The Green Bay Packers played one of their best games on Thanksgiving when they defeated the Miami Dolphins by the score of 30-17. The offense, defense, and special teams all played big parts in the win, with multiple players having stellar performances.
Starting quarterback Jordan Love completed 21 of 28 passes for 274 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 129.9 passer rating. It was his second consecutive game without throwing a pick and his third straight game with a passer rating over 100.
Isaiah McDuffie and Quay Walker led the Packers’ defense on a night where many, before the game started, doubted that the linebackers would play well enough to win. They combined for 20 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and three tackles for loss.
Robert Rochell and Brandon McManus shined on special teams. Rochell recovered a fumble in the first quarter that set up Green Bay’s first touchdown while McManus was perfect on his field goal and extra point attempts despite the cold weather.
Green Bay Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur Is Frustrated with One Thing
While the Thanksgiving victory over the Dolphins was a great example of complimentary football, it was far from being a clean game. Green Bay committed seven penalties for 44 yards, and multiple of these were instances of a problem that the Packers have had all season long.
For whatever reason, Green Bay’s defensive line has trouble lining up onsides.
According to NFL Penalties, the Packers have been called for defensive offsides eight times, the most in the league. The NFL average is 3.16 per team.
TJ Slaton (neutral-zone infraction) and Devonte Wyatt (encroachment) were both flagged on Thanksgiving.
Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated reports that head coach Matt LaFleur is not thrilled with out often his team is getting flagged for the same thing week in and week out.
“The only thing I would say we have to do a much better job on is we have to make sure we line up onsides. It feels like it’s Groundhog Day,” LaFleur said after the game.
On Monday, he expanded on his comment by saying, “No, it’s really annoying. You’ve got to be conscious. I guess we’ve got to drill it more. I got to get refs out there at practice to tell when a guy’s offsides. I told those guys and, obviously, just telling isn’t enough. We’ve got to start checking with the officials. It’s become such a problem and it’s going to kill us.
“It hurt us yesterday. That is one thing from the defensive side of the ball that we absolutely have to get corrected. Shoot, it gave them an opportunity on the field goal. We got them to fourth-and-9, we jump offsides, they decide to go for it, they convert. Now, luckily, we held them to three but, still, you can’t put yourself in those situations, especially against really good football teams.”
The Packers will play a really good football team on Thursday when they take on the 11-1 Detroit Lions. Hopefully they figure it out by then.
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