It did not take long for Matt LaFleur to come unglued Thursday night.
The Packers coach was seen exploding on the sideline after confusion by defensive lineman Kingsley Enagbare slowed down the team’s plan to go for it on fourth down.
According to Kirk Herbstreit on the Amazon Prime broadcast, Enagbare thought Green Bay was going to attempt a field goal on fourth-and-3 from the Commanders’ 33-yard line on their first possession.
However, LaFleur wanted to quickly go for it after a 16-yard completion on third-and-19 to running back Chris Brooks put the team in position to take a fourth-down risk.
Enagbare running on the field led to the officials standing over the ball — likely to give the Commanders a chance to substitute — and the Packers turnedthe ball over on downs on an incompletion to Romeo Doubs.
The Packers, though, would quickly recover with two 90-yard touchdown drives before halftime to take control of the game on their way to a 27-18 victory in a battle between NFC contenders.
“There was a lot of mistakes out there we have to clean up between penalties, some miscues, some missed opps,” LaFleur said after the game, though he did directly address the play in question.
“But you have to give credit to Washington, that’s a good football team. I thought overall I was impressed with the defense, the energy they are playing with, getting pressure on a really good quarterback (Jayden Daniels). It seemed like they were hitting him quite a bit … Offensively, it was feast or famine a little bit, too many three-and-outs. Having opportunities where for whatever reason whether it’s the call or just not executing or doing things to put us in a bad situation, there’s opportunities we need to capitalize on if we want to become the team we want to become.”
Still, the Packers have been one of the more impressive teams in this early part of the NFL season with notable wins over the Lions and Commanders at Lambeau Field.
The addition of Micah Parsons, who had 0.5 sacks and three hits on Daniels, has helped fortify a defense that has the potential to be among the best in the NFL.
Green Bay kept Washington out of the end zone until a pair of touchdown drives in the fourth quarter.
“I think it’s great but it’s just a start,” LaFleur said. “There’s a long season ahead of us, you can’t take it for granted. You have to keep competing, pushing. There was opportunities to really put this game away and I don’t think we did that.
“That gives me a lot of ammo when we meet with the guys on Monday to go after them a little bit. But I love this team, the locker room, great character guys. They’ll be hard on themselves, I know it. But, obviously, there’s a lot we have to clean up.”