GREEN BAY – Matt LaFleur’s explanation for why the Packers’ field goal in the final minute of Sunday’s game got blocked wasn’t complicated.
It was all about leverage, and not the illegal kind.
The Browns got both a surge of push up the middle and penetration off the edge to stuff Brandon McManus‘ 43-yard try that would’ve given the Packers the lead with less than 30 seconds to go.
“Unfortunately we got lifted, and we played with poor pad level, we didn’t take the correct steps and just didn’t perform the right technique,” LaFleur said Monday of the protection unit. “So if you don’t do that against a really good team that’s going to rush hard, you’re susceptible to having a catastrophic event occur.”
Cleveland’s block was credited to Shelby Harris, who now has blocked six kicks in his career. It was one of a handful of blocked field goals around the NFL on Sunday, but that doesn’t excuse what LaFleur referred to as a lack of discipline when it comes to the protection techniques taught.
LaFleur also thought Denzel Ward coming around the edge might’ve “nicked” the kick as well, so the breakdowns were multiple.
“All in all, it wasn’t good enough,” he said.
That was the summary of the offense’s day, too, as the Packers put up only 10 points and were undone by a rash of penalties and an untimely interception.
Aside from the killer turnover, which LaFleur discussed at length Sunday, he was bothered by a number of other mishaps.
For one, with Cleveland shutting down the run game and getting pressure on QB Jordan Love, the offense was trying to run some quicker passes, but Love was getting hit or sacked even on those.
For another, one of Love’s five sacks came on a third-and-short on the final play of the third quarter, when the Packers could’ve let the game clock expire and when Love could’ve thrown the ball away when he got outside the pocket.
Neither happened, and LaFleur took the blame for giving Love a play call in the first place rather than just letting the quarter end.
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