Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Packers finding no real advantage at empty Lambeau Field
Green Bay — The Green Bay Packers came into their game with the Jacksonville Jaguars having won 15 of their last 18 games against AFC opponents.
If you only get to play in Lambeau Field once every four years, you may not be prepared for the half-hour ride from Appleton on game day or the chill in the air as you exit the team bus or the wind that blows left on one part of the field and right on another or the antiquated play list booming from the high-tech sound system.
So, when the 1-7 Jacksonville Jaguars had the ball at the Packers’ 36 with 1 minute and 37 seconds left and a chance to win Sunday, you must ask yourself, what in the name of brats on the grill is going on around here?
It was just two weeks ago that the Packers lost at home for the first time in coach Matt LaFleur’s tenure, looking like a team that didn’t want to be there despite playing the rival Minnesota Vikings.
There are no fans at Lambeau, but the Packers practice in the kind of wind that was blowing and was present in the Vikings game as well. They are supposed to be a bad-weather team and should have the advantage over a team from Florida.
But once again, their performance in a 24-20 victory over the Jaguars looked more like they were scrimmaging than playing a regular-season game. In front of no fans, they brought far less juice to the game than Jacksonville.
“The big concern for me is it just seems to be more in our home games than when we’re on the road,” LaFleur said. “I get it: It’s a strange year. Certainly, we’re used to having fans to help bring that energy to our football team and we don’t have that right now, unfortunately.
“That’s the situation, and it is what it is. We’ve got to do a better job of supplying that juice internally. All we have is the men in the locker room. We’ll search and try to dig at it and find ways to go out there and compete to the best of our ability.”
When he was asked what it would take for the Packers to recreate homefield advantage inside Lambeau Field, quarterback Aaron Rodgers joked about seeing former teammate and current Packers TV Network sideline reporter John Kuhn in the stands and wondering if he could get the wave going.
Rodgers continued, suggesting maybe the team needs to replicate the game day experience in other ways.
“I told Matt, I want to see ‘Roll Out The Barrel,’” he said. “I want the beer races (on the Jumbotron). I want ‘Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign.’ I want ‘YMCA.’ I want the favorites. I don’t know why we’re shying away from some of those, but hey, I’m just one man. That’s what I want.”
Maybe there is something to that. Maybe other teams are doing a better job of replicating game day. Some teams, including next week’s opponent, the Indianapolis Colts, allow a limited number of fans in the stadium, but it may make a difference.
There’s no way fans should be allowed in Lambeau Field now or at any time this season. The rising numbers of coronavirus cases in Brown County and the rest of the state are through the roof, and the Packers should not be party to the ridiculous thought that people would be safe attending a football game here.
So, if the Packers want to go somewhere this year, they better figure out what it takes to play inspired football because three of the four teams left on the home schedule are in the NFC and the other, Tennessee, is 6-3.
“Obviously, I’ve got to look inward and see if I’m doing the right things,” LaFleur said. “I think our staff has to look at themselves. I think every player, everybody involved with this team has got to look deep inside of them and understand and appreciate the opportunity to go out there and compete.
“It’s special, when you get a chance to go play a football game in the National Football League. And we’ve got to do a better job of bringing more juice. Just bringing a tougher mindset to the game day – especially when we’re at home. I don’t know what it is about the last couple games here at Lambeau, but certainly it hasn’t been our best and we’ve got to be better.”
The Jaguars are 1-8 and they’re in the Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes, but they also have played some good football. They beat Indianapolis; they lost by three at Tennessee and they lost by two at home to Houston.
Their rookie quarterback, Jake Luton, has a cannon of an arm, and they have a plucky running back in James Robinson.
They got down to the 36 in the final minutes with a chance to win with a touchdown, trailing by four.
On first and 10, Luton tried to Robinson, but felt pressure and threw incomplete. On second and 10, Rashan Gary blew past right tackle Jawaan Taylor and sacked Luton for an 8-yard loss.
On third down, Gary forced Luton out of the pocket and Preston Smith caught him from behind for another sack. On fourth down he was chased out of the pocket again and threw incomplete to end the Jaguars’ day.
It was the best the Packers had played on either side of the ball all afternoon.
“I felt like that was the first time our team came alive,” LaFleur said. “You could feel it on the sidelines (with) everybody rooting for one another. We need that from the opening kick. That’s the standard. We can’t just pick and choose when we want to do that.
“Yeah, the game’s on the line, so it’s easy to get up for that. We have got to do a better job from before we start the game to show that kind of energy, show that kind of emotion, show that kind of support for one another that we saw at the end of the game. And if we don’t get that, we’re not going to be at our best.”
This Packers team has a long history of Lambeau Field excellence to uphold.
LaFleur set the standard with an undefeated home schedule last year, including a playoff victory over Seattle. But if there are more performances like the one Sunday, the Packers are headed for trouble this year.
Or they better just hope they don’t win home-field advantage in the playoffs.