The Green Bay Packers extend their winning streak to three games, as they trample the Pittsburgh Steelers 35-25, sitting atop the NFC North. However, this win wasn’t that easy. Head coach Matt LaFleur called out the team’s mistakes from his locker room – the errors that filled the first-half performance.

When asked about the difference between the Packers’ first and second half performance, Matt LaFleur gave a pretty blunt answer. “There were some penalties on defense in the first half on third down, namely. And then offensively, it was the same thing. We had a couple of drops on third down. We really played three pretty good quarters,” he said.

That’s putting it lightly. The first half was rough. Three straight three-and-outs, dropped passes, and two missed field goals from kicker Brandon McManus, who’s just back from injury. The defense gave up key third downs thanks to penalties, and overall, the whole thing felt flat. By halftime, it looked like one of those games where the Packers just couldn’t get out of their own way.

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It’s worth remembering, McManus was good last season. 21-of-23 on field goals between the regular season and playoffs. The Packers rewarded him with a three-year extension this offseason. But the first half of this year has been a mixed bag. After missing a couple of games with a quad injury, his return wasn’t exactly triumphant.

He botched a 44-yarder wide left, came up short from 57, and ended up 2-for-4 on the night. He’s now 9-for-13 on the season, which isn’t what Green Bay expected when they handed him that deal. By halftime, Pittsburgh had a comfortable 16-7 lead, three field goals and a touchdown to Green Bay’s lone score. But thankfully, football is 60 minutes long.

The second half was a completely different story. Jordan Love is locked in, leading three straight touchdown drives right out of the gate. At one point, he completed 20 passes in a row, tying a franchise record that dates back to Brett Favre in 2007.

And the defense stepped up as well. Late in the fourth, linebacker Edgerrin Cooper punched the ball loose, and safety Javon Bullard jumped on it for the takeaway that sealed the deal. They kept Rodgers under pressure the entire time. Green Bay ended up outscoring Pittsburgh 28-3 in the second half before the Steelers scored a late touchdown to make it look closer than it was.

“They stayed together. We cleaned up some things we didn’t do in the first half and just made plays. I’m really excited for our guys. Now we just gotta take it, learn from it and move on,” LaFleur said. And the Packers head coach has some interesting things to say about Micah Parsons, too.

LaFleur had high praise for Micah Parsons

“I didn’t play well in the first half,” Micah recalled. “The guys said, ‘Keep going, it’s your time.” And he sure did. On one of his sacks, he fought through three blockers to bring Rodgers down. The Packers were poor across the board in that first half, and so was Parsons. And every single one of them stepped up.

And Matt LaFleur gave him his flowers in the post-game presser. “He’s been incredible since the day we’ve gotten him. It doesn’t take long. You sit down with him. He’s a really intelligent person, first and foremost. Then you go out there and you watch how he practices. He’s a freak of nature,” the head coach said.

No argument there. Parsons and Gary completely wrecked Pittsburgh’s protection in the second half, giving Rodgers no time to operate. Sure, Jordan Love stole the show statistically with 360 yards and three touchdowns, but that comeback doesn’t happen without the pressure those two brought.

Through seven games, Parsons has 17 total tackles and 6.5 sacks. Yeah, he’s on pace for yet another double-digit sack season. He’s never finished with fewer than 12 in his career. The Packers made him the highest-paid edge rusher in the history of the sport, and it still might end up looking like a steal by the time he’s done. Insane!