The ‘Very Crucial’ Counter to Packers’ Late-Game Defensive Troubles

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The bad news is the Green Bay Packers can’t stop anybody in the fourth quarter. The good news is nobody can stop the Packers in the fourth quarter.

The Packers are cooking with gas in the fourth quarter this season. In five games, they’ve scored 54 points. That’s 10.8 points per game, which trails only the Detroit Lions’ 11.3-point average and is 3.2 points per game better than last season.

Every scoring drive has been crucial, whether it was continually rallying in the second half and overtime to salvage a tie at Dallas or scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter, including the critical insurance field goal, last week against Cincinnati.

“It’s very crucial,” quarterback Jordan Love said this week. “Those are the moments when you’ve got to be at your best. It’s a tight game, getting into the fourth quarter, you’ve got to find ways to go execute and stay on the field and put up points. Whatever the situation is – if you need a touchdown, if you need a field goal, if it’s a four-minute drive where you’ve just got to stay on the field.”

Love’s passer rating in the fourth quarter and overtime is a relatively mediocre 96.1, which is well below his season mark of 110.9. However, in scoring again and again to keep pace at Dallas and keeping the Packers ahead against the Bengals, his passer rating was 114.1 the last two games.

Meanwhile, the running game has finished strong. In the fourth quarter and overtime, Jacobs is fifth with 141 rushing yards and tied for fourth with eight rushing first downs. He’s averaged 4.55 yards per carry compared to 3.24 yards per carry in the first three quarters. Love has helped here, too. Of his 88 rushing yards in five games, 33 came during the fourth quarter and overtime of the past two games.

“Our run game in the second half has been a lot better than it has been in the first half,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “As the game progresses, we get the run game going – at least that’s been the trend in the last few games. And then also just I think guys, as the game goes, making adjustments and things like that. Just going and making plays. It’s been fun.”

Against Dallas and Cincinnati, the Packers scored on five consecutive drives that started in the fourth quarter or overtime, a streak snapped when Love took a knee to run out the clock last week.

Overall, teams this season are scoring on 33.8 percent of their drives that started in the fourth quarter or overtime, with 20.9 percent touchdowns and 12.9 percent field goals, according to Stathead. Green Bay is No. 1 in scoring percentage (56.3). Broken down, it’s only 13th in touchdowns (25.0 percent) but second in field goals (31.3).

“I think with this last week, with the Dallas week, I think it’s been huge for our offense to go out there and answer the call,” Love said. “I think it’s something where we’ll keep building confidence and keep finding the right plays for these situations and things like that, but I think that’s huge.

“That’s what you plan for as an offense. We do all the work in different 2-minute situations for OTAs and training camp, to be ready for those moments. It’s nice we’ve been able to succeed.”

LaFleur said he thought the offense had done a better job of “playing penalty-free” late in games.

He’s right.

Of Green Bay’s 18 penalties on offense this season, only two have come in the fourth quarter and overtime, according to NFLPenalties.com. Both were 5-yard penalties, with a false start on Rasheed Walker and an ineligible-man-downfield infraction on Sean Rhyan.

“Probably staying ahead of the sticks” has been the key, LaFleur said. “It’s the same stuff we emphasize all the time is just trying to stay on schedule and being in those third-down-and-manageables or stay out of the third down altogether; that’s always my favorite when we can have a drive that doesn’t have any third downs.

“And then I think we’re doing a better job – I don’t know what the numbers say – but it feels like we’ve done a better job in terms of playing penalty-free in that fourth quarter, which obviously doesn’t put you back and keeps you in those normal down-and-distances, where you have both the run and the pass at your disposal.”

If Green Bay’s offense can continue the clutch production and the defense can figure out how to get those big late-game stops that have proven surprisingly elusive, the Packers could be a legitimate contender.

That’s a big if, though, especially with the late-season schedule. The next challenge will come on Sunday at the Cardinals, who are 29th in fourth-quarter scoring on defense.

End-of-game situations had been a thorn in Love’s side early in his career. From that perspective, the last two games have marked encouraging progress, because that’s what it’s going to take to win in January.

“You’ve just got to be confident,” he said. “That’s when I feel like the pressure is at the highest point. You’ve got to go out there and make a play. So, I think just not let the moment get too big for anybody, just go out there and treat it like another drive and just go out there and make plays.

“That’s definitely – Matt talked about it before the game – is when you need your best players to be at their best. I think guys have done that.”

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