The Packers aren't undefeated, so naturally people want Matt LaFleur fired and are questioning his abilities.
Since we have some time over the bye week, I'm gonna debunk some of the nonsense floating around about Matt LaFleur.
This isn't a puff piece about why I love MLF and how he's a swell guy because "no one who writes about the Packers will say anything bad about him."
Nonsense.
I'm a Packers fan. I want the Packers to win. Period. This is an analysis of what Matt LaFleur has done. If he's not doing a good job, I don't want him coaching the team I love.
A lot of people seem to think he's not doing a good job. So let's start with the most common thing I've seen asked:
What does Matt LaFleur do well?
I can't believe how much this question gets asked, but I'm going to partially answer it here (because a full answer would take too long).
One thing he does really well is develop quarterbacks. You know, the most important position to a team in any sport in the world? An absolute prerequisite to winning at football in the modern era NFL? Look through his career in Atlanta, Washington, Los Angeles, and Tennessee.
Everywhere he went, quarterbacks had career years. When he came to Green Bay, it was no different.
He turned Aaron Rodgers's career around, transforming him from a washed up has-been to a back-to-back MVP. And when Rodgers left, LaFleur turned Jordan Love from a supposedly over-drafted prospect to one of the most effective quarterbacks in the league.
Oh, but those are just traits for a quarterbacks coach, you say?
Well, he's also a great game planner and play schemer. He can pencil whip the best DCs in the game and routinely puts his players in position to succeed.
Look at Jordan Love's first game as the full time starter. Playing a tough Bears defense, in a high stress game, LaFleur put Love in a position where he just had to hit open receivers all day. And he did, to the tune of 245 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and a 123.2 quarterback rating.
A couple weeks later, when the team was down 17 against New Orleans, he called a near flawless fourth quarter so his young team could march up and down the field and score at will to pull out a come from behind victory that not only mattered in the playoff standings at the end of the season, but gave this team a belief in themselves and their new quarterback that carried over through the rest of the season.
I shouldn't have to tell you what happened in the rest of the season when LaFleur designed gameplans that gave Jordan Love the ability to thrive. It was one of the most productive back halves to a season this franchise has ever seen.
The following year, he adapted his gameplanning around Love's injury, winning three games with Malik Willis (who the league valued as a throwaway bust barely worth a 7th rounder, and who is a completely different type of quarterback than Love, who the entire offense was built around).
For a true display of LaFleur's play calling prowess, look no further than their come from behind win against Jacksonville where LaFleur patiently called at least three plays to set up the Jayden Reed crosser in the waning moments that easily put the Packers in position for the game winning field goal. All this when the starting quarterback got hurt mid game and the offense had to adapt to the backup again.
Oh, but those are just traits for an Offensive Coordinator, you say?
He's also instilled a culture that his players love. You see it in how veteran free agents speak about the Green Bay Packers locker room and approach compared to the franchises they came from.
You hear it in their voice in the interview. These guys are bought into the vision and the culture. LaFleur has them focused and they don't experience the player drama that other teams do.
Oh, but none of that matters if they aren't winning, you say?
Well, he's also a proven winner. His .670 winning percentage is top five among active coaches, and his 67 wins in his first six season seasons is the second best mark in NFL history.
Oh, but he can't win big games, you say?
He's won those, too.
And not just with Aaron Rodgers, who he took to back-to-back NFC Conference Championship games.
In Jordan Love's first season as the Packers starter, he led them to 3 straight wins in must-win games to end the season. Then he went into Dallas and obliterated the one seed with brilliant game planning.
That was impressive. There is no denying that playoff games are big games. He got Aaron Rodgers to win big games, and had the team fighting in close playoff games. His playoff losses were all a lot closer than his playoff wins. What he did with Jordan Love in the playoffs during his first season was nothing short of brilliance.
Has he lost some playoff games? Sure, everyone has. No one wins them all. Not even the Belichick-era Patriots won all their big games.
Oh, but they haven't won a Super Bowl, you say?
Most coaches haven't. Most coaches never do. That's a high bar, and most franchises would laugh at the notion that winning a Super Bowl determines if a coach is good or not.
Look at how the Packers lost those games. Late drives given up by the defense. Brutal disasters from special teams. Those are areas that Matt LaFleur doesn't control.
Oh, then he should fire his coordinators, you say?
That's a murky situation in Green Bay where decision rights on moves like that are a shared accountability, not the sole discretion of the head coach.
But it hasn't been stale. They've hired three defensive coordinators (Pettine, Barry, and Hafley) and three special teams coordinators (Mennenga, Drayton, and Bisaccia) during LaFleur's six seasons as head coach.
They aren't exactly sitting on their hands - that's a pretty high turnover rate. That's the action and accountability you want.
In terms of developing quarterbacks, designing an offense, calling a game suited to his players, winning games, advancing to the playoffs, and winning playoff games - all the things you want out of a head coach - Matt LaFleur has done more than most coaches in the league.
Don't knock a guy who's great just because he isn't perfect.