Predictable patterns nearly derailed Green Bay against the Jets. Matt LaFleur must unleash Jordan Love early to avoid stalled drives before a high-stakes Week 3 clash in Atlanta.
One of the biggest complaints with Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur is the fact that he's stuck in his ways.
Being complacent is one thing, but calling a run on the first play during nine of 12 drives against the New York Jets is simply unaccaptable.
Quarterback Jordan Love is too good to just be handing the ball off on nearly every single first play of the drive.
Clearly, the start of the game against the Jets was cursed. Green Bay received the opening kickoff, had a broken play to start the game, and then Jayden Reed and Zach Bako-Bewele both went down with injuries.
From there, LaFleur pulled the rug out from underneath this team, yet somehow they overcame everything and were able to pull out a 20-17 win in overtime.
Packers didn't have a single completion on their first play of a drive
Not once did the Packers have a completion on the first play of any of their 12 drives against the Jets.
The broken play was technically a pass play, though it resulted in a sack and quickly proved the state of this offensive line simply isn't good enough.
Love had two chances to throw on the first play of a drive, and that came in their ninth and 11th drives, according to Andy Herman.
Both of those passes were incomplete, but the other nine drives all started with a run.
Combined, the Packers only gained 28 yards on the first play of their 12 combined drives.
Their first play on the second drive resulted in a holding penalty, so it could technically be as low as 18 yards if those 10 yards count against that total.
Two runs resulted in a three yard loss, and those came on drives five and seven. To see them happen so close to one another is alarming, to say the least.
Green Bay had 10+ yard gains on the first play of their fourth drive as well as the 12th.
Their first play of drive eight was a nightmare fumble that nearly ended all hope that they'd be able to come back in the game.
Thankfully, this defense bailed out horrific play calling time and time again.
The Packers now know they'll be facing Michael Penix Jr. and the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3, and while the Falcons are 0-2, there's no doubt they'll give the Packers a run for their money if they keep calling games this conservatively.
