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The next installment of the Packers’ Top Plays of 2025 looks at a massive late-game 4th down conversion that helped earn Green Bay a win early on in the season.
Matt LaFleur’s career as a decision-maker has had a few phases. Early on, he epitomized the “All Gas, No Brake” mentality that he preached, proving to be one of the more aggressive coaches in keeping his offense on the field in 4th down situations. However, that aggressiveness waned over the past few years, and he became more apt to play for field goals and field position.
However, 2025 saw the pendulum start to swing back in the other direction, and one of the clearest examples of LaFleur getting his groove back came in the Packers’ week 7 game against the Arizona Cardinals. This late-game conversion comes in at #9 on our countdown of Green Bay’s top plays of the 2025 season.
It’s week 7, and the Green Bay Packers are in the midst of their longest road trip of the year as they face the Arizona Cardinals. After an early week 4 bye, Green Bay defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 27-18 the previous week at Lambeau Field to improve their record to 3-1-1.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals come into the week with a 2-4 record. Arizona won each of their first two games in thrilling fashion, getting 4th-down stops in the final moments against the Saints and Panthers in back-to-back weeks while clinging to a one-score lead. After that, however, the Cardinals dropped four straight games, each by four points or fewer. The 49ers, Seahawks, and Titans each defeated Arizona on last-second field goals, while the Colts got a go-ahead touchdown run from Jonathan Taylor with less than five minutes left and stopped the Cardinals on 4th down inside the 10-yard line to hold on for a win.
It should have come as no surprise, then, that Arizona would provide a dramatic ending for the Packers in this game.
Indeed, Arizona played tough through the first half, seemingly ready to take a 13-3 lead into halftime after scoring a touchdown with seven seconds left in the first half. However, a 22-yard pass to Romeo Doubs set up a team-record 61-yard field goal from Lucas Havrisik to pull Green Bay back to within a touchdown at the break. The Packers tied the game after a Rashan Gary strip-sack of Jacoby Brissett led to a Josh Jacobs score, but the two teams traded touchdowns on the ensuing drive.
With 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Arizona took the lead with a field goal. After a three-and-out, the Packers defense stopped Brissett on a 4th-down quarterback sneak near midfield, giving Jordan Love the ball down by three with just under six minutes to play. Love converted an early 3rd-and-8 to Tucker Kraft, but after three runs by Jacobs netted 8 yards, the team faced a 4th-and-2 from Arizona’s 29-yard line and 2:32 left on the clock.
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