In the world of baseball there is a belief that when a team loses a one-run game, then it is on the manager. Whether a pitching change, a decision to bunt, a decision to steal, or something else, a poor choice by the manager led to the loss.
If you hold a similar belief in football – that one-score losses are on the shoulders of the head coach – then you probably still have some lingering questions about Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and his decision to kick a field goal right before the two-minute warning, with the Packers trailing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by eight points.
Facing a 4th-and-goal situation LaFleur sent kicker Mason Crosby into the game, and while he converted the short kick the decision gave Tom Brady and the Buccaneers offense a chance to run out the clock, and they did just that. Aided in part by a defensive pass interference penalty on Kevin King, on of two bad plays from the cornerback on the afternoon.
One of those who seems to have questions about the decision is quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Some questioned the quarterback’s decision not to try and run for a touchdown earlier in the sequence, as it seemed like the QB had nothing but the goal line in front of him. After the game Rodgers had a lot to say, including this:
Rodgers says "I felt like I had a chance, maybe, to run it" into the end zone on that third down.
"I thought maybe we were gonna have four chances to go."
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) January 25, 2021
Rodgers was even more pointed with his words during his comments:
Aaron Rodgers on Matt LaFleur's decision to kick the FG late in the 4th qtr:
"It wasn't my decision." pic.twitter.com/eZVuCD1igY
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) January 25, 2021
LaFleur tried to explain his thinking, pointing to failures early in the goal-to-go sequence as well as the impending two-minute warning, which in essence gave the Packers a fourth chance to stop the clock:
Matt LaFleur says "it was just the circumstances of having three shots and coming away with no yards" that led to him kicking. He says needing a 2-point conversion and essentially having four timeouts left also played into the decision to kick.
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) January 25, 2021
As you might expect, the decision has been met with a ton of criticism on social media:
Congrats to Matt LaFleur on losing by fewer points.
— Barry Svrluga (@barrysvrluga) January 24, 2021
Is it too early to mention that Matt LaFleur was the Falcons quarterbacks coach in 2016?
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 24, 2021
Matt LaFleur walking into the postgame presser to explain why he didn’t go for the TD on 4th & Goal
— Thor Nystrom (@thorku) January 24, 2021
Perhaps making matters worse is that the decision, and the ensuing Packers’ loss, has opened the door to speculation about the future of Rodgers in Green Bay. LaFleur was adamant about wanting to run it back with the quarterback next season, who is under contract through the 2023 season. But with the Packers having drafted Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft – and trading up to do so – could Rodgers’ days in green and gold be numbered?
Rodgers seemed to wonder himself:
Aaron Rodgers: “A lot of guys futures, they’re uncertain, myself included.”
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) January 25, 2021
It is shaping up to be a cold winter in Green Bay, and I’m not talking about the weather.