Green Bay Packers lack of killer instinct remains concerning
The Green Bay Packers are clearly dangerous with an 11-3 record but their refusal to leave no doubt in victory remains frustrating and worrisome.
Things were not easy for Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers offense at Lambeau Field on Sunday. Of course, their Week 15 matchup against a good defense and a rival in the Chicago Bears is a good reason why that’d be the case. Their lone touchdown of the first half came on a big fourth-down conversion while they turned the ball over on downs twice.
Even still they took a 7-3 lead into the locker room as the defense played well. But after some adjustments by head coach Matt LaFleur and his staff at halftime, the Packers came out in the third quarter firing. They scored on a five-play, 73-yard drive capped off by an Aaron Jones touchdown immediately, forced a turnover on downs, then scored again with another Jones punch-in.
That gave the Packers a commanding lead over the rival Bears and they had the opportunity to step on their opponent’s throats. Unfortunately, as has been a troubling trend for Green Bay this season, they failed to do that. Instead, the let Chicago climb back in while they tried to seemingly coast to victory.
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Of Green Bay’s final five drives in the second half, only one did not result in a three-and-out. Furthermore, the Packers gained positive yardage on just two of the final five drives against Chicago. Yes, LaFleur’s club was able to pick up the win but the fact that the Bears had a final possession to perhaps tie the game should never have been the case.
Sunday’s win moves the Packers to 11-3 on the season but they have developed a concerning trend of not being able to bury teams when they have complete control. Going back to Week 5 against the Cowboys when they jumped out to a 31-3 lead, they then allowed Dallas to finish the game on a 21-3 run to make things a little dicey.
Since that game, Green Bay has allowed the Matt Moore-led Chiefs, the Panthers, the Redskins last week and now Chicago to have a chance in games in which the Packers were dominant early and then took their foot off of the gas.
It’s hard to fully pinpoint what the issue is but the simplest version is that the play-calling changes dramatically when the Packers are in control. While they obviously want to milk clock, there is no sense of purpose and an ultra-conservative mentality takes over and takes Rodgers, Jones, Davante Adams and the like completely out of rhythm.
Clearly heading for the postseason at this point, this is something the Packers must take note of and address moving forward. When they get into a playoff environment with a hungry, high-quality team, trying to cruise to an easy victory isn’t going to cut it. They have to maintain a kill-or-be-killed mentality for 60 minutes to survive and advance.
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If this type of lackadaisical finishing mentality continues into the postseason, it could truly be the downfall of Green Bay. It’s clearly not a talent issue. Thus, it’s something that LaFleur and his staff must identify, address and resolve over the final two weeks of the regular season.