Green Bay Packers fans are irate after a phantom offsides penalty cost their team a fourth-down conversion early in the first quarter against the Los Angeles Rams.
The Green Bay Packers have not had a season they are used to having. The Packers are one of the worst offensive teams in the first half of the season, ranking 30th in the NFL in first-half scoring differential per ESPN. Despite this, the Packers were moving the ball effectively against the Los Angeles Rams early in the first quarter.
The Packers, on their opening drive of the game, faced a fourth-and-one on their side of the field, and the offense lined up to go for it using the controversial "Tush Push" play designed by the Philadelphia Eagles. Packers quarterback Jordan Love secured the first down for his team before a flag was thrown on the field. The officials called offsides on Green Bay Packers left tackle Yosh Nijman, who was lined up a yard behind the ball in his position as a tackle.
Yosh Nijman offsides?
Excuse me? pic.twitter.com/b302Ej1MEA
— Hunter Baumgardt (@hunterbonair) November 5, 2023
The NFL has been cognitive of offensive linemen potentially lining up offsides on the tush push play in an effort to gain a competitive advantage over the defense, with several teams across the league getting called for offensive offsides. The Packers are the latest team to be caught, albeit on a seemingly phantom call. It's possible the officials called the incorrect number on the offsides call, but the image shows that most of the Packers were behind the ball, generating skepticism about the call as a whole.
The penalty led to the Packers deciding to punt the ball on fourth-and-six, ending what could have been a scoring drive after the Packers had begun to move the ball downfield. On the next drive for the Rams, Green Bay would force a fumble and proceed to score.
In the second quarter, the Packers were penalized once again on the same play, this time on right guard Jon Runyan Jr. The Packers had another drive killed due to the penalty. The Packers' offensive coaches might need to put that play in their back pocket until they can coach their line to line up on the correct side of the ball. Or perhaps the NFL could have an officiating problem when it comes to the tush-push play?
