Green Bay Packers players did not hold back after Sunday’s 20-17 loss to the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Several Packers argued that roughing the passer penalties — two more on Sunday, taking their season total to eight in seven games — proved costly, killing momentum on drives where Green Bay thought it had made stops.
Xavier McKinney (Credits: ESPN)
Head coach Matt LaFleur treaded lightly on officiating after the game, but several players in his locker room did not use the same discretion. No one was more outspoken than All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney, who said he was “not a big fan of the refs right now” and did not think the officiating was great. He added that he did not care if his comments drew a fine from the NFL, saying he would rather get fined and try to help his team.
Packers rip officiating after roughing penalties in Lions loss
McKinney’s frustration centred on timing. “It’s annoying even talking about it because these are critical drives throughout the game and we might have a drive where we’re getting stops but you’re calling penalties and it’s like, this is not a penalty,” he said. “To me, it just don’t really make any sense and it’s killing our momentum, it’s killing our drives.”
Green Bay was flagged twice more for roughing the passer on Sunday, pushing its season total to eight — while Packers quarterback Jordan Love still has yet to draw one. That imbalance has become a talking point around the team, and Sunday’s game only sharpened it.
LaFleur, who vehemently argued several calls during the game, took a more cautious approach afterwards. “I don’t even want to comment on any of the penalties,” he said. “It is what it is. You got to play above it, and I thought there were some tough calls, but it is what it is.”
Devonte Wyatt unnecessary roughness call sparks Packers anger
The most discussed incident came in the third quarter. After Jared Goff completed a short pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown, Isaiah McDuffie attempted to drag St. Brown to the ground. Neither referee Alex Moore nor Green Bay’s defence heard a whistle to signify the play was over, and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt was then flagged for unnecessary roughness — and, in a separate account, for a personal foul — after tackling St. Brown on a play Green Bay thought was still ongoing.
LaFleur questioned that logic directly: there was no whistle blown, the player continued to run, and Green Bay’s defender continued playing too. Officials told LaFleur the play was obviously dead, but he responded that without a whistle, that was impossible to know. Detroit pulled ahead after the controversial call, in a game that ultimately ended 20-17, with Jake Bates hitting a 22-yard field goal as time expired.
Micah Parsons also weighed in online, posting that the league should “just go to flag football if every time a QB gets touched it’s roughing the passer” — a sentiment that captured the mood in Green Bay’s locker room.
To be fair to the full picture, Green Bay also had its own chances. The Packers went 1-of-4 in the red zone, with two missed field goals and a third-down drop in the end zone. They finished with eight penalties for 81 yards, against Detroit’s five for 50, and managed just 17 first downs and 324 total yards to Detroit’s 26 first downs and 415 yards. But for McKinney and his teammates, the officiating conversation is not going away — and with eight roughing calls already this season, it is a problem the Packers will want addressed before it costs them again.
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Source: ESPN — read the full story there.
