Cheese Curds, 10/12: Matt LaFleur explains 3-and-out, keeps taking what defenses are giving

Are you frustrated by the three-and-out that the Green Bay Packers had in the 4th quarter of last Sunday’s game against the New York Giants? That’s understandable, and head coach Matt LaFleur is frustrated too.

But unlike many Packers fans, he is not frustrated by his choice of playcalls.

On Monday, LaFleur discussed that drive and the thought processes behind the first-down and second-down decisions. But one of the key components of the decision is LaFleur and Rodgers simply trying to take what defenses are showing them. Single-high safety with an 8-man box? The Packers are passing against that alignment every time. Two-high and light personnel? That’s probably going to be a run.

That reactionary approach to take what’s being given will work in many instances, but defenses that are able to disguise their intentions — like Wink Martindale’s unit for the Giants — can bait the Packers a bit. In today’s curds, we’ll find some more of LaFleur’s comments from this week as well as an argument in favor of being more aggressive and dictating terms to the defense instead of the other way around.

Packers’ defense pays for lack of pre-snap urgency | Packers.com
Among the issues that Matt LaFleur discussed this week was the defense's inability to get set before the snap, which led to numerous coverage issues.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur explains pivotal three-and-out sequence vs. Giants | Packers.com
He also addressed the failed drive in the fourth quarter, which featured three straight incomplete passes. LaFleur said that Green Bay threw the ball because the Giants gave them a single-high look, and he lamented not getting a penalty on that first play. Second down was an RPO against an 8-man box, a play that the Packers have hit on more than once in recent weeks.

It’s Time for Packers to Start Dictating Rather Than Reacting - Sports Illustrated
The playcalls reacted to what the defense was showing them instead of just leaning on the run game with the two backs combining to average over five yards per carry.

Assessing where the Packers defense is going wrong on crossing routes | Packer Report
Although the Packers' pass defense as a whole has given up a fairly low number of passing yards overall, they're among the teams with the most yards given up on crossing routes. This examination puts the blame for that issue squarely at the feet of the coaching staff.

Source - NFL to mull roughing the passer penalties after season | ESPN
Week 5 saw a slew of hilariously bad roughing penalties, and the league is apparently going to examine those calls and how to address them before next year.

Scandal rocks Fat Bear Week, but the contestants are unperturbed : NPR
Bear 747 lived up to his aviation-inspired ID number to win this year's contest, but his semifinal was affected by a ballot-stuffing scandal as someone spammed the contest for his competitor, submitting over 9,000 fraudulent votes.