What the Hell Happened To Green Bay’s Offense In the Final Sequence Of Overtime?

Trailing 40-37 in overtime, the Green Bay Packers marched to the Dallas Cowboys’ 25-yard line with 1:30 left and a timeout in their back pocket. What transpired after that — specifically on the last couple of plays before Brandon McManus' final field-goal attempt — left everyone puzzled.

What the hell was that?

Sitting at your opponent’s 25-yard line with 90 seconds left and a timeout is an eternity for an NFL team needing a touchdown for a walkoff win.

Two plays later, Green Bay has first-and-10 at the Dallas 12-yard line with the clock ticking away, 35 seconds to go and counting. The Packers still had a grip on the game.

Until they didn’t.

Matt LaFleur called for a pass play to Matthew Golden on the far side. The pass was completed a yard behind the line of scrimmage, right at the numbers. In a perfect world, superb blocking from Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks would help get Golden into the end zone for the win. In a more realistic world, Golden is likely stopped short. Given the play design and where he caught the ball, it would be incredibly difficult to get out of bounds.

Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs sniffed the play out from the rip, blew past Doubs, and tackled Golden for a loss of three. That compelled Green Bay to spend its final timeout.

The Packers got to regroup on the sideline and try to draw something up, preferably towards the end zone, to clinch a win.

Instead, on a second-and-13 back at the Cowboys’ 15-yard line, quarterback Jordan Love faked to Golden, who was lined up with a pair of other Packers receivers at the bottom of the screen. Then, under pressure, Love checked it down to running back Emanuel Wilson on a pass that was completed five yards behind the line of scrimmage. Wilson squirmed forward to the 16, losing a yard.

All the while, the clock continued to run.

Wilson was tackled with 21 seconds left.

Instead of showing urgency, Love had his hands in the air, looking towards the sidelines like he was lost. The rest of the offense nonchalantly made their way back to the line of scrimmage. The clock was melting away.

Logic would suggest that the Packers would bite the bullet, spike the ball, and accept their fate in a tie game. Instead, Love took the snap with six seconds left, canvassed the field, and tried squeezing in a pass to Golden in the end zone. It bounced off a defender. Luckily for LaFleur. Love, and Packerdom in general, the ball hit the turf with one second left to stop the clock.

There isn't a soul in the world who could convince Packers fans that LaFleur’s clock management made a lick of sense, or that Love seemed in control of the situation. Instead, chaos reigned. Green Bay was lucky the arc of the falling ball was brief enough that it landed with time still on the clock, giving the Packers the chance to kick the easy field goal and avoid a stupefying loss.

And the play calls were just as bad as the clock management.

Two back-to-back pass plays that went behind the line of scrimmage is unfathomable. Obviously, the check down to Wilson was slightly different; he was the safety valve and not the primary read. Still, both calls lacked logic.

Afterwards,

Love

The most alarming part might just be Love saying everyone wasn't on the same page. How, in that situation, when you just had a timeout to regroup and lay out a road map of what to do, was everyone not on the same page?

Two-minute drills aren’t just thrown together in the moment. Teams frequently practice two-minute drill situations and try to simulate the exact spot Green Bay found itself in on Sunday night.

When the schedule was released in May, a Week 5 bye seemed less than ideal and way too early. Given the injuries the Packers have already sustained and the lack of execution over the last two weeks, including crunch time in overtime on Sunday night, the timing might just be right.

The scenario that unfolded in those last few plays is inexcusable for a team that considers itself a title contender.