The Green Bay Packers lost a game in Cleveland in Week 3 that they should have won. While the Browns defense certainly deserves credit, the Packers mostly beat themselves. They held a 10-0 lead with less than four minutes left in the game and collapsed. One big issue for the Packers in this game was penalties. The team committed 14 infractions for 75 yards. Unfortunately, a lack of discipline remains a big issue for the 2025 Green Bay Packers.

Lack of Discipline Remains a Big Issue for the Packers: The History

The Packers issues with penalties are nothing new. Last season the Packers also struggled with excessive yellow flags. They were 23rd in the NFL with 119 penalties in 17 games. That averages out to seven infractions per game. That doesn’t include penalties that were declined or plays where both teams committed penalties, and they offset.

Penalties were also an issue in the Packers playoff loss to the Eagles in January. The Packers committed eight penalties for 85 yards in that game which was close until the fourth quarter. Had the team played a more mistake free game, they would have had a much better chance of pulling off the upset in Philadelphia. Instead, the mistakes extended Eagles drives and put the Packers in long-yardage situations when they had the football.

Head coach Matt LaFleur commented on the issue throughout the season, but the team never cleaned it up and it remained a problem throughout the season.

What Happened In Cleveland

Against the Browns, the Packers just self-destructed. Yes, some of the penalties were questionable calls like the defensive holding and pass interference calls that were just not really significant. But too many of the infractions were mental errors.

Left tackle Rasheed Walker had a rough day with penalties. He was called for two false starts and one call for being illegally downfield. That one wasn’t close. Offensive linemen can be one yard beyond the line of scrimmage before the ball is thrown. Walker was roughly four yards downfield on that play.

Edge rusher Micah Parsons twice lined up offsides. These are basic, mental mistakes. To his credit, Parsons took full responsibility for these mistakes after the game when addressing the media.

Second year offensive lineman Jordan Morgan also had a tough game with penalties. Twice he was called for false starts.

Part of the problem with Walker and Morgan’s penalties were due to the Packers banged up offensive line’s struggles with the strong Browns front seven. Cleveland dominated the line of scrimmage throughout the game. They stuffed the Packers running game and got consistent pressure on Jordan Love. The offensive linemen were trying to get an extra quick start to neutralize the pass rush.

Lack of Discipline Remains a Big Issue for the Packers: LaFleur Speaks

LaFleur attempted to address the issue when he spoke to the press after the game.

“It just depends what kind of penalties you’re talking about,” he said. “When you talk about pre-snap penalties, that is concentration, focus, just being dialed in in the moment.”

This is something the team needed to work on during OTAs, training camp and the preseason. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to happen.

As to other penalties, LaFleur added, “When you talk post-snap penalties, we had a bunch of holding, that comes down to fundamentals and technique. We’ve got to coach it better, and we’ve got to come down harder on our guys if we see it in practice, because that’s where it all starts.”

Through three games, the team has committed 29 penalties, an average of 9.7 infractions per game. When you consider the Packers committed just four penalties in their Week 1 win over Detroit, they have 25 penalties in their last two games.

The NFL is a competitive league. As we saw against the Browns, even good teams can struggle mightily when they have to beat both themselves and the other team. If the Packers hope to contend for a Super Bowl this season, they will need to be more disciplined and stop committing costly penalties. The season could depend on it.

 

 

 

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