GREEN BAY, Wis. – Matt LaFleur’s an offensive guru. A quarterback whisperer.
He was hired by the Green Bay Packers in 2019 in large part because of his work with quarterbacks at previous destinations. Sure enough, he revived the career of Aaron Rodgers, helping him win two more NFL MVPs and quickly turning the Packers from pretenders into Super Bowl contenders. Then, he helped mold Jordan Love into one of the NFL’s top young quarterbacks and kept the Packers chugging along.
Then came last year’s nightmarish season-ending meltdown, which led to calls for his dismissal. Packers President Ed Policy gave him a contract extension, anyway.
At some point, every coach reaches his expiration date with the team. Has LaFleur reached his with the Packers?
The next three days might provide the answer.
This season is off to a horrific start. The Packers in front of a national television audience were trounced 35-14 by the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. During the so-called “soft” part of their schedule, they are 1-2 and fortunate to not be 0-3.
“Well, that was a humbling night,” LaFleur said during his opening statement following the worst home loss of his tenure. “Certainly, I don’t think anybody’s pleased about this. We got a couple extra days here. Everybody’s got to take a long hard look at themselves and we’ve got to find solutions and just come back ready to work. But it certainly was a tough night.”
The Packers took a 7-0 lead but were beaten like a drum the rest of the night. Focusing on the offense, after their opening touchdown, they gained one first down on their final four possessions of the first half.
Alarmingly, the offensive guru is running one of the most inept offenses in the NFL. If there’s been progress on offense, it’s as imperceptible as the movement of a glacier. They have been outplayed in each of the first three games, which shouldn’t be a surprise because they were outplayed in training camp, too.
The third-down offense was by far the worst in the league entering the night. Against the Falcons, they went 6-of-15 – which isn’t very good but even that lowly 40 percent success rate was fattened up with some garbage-time conversions.
The worst rushing attack in the NFL mustered only 17 yards on nine carries. LaFleur lamented the play-calling, though it was LaFleur who called 12 passes and three runs in the first quarter when it was 7-7.
His quarterback, who entered the game with the lowest completion percentage in the NFL, went 28-of-53 for just 52.8 percent.
A good quarterback completes passes and moves the chains. You know, what Michael Penix did against Green Bay’s defense. Love is either getting hit or thinks he’s going to get hit. Whatever the number of pass rushers in his face, Love is either chucking it deep, inaccurately or both.
What a statement this was by Love, when asked what the offense can hang its hat on.
“Yeah, I think there’s definitely a couple plays we’re doing well and I think there’s a lot of plays that the execution’s not where it needs to be from a lot of positions,” he said. “It’s just something that we’ve got to keep looking at, keep improving on, but I can’t pinpoint that there’s one thing I would say right now that we’re doing well. I think there’s a lot of things we need to improve on.”
Not one thing they’re doing well.
Not. One.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
This offseason, LaFleur decided to “strip everything down and start like it’s Year 1 all over again.”
So, having an entire offseason to hone in on the offense and all of training camp to work out the kinks and even some preseason snaps to get into a flow, the Packers have scored 53 points in three games. Love has completed 52.4 percent of his passes. Only one starting quarterback over the past decade finished with a lower mark. The Packers have fewer rushing yards in the first three games (146) than the Falcons’ Bijan Robinson had in the first three quarters.
In the wake of a third consecutive bad performance by LaFleur’s offense, the next three days will be critical. The team will have three bonus days – Friday through Sunday – to solve some of their issues before turning their attention to next week’s game at Tampa Bay.
Answers have to be found by the man who, once upon a time, seemed to have most of the answers.
“I think we got to continue to work with these guys,” LaFleur said of the offensive line, “and try to figure out what we do well, because right now I don’t know what we’re doing well offensively.
“We can all see the benefit of having a strong rushing attack, how you can get into normal rhythm on offense and that’ll open up a lot of things in the passing game. But anytime you drop back 50-some-odd times in a game and have nine rushes, it’s usually not going to bode well for you.”
Sure, it’s not all LaFleur’s fault. That is obvious. The offensive line is beat up and not very good, the star running back is stuck in NFL purgatory, and the passing game includes two proven receivers and a tight end coming off a knee injury.
But that’s why he was given a third contract. He’s experienced, successful and smart. Policy bet on those traits in giving him a contract extension even after last year’s five-game losing streak to end the season.
Love voiced his support for LaFleur after the game.
“We have a long season ahead of us, and it’s a long journey. We know that,” Love said. “But I always have confidence in Matt. I’ve been with him for so long, and I’ve seen what we can do as an offense. I’ve seen what the highs look like with this offense, and that’s the most frustrating part is we’re not there and we’re not playing at that level right now that I know we can play at.
“So, there’s always going to be stuff as play-callers [where] you look back and say, ‘I wish we would have done this different.’ As a quarterback, ‘I wish I would have done different.’ So, we’ll dive deep and, like I said, it’s a long season of continuing to figure out where we can get better. But I’ve still got confidence in everybody in that locker room.”
LaFleur said the players would get the next three days to “decompress” and focus on how each individual can get better.
He’s confident they can get it done.
“I just think we’ve got the right kind of guys that aren’t afraid of the work, that aren’t afraid of the challenge, that aren’t afraid to attack adversity, and I fully anticipate our guys doing that,” he said.
Do the Packers have the right leaders – and general manager Brian Gutekunst shouldn’t be ignored – to conquer that challenge and turn today’s adversity into tomorrow’s strength?
The short- and long-term direction of the franchise might depend on that answer.
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