Breaking: Matt LaFleur Opens Up About the Packers’ NFL Leading Stat That Drives Him Crazy

The Green Bay Packers lead the league by a mile in one category.

If a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, the Packers journey to the top of the leaderboard has been taken 5 yards at a time.

The Packers on Thursday were guilty of defensive offside, neutral-zone infraction or encroachment four times in their victory over the Miami Dolphins. Green Bay has been flagged 20 times (16 accepted, four declined) for those infractions this season. That’s eight more than any other team and more than the six most-disciplined teams combined.

“You just had to ask me that question. You just wanted to get me going today,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur joked a day after the 30-17 victory.

Against Miami, Rashan Gary and Kingsley Enagbare lined up offside on defense.

“The only thing I would say we have to do a much better job on is we have to make sure we line up onsides. It feels like it’s Groundhog Day,” LaFleur said immediately after the game.

Plus, TJ Slaton was flagged for a neutral-zone infraction (defined as jumping into the neutral zone and causing the offensive player to move) on a field goal and Devonte Wyatt was guilty of encroachment (defined as crossing the line of scrimmage and making contact with the offensive player) on defense.

According to NFL Penalties, teams on average are guilty of 3.16 defensive offside, 1.91 neutral-zone infractions and 0.59 encroachment.

The Packers are crushing those numbers with NFL-high tallies in each.

While LaFleur’s initial response on Monday had a bit of humor, he was serious when he continued.

“No, it’s really annoying,” he said. “You’ve got to be conscious. I guess we’ve got to drill it more. I got to get refs out there at practice to tell when a guy’s offsides. I told those guys and, obviously, just telling isn’t enough. We’ve got to start checking with the officials. It’s become such a problem and it’s going to kill us.

“It hurt us yesterday. That is one thing from the defensive side of the ball that we absolutely have to get corrected. Shoot, it gave them an opportunity on the field goal. We got them to fourth-and-9, we jump offsides, they decide to go for it, they convert. Now, luckily, we held them to three but, still, you can’t put yourself in those situations, especially against really good football teams.”

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