GREEN BAY, Wis. Matt LaFleur said he finally regretted the decision to take the ball out of Aaron Rodgers ‘hands and kick a field goal with 2:09 left in the Green Bay Packers’ 31-26 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship game Sunday, he trusts the thinking behind the move.
LaFleur put up eight points (31-23) at the time and faced fourth and goal shooting on the 8-yard line, and LaFleur sent in Mason Crosby for a 26-goal field goal instead of giving Rodgers another shot in the final zone give (then a two-point conversation) to tie the score.
Crosby converted, but Rodgers never got the ball back, thanks to Tom Brady and a pass interference call on Packers’ cornerback Kevin King, which sent the Bucs off the clock.
“Yeah, always when it’s not okay, you’re always sorry, right?” LaFleur said after the game. “It was just the circumstances to have three strokes and get away without a meter and know that you not only need the touch, but that you also need the 2-point [conversion]. As I watched it, we actually had four time-outs with the two-minute warning.
“We knew we had to stop, and I thought we would stop there in the end, but we asked that [defensive pass interference] and it does not work. I think every time something does not work out, are you sorry? Sure, but we’re always going to be process-driven here, and as our defense struggled, as we played defense, it felt like it was the right decision to make. It just did not work. ‘
Rodgers understood the thinking, but after the game he said, “It was not my decision.” He said LaFleur gave him the option to name the previous play in third place – a play that led to a scramble and a throw-away when Rodgers could possibly perform it.
Rodgers said he might have mentioned another play if he had known LaFleur was going to pick for a field goal.
“I thought maybe we’re going to have four chances to go,” Rodgers said.
According to ESPN’s Win Probability model, the Packers had a 10% chance of winning by picking it up on fourth and a 9.5% chance of winning by kicking a field goal.
The model also suggested that the Packers needed a 21% chance of conversion to justify going to press there, with a league-average conversion rate at that spot at 23%. The Packers were the No. 1 offense this season.
Earlier, LaFleur opted for a two-point conversation after Rodgers’ 2-yard attack on Davante Adams with 24 seconds left in the fourth quarter made it 28-23. Packer receiver Equanimeous St. Brown dropped Rodgers’ pass into the final zone. According to ESPN’s model, the failed two-point three was the correct decision from an analytical point of view.
By losing the one point they would have earned for an extra point, the Packers later found themselves in the position that they were eight behind and therefore needed a touch and a two-point conversation in the final minutes before their last field had. goal.
Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians said he thought the decision was the right one – “I thought they had a lot of confidence in their defense at the time,” he said. But linebacker Shaq Barrett said he was surprised by what unfolded.
“I could not honestly believe it, because there was no guarantee that they would get it there again, even if they were in fourth place – they might as well try,” Barrett said. ‘I know our offense – they were incredible in the four-minute offense, and did not give the team the ball – so I had the utmost confidence in them. But I know he could take it back, he probably won’t do it next time. ‘
Although LaFleur did not necessarily talk about the field goal decision, he said towards the end of his news conference that he was not the best.
“I felt we had plenty of opportunities tonight to take advantage of the work and do the job,” LaFleur said. ‘We did not do it, and it falls on me, and it’s a hard pill to swallow when you’re responsible for everyone in this organization to make sure you’re participating in your A-game, and I do not as I was tonight. I’m just pretty disappointed about it [I] let many people down. ‘
ESPN’s Jenna Laine contributed to this story.