One of the biggest highlights of the Packers season thus far has been Packers kicker Lucas Havrisik’s 61-yard field goal to go into halftime against the Arizona Cardinals.
While setting the franchise record for longest made field goal is the main talking point behind the kick, what is exciting for Packers fans is Packers head coach Matt LaFleur’s decision to go after the kick. Down 13-3 with just seven seconds left in the half, LaFleur and quarterback Jordan Love tried to get the team into field goal range and steal three points instead of just kneeling the ball to go into the half.
The decision on whether to use the kicker came up once again later in the game, as trailing 23-20 with 2:32 left in the game, Green Bay faced a fourth-and-two from the Cardinals’ 29-yard line. LaFleur called the field goal unit on the field to tie the game but changed that decision after a timeout and after presumably being persuaded by Love.
Love connected with Tucker Kraft on a 15-yard reception to extend the drive, which ultimately led to the Packers’ go-ahead and game-winning touchdown.
“It is just one of those deals where I was like, no matter what we call, (Love) is going to make it work,” said LaFleur. “That is exactly what happened.”
While football never comes down to one play, LaFleur’s decision to go for that fourth down rather than settle for a field goal to tie ultimately won the game for the Packers.
Throughout his career, LaFleur has shown a penchant to keeping the offense out on the field for those fourth-and-short downs to extend drives and play for more points. In the current climate of the NFL, it seems like that has to be the strategy because of how good opposing quarterbacks and offenses have become.
Whenever a team is on the doorstep of scoring points or draining the clock, if reasonable, those 50/50 plays are ones that win games.
Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions have become one of the better teams in the NFL over the past three seasons using this principle, while Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs and Nick Sirianni and the Philadelphia Eagles have won Super Bowls through this strategy.
Not that kickers are getting phased out of football, but there is certainly a shift in the way that fourth downs are thought about.
About a decade ago, it was thought that when a team faces a fourth down on the plus side of the 50, no matter how long the distance is, the kicker is coming out and the team is taking three points. Now that idea of passing up three points and trying to get seven is extremely popular.
As has been the case with the Packers’ offense times this season, when an offense is stalling and is not producing those big plays, picking up a fourth down can sometimes inject a jolt into not only the offense but the entire team. Picking up a must-have down gives a team the confidence to say because we picked that up, we can pick up anything.
That all comes down to the coaching staff and the players being confident in each other to make those big plays when needed.
“If you don’t have confidence in your guys, you don’t do it, but I have a lot of confidence in our quarterback. I thought our line was doing a pretty good job in protection, and I know our receivers can win versus bad leverages,” said LaFleur.
The fine line to that is balancing making the smart decision versus making the riskiest decision.
If a coach is confident that a team can pick up a fourth down or march toward field goal range in fewer than 10 seconds, there should be not a second thought, but if there is any sort of doubt, the team could lose the game.
It seems like LaFleur has a lot of confidence that the Love and the offense are going to pick up every single first down this season, and that is the attitude the Packers need to have as the season progress and it matches up with teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos and Detroit Lions.
