Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers lost 31-23 at the end of Sunday’s NFC championship game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Likely NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers had his Packers within the Buccaneers’ 10-yard line and faced fourth place with a Super Bowl LV spot on the line.
That’s when LaFleur made one of the stupidest decisions we’ve ever seen in the NFL playoffs. The head coach literally chose to kick the basket with just over two minutes left to pull the game off with five points.
Of course, the Packers’ defense had made moves against Tom Brady in the second half (three interceptions). However, there is no reasonable explanation for LaFleur choosing to kick a field goal down by eight.
Obviously it came back to haunt Matt LaFleur and the Packers. Facing a third, short descent on their next move, the Buccaneers were able to dominate the clock after a penalty for passing interference against Packers’ cornerback, Kevin King.
This ended the game with Tampa Bay shockingly disturbing the Packers at home to move on to the Super Bowl. In turn, LaFleur was not a popular man to make decisions at the end of the game.