The Packers avoid a loss in Dallas, but they can't survive like this
Conservative decisions and another week of special-teams implosions underscore how far the Packers still have to go in order to reach their potential in 2025.
Good morning!
The Green Bay Packers played 70 minutes of football on Sunday and didn’t emerge with a victory. They tied the Dallas Cowboys in a 40-40 shootout that accentuated weakness from prior weeks while exhibiting new issues as well. While not a loss in the record books, the game seems somewhat deflating for Green Bay as the bye arrives.
Today’s edition of The Leap dives into the problems that stymied the Packers on Sunday, as well as some of the important developments from the game that will likely get lost in the national discourse.
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Matt LaFleur’s conservative decisions stem from more than just Green Bay’s injuries
Jason B. Hirschhorn: Packers head coach Matt LaFleur leaned toward conservative play calls and situational decisions for most of Sunday’s game. The list includes a handful of regrettable moments, such as the intentional delay-of-game penalty on fourth-and-2 from Dallas territory, another cowardly punt decision two drives later, and seemingly playing for a field goal at the end of both regulation and overtime.
Ostensibly, at least part of LaFleur’s thought process with those decisions stemmed from the injuries on offense. The Packers entered the game without preferred starters Aaron Banks and Zach Tom along the O-line, and top backup tackle Anthony Belton also couldn’t suit up due to an ankle injury suffered this week in practice. With a makeshift unit protecting Jordan Love, LaFleur seemed uncomfortable calling an aggressive game.
However, the injuries don’t explain the conservatism entirely. LaFleur did push the envelope at the end of the first half, calling a timeout with under a minute remaining while the Cowboys had possession. Dak Prescott ran in a 2-yard touchdown on the next play, but the Packers had over 40 seconds with which to work before halftime.
After the ensuing touchback, LaFleur dialed up two shot plays that fell incomplete, a screen to extend the drive and avoid punting the ball to a Cowboys team with all their timeouts, and then another shot play in hopes of moving the ball into enemy territory. However, Dallas pass rusher James Houston badly beat left tackle Rasheed Walker on the last of those plays, stripping the ball from Love’s hand and forcing a turnover inside Green Bay’s 20-yard line.
The decision to preserve time for one more possession and try to retake the lead before halftime clearly haunted LaFleur, who brought it up during his postgame press conference.
“There’s a lot of things that we all have to clean up, starting with myself,” LaFleur said. “I mean, we’re trying to be aggressive at the end of the half, and that really bit us in the butt.”
From that moment forward, the Packers largely avoided longer-developing passing plays. They ran just seven plays during that stretch with a targetable receiver -- a player not clearing space for another route or a screen -- running a route 15 or more yards down the field. Only one of those came on a third down. Two others occurred on Green Bay’s overtime possession, including a caution-to-the-wind call on fourth-and-6 and the game’s penultimate play.
The Packers expect to have some or all of Banks, Belton, and Tom back in the fold when they return from the bye, and shoring up the offensive line should allow LaFleur to take a more aggressive approach. However, he also needs to get over whatever mental hurdle has prevented him from trusting his offense on makeable fourth downs and other go-punt and go-kick situations. Green Bay’s Super Bowl hopes may well hinge on his willingness to pursue those edges.
Rich Bisaccia enters Joe Barry territory
JBH: After starting 4-5 during the 2023 season, the Packers offense began to find its footing. Love, then a first-year starter, cut down on turnovers while ramping up the number of explosive plays in the passing game. Meanwhile, a young cadre of pass catchers made critical progress, avoiding mental mistakes and giving Love more consistent targets.
Over that same span, the defense proved it couldn’t take the same step forward. Joe Barry, then in his third season as Packers DC, continued to put the unit in unfavorable positions. Meltdowns resulted in a deflating loss to the inferior New York Giants and nearly cost Green Bay again two weeks later against the worst team in the league, the Carolina Panthers. Despite it all, Barry remained in his post for the entire season.
Fast forward to 2025, and Rich Bisaccia finds himself in a similar predicament. His special-teams units have routinely bungled even the most basic plays. A blocked field goal literally turned a win into a loss a week ago, and a blocked extra point on Sunday proved to be the difference between a Packers win in regulation and an overtime tie.
And Bisaccia’s special teams flubbed more than just those situations. The Cowboys nearly decapitated Matthew Golden on a punt return. The kickoff coverage allowed a 45-yard return by KaVontae Turpin that set up the go-ahead Dallas touchdown four plays later. Little has gone right for the Packers in the third phase, and they’ve given Bisaccia over three seasons and considerable personnel resources to iron out the issues.
The bye theoretically allows Green Bay to make more wholesale changes than a typical week, but don’t expect Bisaccia to receive his walking papers. The rest of the special-teams staff includes Byron Storer, a Bisaccia pupil who worked with him at two previous stops, and Cory Harkey, a quality-control coach. Neither seems like a capable midseason replacement.
Instead, the Packers will likely need to find Bisaccia’s successor next offseason. The special teams just cannot continue forward like this, and few other teams have so many issues in the third phase while investing so much in it.
Quick observations and thoughts
Elgton Jenkins had a poor game a week after he called his performance “shit.” Earlier this year, he pushed the Packers to adjust his contract in order to secure him more money in 2025, remove his lame-duck status in 2026, or both. At least right now, it doesn’t seem like his Green Bay tenure will extend beyond the current season.
While the health of the offensive line clearly affected the Packers over their last two games, the injury bug has also bitten the defensive line. If Devonte Wyatt, who appears to have taken a step this year, ends up missing significant time with his knee injury, Green Bay will have to peruse the veteran market for replacements. Nazir Stackhouse doesn’t look ready to handle defensive snaps at volume, and Warren Brinson has yet to make his NFL debut. Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden can’t fill the void by themselves.
Golden might have plenty to learn on special teams, but the moment doesn’t appear too big for him on offense. His huge catch on fourth-and-6 in overtime kept the Packers alive and breathed new life into that drive. Green Bay has seen rookie wideouts step into significant roles before. However, not many could have done what Golden did during their fourth career NFL game. Love still trusts Romeo Doubs more, but games like this can narrow the gap in a hurry.
The next time the Packers take the field, they might have Christian Watson back in the fold. Watson has now waited the required four weeks to come off the physically unable to perform list, and he’ll get at least one more with Green Bay entering its bye. Exactly nine months will have passed since Watson’s ACL tear when the team reconvenes next Monday, and he has looked ahead of schedule for most of his rehab. Even factoring in the Packers’ notoriously conservative medical staff, it seems likely the receiver will have returned and seen some action by the time the difficult November slate arrives.