higher. So, we got to find ways to be able to just dial back in, focus back in and be able to finish a practice.”

Starting Offense vs. Cardinals

The scenario was ball on the 30 with 1:45 on the clock and trailing 28-21. The Cardinals were guilty of pass interference on third-and-3 and offside on fourth-and-6. They also handed the Packers 15 yards when Tucker Kraft was blasted out of bounds. A 14-yard completion to Jayden Reed (despite another interference penalty) gave the offense a first down at the 12, and a completion to Matthew Golden moved the ball to the 5.

However, Love was under siege and had to throw it away on second down, a wide-open Golden dropped a pass in the back of the end zone on third down and second-year player Jordan Burch sacked Love on fourth down.

Starting Defense vs. Cardinals

With the same scenario, the Cardinals’ Jacoby Brissett completed a pass to Michael Wilson against Keisean Nixon for a first down on fourth-and-2. Next, Brissett completed a downfield pass to premier tight end Trey McBride for a gain of about 20, picked up another first down when Nixon was flagged for interference and threw a touchdown to Marvin Harrison Jr. on a jump ball against Brandon Cisse. On the two-point play, Brissett hit McBride again.

“Started fast, but we got to finish better,” Cisse said. “In those kind of situations in the 2-minute, we got to finish better – including me. I need to finish better on plays like that with sticky coverage, but I got to finish on play. It doesn't matter how good you guard somebody if you don't finish at the catch point.”

Backups

The No. 2 units started around midfield with 48 seconds and with a 27-21 score. For the offense, Tyrod Taylor’s third-and-5 pass went through Isaiah Neyor’s hands and was intercepted. For the defense, Gardner Minshew converted a third-and-10 to tight end Elijah Higgins before throwing a touchdown pass to receiver Simi Fehoo.

“At the end of the day, we do need to finish,” said safety Kitan Oladapo, who had a pass breakup on the 2-minute drive but also allowed the two-point play. We need to execute but, at the end of the day, it’s practice. You’re going to f*** up – hopefully f*** up in practice, learn from it and we’re going to correct it for Friday.”

With that, practice was finished. And the Packers finished 0-4 in 2-minute drills.

Familiar Ending for Packers

It was a familiar ending that’s perhaps irrelevant in the grand scheme of things but also proof that the Packers have to walk the walk after talking the talk.

Of course, as renowned football historian Allen Iverson would be quick to point out, we’re talking about practice. But If the idea was to get better at finishing on the practice field so they can finish in the games, the joint practice was a disaster.

The Packers lost their final five games of last season. They were outscored 20-10 in the fourth quarter at Denver. They were outscored 19-3 in the fourth quarter and overtime at Chicago. They were outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter against Baltimore. And after a meaningless loss to Minnesota, they were outscored 25-6 in the fourth quarter of the playoff game at Chicago.

“I think we’re not going to be able to evaluate it until we get there,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said at the start of training camp. “I think certainly Matt and his staff have put a lot of thought in the preparation phases of how we’re preparing for situational football. I think that’s really important in today’s game, but the proof’s going to be in the pudding.

“We have to get there and we have to do it. And I expect this team that we’ll do it. It’s an important part – and it wasn’t like last season we didn’t have evidence early in the season of being able to do that, put teams away, but we weren’t able to do it late when it mattered. I think this team has over the last few years accomplished some good things, but what we’re trying to accomplish, we haven’t been able to get over that step.”

LaFleur during the offseason said the emphasis would be on “finishing every rep, finishing every drill.”

However, during the final sequence of the day, the visiting team, which went 3-14 last season, took apart the Packers, a battle-tested team in which the youth of past seasons can no longer be an excuse.

“It’s something we just got to continue to focus on and, obviously, keep working at,” Love said after practice. “Things happen throughout the course of the game where they might make some different adjustments throughout the game, change some looks up.

“So, we got to find ways to just keep going out there and execute and just take them one play at a time and just keep keeping our head down and focus on the little details that we can control as individuals and also as a unit. So, it’s good stuff. I’m glad stuff’s happening now that we can continue to work on stuff that will carry over throughout the course of the season.”

Taking a look at the roster bubble, these players need big days for the Packers against the Cardinals at joint practice today and the game on Friday. ⬇️https://t.co/eYanQXR4ps
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 26, 2026

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY PACKERS NEWSLETTER

Add us as a preferred source on Google