Matt LaFleur deserves criticism
There are a lot of things working against Matt LaFleur which make it easy to sympathize with the Packers head coach.
The offensive line has been in constant flux all year, which continued Monday night as Elgton Jenkins went out. Green Bay entered this game down Tucker Kraft, Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden, and Savion Williams barely played on offense.
It is not unacceptable that the Packers found it difficult to move the ball on this Eagles defense, and even then, they crossed the 50 plenty of times. But there was so much in this game that reflects extremely poorly on coaching.
Green Bay continued to shoot themselves in the foot whenever they got close to scoring range, whether it be penalties, missed assignments or turnovers. At some point, that is part of your identity and the lack of execution falls on the head coach.
Then there were the usual handful of very questionable decisions and play calls by LaFleur which had fans pulling their hair out.
Too many runs on 2nd and long to set up… 3rd and long. Sometimes too safe on 4th down and other times too aggressive. Called a timeout on 4th down with four seconds left in the first half which could have allowed the Eagles to try a hail mary.
A shotgun run on 4th and 1 with the game on the line, which was rushed – the Packers snapped the ball with 27 seconds left on the play clock – and was as disastrous as it was unimaginative. Even worse? The Eagles defensive line called out what the play would be before it was even run.
That is a terrible look for an offensive play caller. Green Bay also went with Brandon McManus at kicker again in this game, and he failed miserably with two attempts at a 64-yarder to tie the game.
McManus told the ESPN broadcast crew this week that this was the first time his quad had felt somewhat healthy, which calls LaFleur’s decision to roll with him for the last two weeks even more into question.
There is no point in firing LaFleur midseason, as whoever would be available to take over at this stage is not going to make the Packers any more likely to win a Super Bowl this year. LaFleur also has an excellent track record which should not be tossed aside based on a poor stretch.
He will very likely turn things around and end up getting a contract extension in the offseason, but right now, his offense looks stale and poorly coached, and that has to change.
Josh Jacobs is still that guy
Jacobs was one of the only offensive players who could hold his head high after Monday’s game. He fought hard for every yard behind a subpar offensive line and got more than was blocked all night.
He is doing all he can to get the offense moving, and if the rest of the unit can get themselves together (whether that happens is anyone's guess), Jacobs could start to put up the kind of production he did last season and hit some big plays.
Lack of YAC evident without Tucker Kraft
Perhaps a choice based on the opponent, the Packers abandoned a lot of their screens and horizontal passing game, but when they did need their pass catchers to pick up extra yards, it quickly became clear how crucial Kraft was to that endeavor.
The Eagles consistently got Packers ball carriers to the ground quickly, and the YAC element of the offense was basically nonexistent.
They will need to rely less on that formula when possible, although it is difficult to do so when facing soft defenses that are begging you to throw the ball short. Green Bay needs Jayden Reed back badly.
Jordan Love compounding shaky offensive line
The offensive line had a rough night in pass protection, but more concerningly, their up and down play throughout the year has started to impact Love’s play.
He is not confident standing in the pocket and delivering, too often dropping his eyes to the rush and even bailing on relatively clean pockets.
There were multiple times in this game where Love had begun to scramble and could still have thrown the ball downfield, but had blinkers on. He has to be calmer and let things play out more.
Packers defense is championship caliber
The Packers defense got after Jalen Hurts and the Eagles all night, limiting them to just 10 points, frequently getting out of bad spots their offense left them in, and giving Love and company the chance to get back in the game.
LaFleur, Love and the offense need to figure things out, because they are risking wasting a Super Bowl worthy defense this year.