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Rob Demovsky
«The unfortunate thing about special teams in general is when there is a mistake, a lot of times they’re catastrophic mistakes.» — Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur on Sept. 22
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Three special teams blunders over three months might not seem like a lot, but when they’re «catastrophic» — LaFleur’s word — they can change the entire course of an NFL season.
The latest example by LaFleur’s team came near the end of this past Saturday’s 22-16 overtime loss to the Chicago Bears, a game that could cost the Packers a shot at winning the NFC North. All they needed to do was recover an onside kick with one minute and 59 seconds remaining in regulation and perhaps pick up one first down, since the Bears had two timeouts left, and they would have walked out of Soldier Field with a 16-9 win and in first place in the division with two games to play.
But the onside kick bounced off the hands of receiver Romeo Doubs, who backpedaled instead of charging the ball, and the Bears recovered.
«That was the most important play of the game,» said running back Josh Jacobs, who was on the hands team but did not block anyone on the onside kick.
«He was in great position,» special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said of Doubs. «I thought we got a good chip on the two guys we had to get a chip on, and he’s in great position to make it. He makes that thing 99 out of 100 times. We’ve defended 11 onside kicks since we’ve been here. He’s been there for eight of them and that’s the first one we didn’t come up with, so he’ll be back out there [this] Saturday night.»
OUR BALL 😱@josh_blackwell recovers the onside kick! pic.twitter.com/ndrxLJUk5e
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) December 21, 2025
On Sept. 21, the Packers (9-5-1) had a potential go-ahead field goal attempt blocked in the final minute of a 13-10 loss to the Browns. A week later Green Bay had an extra point blocked and returned for two points in a 40-40 tie with the Cowboys.
«I mean, I get it,» LaFleur said. «You’re looking at three plays that are killer plays. But I think if you look at the totality, I think our teams have done a pretty good job, especially when you look at our coverage units. I know we’re sound in what we do, and I think guys have been competing, and it’s not like we’re giving up huge returns and things of that nature. It’s just unfortunate that there’s been a couple moments where it just kind of puts a black cloud over whatever’s been done.»
Bisaccia, who has been with Green Bay since 2022 and is believed to be one of the NFL’s highest-paid special teams coordinators, is the third special teams coordinator in LaFleur’s seven seasons as head coach. Special teams problems predated LaFleur, and try as he has to fix it with different coaches, issues have remained. He fired the previous two special teams coordinators — Shawn Mennenga after two seasons and Maurice Drayton after one — before he hired Bisaccia, one of the longest-tenured assistants in the NFL who also led the Las Vegas Raiders to the playoffs as interim head coach.
While the Packers have seemingly found the right specialists — kicker Brandon McManus, punter Daniel Whelan and long-snapper Matt Orzech each signed a contract extension within the past year — the big plays have continued to haunt an organization that has lost playoff games because of special teams mistakes (see the botched onside kick recovery in 2014 NFC Championship Game at Seattle, the blocked punt by the 49ers in the 2021 divisional round game against the 49ers or the missed field goal in the 2023 divisional round game against the 49ers).
Per FTN’s DVOA metric, the Packers’ special teams rank 21st in the league, while their offense ranks 5th and their defense 14th.
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«We talk about special teams; 28 plays in a game, and there’s one that you just can’t get over, right?» Bisaccia said. «And I think if you’re a defensive player or an offensive player and you get done with a game, before you go and look at the film, you start self-reporting to yourself, ‘God dang, there’s three plays I can’t believe I did.’ No matter how the game turned out — a win or a loss — you’re always dwelling on those particular plays that happen to you. And so I think all of our players, their response should be, ‘I can’t wait to get to tomorrow, so I can get a little bit better.'»
The latest blunder came a day after one of LaFleur’s best friends in the coaching business, Rams coach Sean McVay, fired his special teams coordinator after Los Angeles allowed a punt return for a touchdown in an overtime loss to the Seahawks.
LaFleur has never fired a coach during a season and gave no indication that was about to change.
«It’s never about just one play, you know what I’m saying?» LaFleur said. «Like OK, so we don’t field that [onside kick], but … every phase contributed to that loss. We had a turnover in the red area, we went 0-for-5 in the red area, and then you got ‘em third-and-20, we have a penalty. I mean, it’s crazy to think they had nine points with two minutes left in that football game.»
With two regular-season games left, the Packers still have every chance to get into the playoffs and make a run. But that could get derailed by any more special teams catastrophes.
«Everybody got to just do their job,» said safety Javon Bullard, who has played on nearly a third of the Packers’ special teams plays this season, including the onside kick recovery team. «That’s it. Nothing special, just got to do our job.»
