The Green Bay Packers couldn’t have started any worse the game against the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday in the wild card round. On the very first play, kick returner Keisean Nixon fumbled, and it was recovered by the Eagles, who went down to score a touchdown right thereafter.
However, that play includes significant considerations. First, it’s unclear if the Eagles really recovered the football—head coach Matt LaFleur does not think so. Moreover, you could argue that former Packer linebacker Oren Burks made an illegal hit on Nixon.
Regarding the second part, the NFL has just admitted they made a mistake. On Saturday, the league announced Burks was fined $8,333 for unnecessary roughness for illegal use of the helmet.
Had that penalty been called, not only would the Packers have avoided the initial touchdown, but they would start their first offensive drive in favorable field position. For a game that was 16-10 late in the fourth quarter, it could have been a real game-changer.
Now, though, it’s too little, too late.
“I thought we recovered the ball,” LaFleur said after the game. “Just what they showed on the big board. What I was hearing from our guys up stairs, I think (assistant quarterbacks coach) Connor Lewis is spot on the majority of the time. They all thought it was our ball, but obviously the league felt differently.”
Despite being convinced that the outcome of the play should have been different, LaFleur knows the loss goes beyond just that play.
“You have to be able to overcome things, bad things happen in games. You just gotta be resilient and bounce back,” LaFleur added. “We just didn’t do enough to do that. You’re not gonna win many games when you’re -4 on the turnover battle. (Nick) Sirianni has a heck of a record when they have the turnover battle, so that was one of the points of emphasis, it’s always is every week, a lot of these games come down to that. You can’t be -4 and expect to win a football game.”
The league reviewed the turnover and decided the call on the field was correct. The personal foul is not reviewable, though, and that ended up being a big factor for the Packers’ elimination.
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