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Packers' Matt LaFleur Issues Warning After Week 3 Upset to Browns

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Sean Deveney | Last updated Sep 21, 2025 10:51 PM ET

It was not the way things were supposed to go down for the Packers in Week 3, not after big wins against two of the best teams in the NFC--Detroit and Washington--to open the season. Cleveland was a bottom-feeder last season and was expected to have much the same type of season here in 2025. At 0-2, it looked like they were on their way.

But then the Browns caught some good breaks against the Packers, most notably a blocked 43-yard field-goal attempt with 27 seconds to play that set up Cleveland for its own game-winning field goal, turning an apparent Green Bay win into a 13-10 loss.

For Packers coach Matt LaFleur, despite the shock of the loss, there was an underlying theme, one the Packers need to fix, soon: penalties. The Packers committed 14 of them for 75 yards, the second straight week in which the team hit double-digits in penalties.

Packers Must 'Lock in at a Higher Level'

LaFleur warned his team against repeating those mistakes going forward.

"One thing we have to get corrected, when we have 14 penalties in a game, it’s tough to overcome that," LaFleur said. "We can't ... We have to do a much better job of coaching the fundamentals, the details. And we’ve got to lock in at a higher level in regards to some of the controllable penalties, whether it’s false starts or offsides or whatever you have."

The Packers should be able to lock in for Week 4, when the team travels to Dallas for what will be an emotional return for star edge rusher Micah Parsons. The 1-2 Cowboys were trounced by Chicago in Week 3, 31-14, and Dallas has now yielded 92 points in three games this season.

How Will the Packers' Offensive Line Fare?

The Packers did have a setback on the offensive line on Sunday, as the two starters who missed Week 2--tackle Zach Tom and guard Aaron Banks--both went down with injuries again, and could be out a while longer. They were replaced by rookie Anthony Belton and second-year man Jordan Morgan, and the pair struggled to handle Cleveland's rough-and-tumble front four.

The Browns sacked Jordan Love five times in the game, hurried him even more, and forced the Packers into multiple false start and offsides penalties.

It was all part of the disappointment for LaFleur.

"That was extremely disappointing obviously," he said. "To be in a position to win the game at the end of the game and to have the script totally flip on you with the bock and them getting into field-goal range. It’s tough. It’s tough to deal with but you better learn from each and every opportunity that you go out there, in the wins and the losses. You got to move on."

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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