The Packers, trailing 40-37, drove the ball down to the Dallas 12-yard line with 32 seconds remaining and called a timeout. From there, things fell apart. Packers QB Jordan Love threw a pass to rookie Matthew Golden, only to have the receiver tackled immediately by Trevon Diggs for a three-yard loss.
The Packers then called their final timeout with 28 seconds remaining.
On the next play, a 2nd and 13 from the 15-yard line, Love threw to running back Emmanuel Wilson, who, like Golden, lost yardage after being tackled in-bounds.
Now, with the clock ticking and no way to stop it except for hurrying to the line and kneeling the ball, the Packers shockingly proceeded to get ready to run a play and snapped the ball with only six seconds remaining, leaving themselves in a position where they would either win the game on a touchdown pass or lose it on an incompletion.
Thankfully, for Green Bay, the ball bounced off the back of a Dallas linebacker with only one second remaining on the clock. Kicker Brandon McManus came out and kicked the field goal everyone thought the Packers were going to kick immediately after Wilson’s ill-fated catch. The Packers managed to tie a game they had a shot to win had they managed their offense better in the red zone.
“We moved the ball well,” Love said after the game. “Obviously, the sad part is we didn’t get to take any shots to the end zone until that last play. I think we had a good play called, and they didn’t play the way they were going to play, like they had defended the play before that.
“I think there’s a lot of stuff we still have to clean up. Just throwing the ball in bounds in a running-clock situation right there. There is stuff that we’ve got to figure out and be better at right there in those situations.”
An understatement for sure. Packers coach Matt LaFleur was more blunt in his assessment.
“Obviously, the play call sucked,” LaFleur said.
“The operation was just way too slow,” LaFleur added. “I don’t know if our guys didn’t know we were in two minutes or what. But ultimately, the communication has got to get better. . . . That’s the bottom line.”
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