There was ample frustration in the wake of the Packers‘ 10-7 loss to the Eagles on Monday night, a game in which the defense dominated but the offense sputtered with repeated bouts of ineptitude. The teams were, statistically, evenly matched on the night, but the two Packers turnovers (to just one for the Eagles) proved to be costly–especially the final turnover by Josh Jacobs.
That was, it turned out, one of the uglier plays of the season for the offense, as the team lined up for a fourth-and-1 from its own 44-yard line with 1:26 to play and one big chance to tie or take the lead on the line. The play was doomed from the beginning. Not only did the Packers line up in an illegal formation, but when quarterback Jordan Love called out the play at the line, the Eagles reacted–pointing out exactly where Jacobs was supposed to go.
“Fourth-and-1, they called out our play,” Jacobs said. “We ran it four times, they called it out.”
Packers Were a Mess on Critical Fumble Play
The result was predictable. Jacobs was stuffed behind the line, made a vain attempt to lateral to Love and the Eagles took over.
“We got a good draw, a push, the clock was going down, we kinda snapped it fast, faster than we wanted to and they made a play,” Jacobs said. “I tried to pitch the ball back to Jordan, thatâs where the fumble came. At that point, youâre kinda playing backyard football.”
The outcome of the play was worrisome, but the very fact that the Eagles knew what the Packers were doing all along speaks to a wider issue about the quality and variety of coach Matt LaFleur’s plays.
Josh Jacobs Not Happy Eagles Knew Packers Play
LaFleur’s job security with a disappointing team that is expected to compete for a Super Bowl was a hot topic after the game, and when it comes to his shortcomings, the fourth-down flop was Exhibit A. The Packers are obviously not going to fire LaFleur midseason, but perhaps a change in play-calling duties is in order.
Jacobs certainly doesn’t want to be in a position in which the defense knows where he is going to be before the ball is snapped.
“As a runner it donât never feel good,” he said. “Whenever they know what we doing it donât ever feel good because it changes my mind on how I am going to run the ball if I am being honest. It makes me kind of guess what I am going to do. Obviously, people are smart, if we got code words and you hear it a few times, like, youâre gonna eventually react to it. Thatâs football, but yeah, itâs never a good feeling.
“They called it out. We called our play, they said, âInside zone, itâs coming right here.â So I kinda like didnât want to run right there, you know? Â But thatâs kinda how it played out.”
GettyPackers head coach Matt LaFleur.
Josh Jacobs: ‘The Game Is Messy’
While the offense as a whole has been on a downswing, the Packers running game remains a mystery. The team has 1,007 yards on the ground, 20th in the NFL, after ranking as the No. 5 rushing attack last season, with 2,496 yards.
Jacobs said a turnaround is a matter of cleaning up the “messes.”
“Not making any excuses,” he said. “Weâve got to clean up the work. A lot of the game is messy, especially after creating good plays, we just got to be more consistent. Our defense held them down, stopped them real good, played like a championship defense. Offense, thatâs on us. We gotta pick it up.”
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