Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur provided important context for what happened on Jordan Love’s three interceptions thrown to the Philadelphia Eagles during Sunday’s playoff loss.
After assessing the tape, LaFleur pointed to a lack of details within routes and a lack of ball placement for why the interceptions happened, and credited veteran cornerback Darius Slay for making an incredible play on the first pick.
On the first play of the second quarter, Love threw a go-ball to Dontayvion Wicks, but Wicks failed to successfully “stack” Slay down the field, Love threw the ball a little too far inside and Slay made a veteran move to get into position and made the difficult catch.
“The pick that Slay had. That was a heck of a play,” LaFleur said Tuesday. “You want to talk about the little details. We had an opportunity to stack him. Yeah, the ball was a little inside. But we have to make sure we stack in that situation. That was a great job by (Slay) grabbing his wrist, sling-shotting himself, and he made a hell of a catch.”
Wicks gained separation off the ball against Slay on a vertical route but wasn’t able to “stack” — which leverages the coverage player behind the receiver and creates a better throwing window for the quarterback. Slay was able to win the leverage battle and beat Wicks to the football.
Later, a poorly run route into an otherwise open window created an easy interception for Zack Baun.
According to LaFleur, Malik Heath ran his in-breaking route at 15 yards instead of 20 yards, which closed off the window inside and allowed Baun to undercut the throw.
“The second pick, again, details. That route has to be run at 20 yards. We’re at 15 yards,” LaFleur said. “That ball should never be in that far. So, like, I saw what Jordan saw. There’s an open hole in the defense. But when you’re not at the right route depth, bad things happen.”
Had Heath ran the route at the right depth, the timing would have synced up, the window would have been more open and Love likely could have layered the throw over harm’s way and created a big play. Instead, the Eagles got another turnover.
Love isn’t absolved of blame, he still attempted the throw. But the details matter.
Late in the game and down 12 points, Love was hunting a much-needed big play and threw a third pick, but LaFleur believed a penalty should have been called for defensive pass interference against Baun in coverage versus Bo Melton in the end zone.
“The last one, I don’t know what you guys thought, obviously it was a prayer, I mean we’re throwing one up. We had Bo against a linebacker,” LaFleur said. “Was the ball underthrow? Yes, it was. Did he get contact before the ball was there? Yes, he did. It is what it is.”
Baun clearly contacted Melton before the ball arrived and impeded his ability to come back to the ball, and Quinyon Mitchell made an easy interception in the end zone. A penalty would have wiped away the turnover and give the Packers 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
Football is so incredibly detailed. It often sounds easy on the surface but a million details go into even the simplest plays. This is especially true in the passing game. The timing has to work to find holes in defenses and beat good players. And all the details have to be right or bad things happen.
Again, the quarterback isn’t without blame. Love’s throws on all three picks weren’t perfect. But the quarterback usually ends up looking bad when others don’t execute around the position.