CHICAGO (AP) — At the very end of his seventh season as Green Bay’s coach, Matt LaFleur saw a team that lacked composure at big moments in a playoff game.
It was an all-too-familiar scene for the Packers — one that will follow LaFleur for a long time.
“We’ve got to look at it. We’ve got to talk. There’s a lot of pieces,” he said. “All you’re trying to do in the moment is, when mistakes are made, you’re correcting them. There’s not long discussions on the sideline. It’s just you correct the mistakes and you try to keep it moving. And I felt like just our team got a little bit disheveled in the second half.”
It sure did.
Green Bay blew a 21-6 lead in the fourth quarter of a wild 31-27 loss to the Chicago Bears in the wild-card round of the playoffs on Saturday night. The collapse included two big misses by Brandon McManus on an extra point and a 44-yard field goal, along with a delay-of-game penalty coming out of a timeout and a fumbled snap on the final play of the game.
It was the fifth consecutive loss for Green Bay (9-8-1), a season-ending slide that featured two dramatic losses at Chicago. The Packers blew a 16-6 lead in the final minutes of regulation in a 22-16 overtime loss to the Bears on Dec. 20.
Green Bay dropped to 33-3 in the playoffs when it led by at least 10 points. The other losses were against the Seattle Seahawks in the 2014 NFC title game and the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2003 divisional round.
“We had a game where we couldn’t finish it and let a team come back and beat us,” quarterback Jordan Love said. “So it’s very disappointing to end the season on a note like that. So, yeah, everybody is very disappointed. I’m very disappointed, and that’s it.”
The tough finish could lead to major changes for Green Bay.
LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst each have one year remaining on their contracts. Ed Policy, who took over as Green Bay’s president and CEO last summer, has said he’s “generally opposed” to the idea of having a coach or GM enter the final year of a contract without an extension.
LaFleur, 46, declined to get into the specifics of his situation after the loss, but he said being Green Bay’s coach “means everything” to him. He also got a vote of confidence from his quarterback.
“I definitely think Matt should be the head coach,” Love said. “I’ve got a lot of love for Matt, and I think he does a good job.”
Love threw three of his four touchdown passes in the first half. The Packers had a 21-3 lead when McManus missed a 55-yard field goal on the final play of the second quarter.
Love’s 23-yard TD pass to Matthew Golden made it 27-16 with 6:36 left, but McManus was wide left on the extra-point attempt. His missed 44-yard try would have provided a 30-24 lead in the final minutes.
“It’s disappointing,” McManus said. “My role on the team is to make kicks and these guys pour in thousands of plays over the course of the season and I leave seven points on the board today. Like I said, it’s the most disappointing part of my career right now.”
A delay-of-game flag coming out of a Green Bay timeout played a role in the drive stalling ahead of McManus’ final kick of the night. LaFleur called the penalty “inexcusable.”
The Packers drove to the Bears 23 on their final possession, but offensive lineman Rasheed Walker was called for a false start before Love threw two incomplete passes. The timing on the final play was thrown off when Love dropped the snap.
“We had a play called to be able to take a shot to the end zone,” Love said. “And then, depending on the coverage they were playing, how soft they were, trying to pick up an easy couple yards to the sidelines, that’s what we went to. When I fumbled the snap, couldn’t get that, it kind of turned into last-second Hail Mary.”
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