Matt LaFleur explains why Packers passed four times from Eagles' 1-yard line

Chelsea Howard

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Matt LaFleur explains why Packers passed four times from Eagles' 1-yard line image

The Packers had a chance to win Thursday's game against the Eagles when they got down to the 1-yard line while trailing a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but many questioned coach Matt LaFleur's playcalling when Green Bay passed the ball four times. 

When asked why the Packers didn't run the ball, LaFleur said: "That's a great question," while admitting, "Unfortunately it didn't work out for us."

The series started when Rodgers threw a goal-line fade to Jimmy Graham with 9:19 remaining in the fourth. He then tried to connect with Danny Vitale, but that didn't work either. Third down brought a run-pass option, resulting in Rodgers throwing out of bounds. And then on fourth-and-1, Rodgers threw to Graham again but the tight end wasn't open.

LaFleur's explanation of what went wrong: 

"We got into goal line, we liked the matchup on the outside, Jimmy Graham on the safety and that was incomplete. Second down we tried to stay in goal line thinking they might think we're running the ball. We ran the keeper and they played the keeper. Credit to them. Their defensive end read the field and was right in Aaron's face.

"Third down we called a play for the run/pass option and Aaron he saw who he saw and pulled the ball, then the defense reacted so he had to throw it away. Then fourth down we tried another pass."

Rodgers said after the game that he felt "good about all four calls" and didn't have any regrets.

"We had a couple opportunities there I think to score and we just didn't quite execute. It hurts, obviously, the way they were stopping the run, we felt good about those four calls and I liked the calls and I felt like we were close on a couple of those to really scoring and tying it up."

The Eagles finished with a 34-27 win, while the Packers dropped to 3-1.

Chelsea Howard