Packers show no growth with another second-half collapse

New year, same Green Bay Packers.

On Sunday, they opened their eight season under head coach Matt LaFleur, and it looked a lot like how the last one ended, Green Bay choking away a lead it had no business doing in a loss to a division rival.

After blowing a 15-point lead to the Chicago Bears in last January's wild-card loss, the Packers picked up where they left off, falling to the Minnesota Vikings, 39-22, after at one point holding a 12-point lead at 22-10.

Green Bay Packers wilt, give up 19 unanswered points in 39-22 loss to division rival Minnesota Vikings

The start of an NFL season is often a time for optimism. After all, teams had an entire offseason to better their rosters, and Week 1 is the first time we get to see the fruits of those labors. For Green Bay, it's beyond dispiriting that nothing appears to have changed over the past eight months.

Early Sunday, the Packers were clicking on offense. Per Sumer Sports data, they averaged 0.39 expected points added per pass play while throwing for 199 yards. Green Bay managed Vikings pressure, with quarterback Jordan Love going 8-of-16 for 189 yards against defensive coordinator Brian Flores' blitz packages.

Yet as was the case in last season's playoff loss to the Bears, LaFleur ran out of solutions to Minnesota's halftime adjustments as the second-half wore on. 

Green Bay's offense became predictable. Instead of mixing things up after calling pass plays on 11 out of 13 snaps in 11 personnel during the first half, the grouping became an even greater tell after halftime, when the Packers had 16 pass attempts and only one rush attempt out of it.

Conversely, they ran the ball 11 times with only five throws in multi-tight end sets.

LaFleur's unimaginative second-half play-calling was key to Green Bay's second consecutive collapse, as was an offensive line incapable of holding up against Minnesota's aggressive front.

Afterward, LaFleur discussed his team's troubling habit of being unable to close out games, saying, "It's gonna be a topic of conversation for all you guys until we do it."