Packers Have Roughing-the-Passer Problem And It Goes Back Years

GREEN BAY, Wis. – According to NFL Penalties, the league average for roughing-the-passer penalties this season is 1.38 per team. The Green Bay Packers have been guilty of a league-high six.

Meanwhile, eight teams have not had their quarterback on the receiving end of a roughing-the-passer penalty. The Packers are one of those teams.

Added together, the Packers are down 6-0 on roughing penalties. No other team is worse than minus-3 in net roughing calls. Either the Packers’ defense is filled with a bunch of cheap-shotting jerks or their opponents are leading with their halos rather than the crown of their helmets when they hit Jordan Love.

After Sunday night’s victory over the Dallas Cowboys, when the Packers were guilty of three roughing-the-passer penalties, coach Matt LaFleur said he left Lambeau Field “a lot later” than he wanted. Part of burning the midnight oil was looking at the infractions.

“I think just in regards to all that stuff, at the end of the day, you just want it to be called both ways,” LaFleur said. “So, if they’re going to call it one way, it should be called for the other team, as well, and I feel like there’s been a lot of times when Jordan’s taken some close to potential roughing calls, and he’s not getting the calls.”

It was quite the diplomatic choice of words by LaFleur as he walked the fine line of trying to make a point while not trying to lighten his wallet.

“I think (Love) needs to be more of an a-hole to the officials and lobby for some of those calls,” LaFleur said, somewhat lightheartedly. “You see some guys do it, and it works.”

But what about LaFleur? NBA coaches are famous for working the referees, especially during a playoff series, when a perceived lack of calls in one game is harped on after and between games in hopes of getting the calls the next game.

“You saying I’m not working them good enough?” LaFleur said to that example.

Only LaFleur would know how much he lobbies the officials during the game or the league during the week. With a contract extension, he probably can afford the fine for criticizing the officials for letting Love get blasted after the throw.

“I’m going to tell them next week, I’ll say, ‘Bill Huber told me that I need to get on you guys.’”

Got to Be Smart on Defense

All joking aside, it’s wild that the Packers have been flagged six times compared to zero for their opponents. The Packers have been flagged for some legit fouls. Others, such as Lukas Van Ness’ two-handed shove of Dak Prescott, looked incredibly weak – even for this era of protecting the passer at all costs.

“We can only control our actions out there, and there were a couple hits like you cannot go high on a quarterback,” LaFleur said. “You’ve got to make sure that you’re going in the strike zone and then, obviously, if you do have him wrapped up, you’ve got to make sure you don’t land on him with your body weight.”

LaFleur said opinion among the coaches was split on Karl Brooks’ body-weight foul on Prescott, though he seemed to agree that was the right call.

“As far as some of those other calls,” he continued, “I thought Van Ness’ wasn’t. You get a step before you have to hit the quarterback, and I didn’t think it was a forceful hit to the quarterback.”

Part of the weekly postmortem is sending in clips to the league to question or gain clarity on penalties that were called or not called. Shots on the quarterback probably have been a theme.

“We’ll see what they say,” LaFleur said. “And then I obviously can’t tell you guys about what they say, but it helps us educate our players and at the end of the day that’s our job. We got to educate them on what they can and cannot do and make sure that we try to coach them up and they got to control themselves in the moment.”

No team has reached double-digits for roughing penalties since the Jets were flagged 14 times in 2020. The Packers, who have been guilty of 14 percent of the league total through six games, are well on their way.

“We can’t foul,” defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said, choosing to stay out of the public fray. “I always say, like it’s continuing to educate, continuing to talk technique and then decision-making. We got to make sure that we’re making correct decisions in real time, which I know is not easy to do, but good defenses don’t beat themselves.”

Using data from Sumer Sports, the Packers were flagged only once for roughing while opponents were penalized four times, so Green Bay was plus-3. In both 2023 and 2024, Green Bay was flagged three times and its opponents once. 

That means during the three-plus seasons with Love at the controls, officials have called six roughing penalties against Green Bay’s opponents. The Cowboys’ opponents have been flagged 20 times during that span, three more than any other team. The Bills have been the second-largest beneficiary with 17.

The Chargers’ opponents have been flagged six times this season alone.

In the NFC North, Green Bay’s division rivals have been flagged for roughing one time apiece this season.

Net Roughing Penalties Since 2023

Due largely to this year’s 6-0 disparity, the Packers are minus-7 on roughing calls during the Love era. Only the Eagles at minus-8 have seen more lopsided officiating. For Green Bay during that span, only four teams have been flagged more for roughing the passer and only two teams (the Rams and Texans) have benefited from fewer roughing penalties.

Dallas is a staggering plus-13. Buffalo (plus-11) and Cleveland (plus-10) are the only teams that are double-digits positive. 

Here is the full table from Sumer Sports.

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