The Green Bay Packers experienced a seven-game turnaround in head coach Matt LaFleur’s first season–they won just six games the year before he took over and 13 in his first season at the helm.
For most coaches, that would be enough to win Coach of the Year, but not for LaFleur. He only mustered three votes and wasn’t credited for doing enough. Instead, Aaron Rodgers was given the credit for the turnaround, as he improved his play from previous years.
Three years later, Rodgers’ play slipped again and LaFleur is taking the heat for not elevating the rest of the team. He can’t win–literally or figuratively.
The Green Bay Packers have won a lot of regular season games under head coach Matt LaFleur, but has there been enough progress?
With Green Bay failing to live up to expectations in 2022 and falling short of the postseason, some fans on social media are beginning to call for his job. That may be a bit of an overreaction.
In his four seasons as head coach, Green Bay went from missing the playoffs the two previous seasons to making it in three of his four. They also won 47 regular season games and made two NFC Conference Championship games.
The bad news is they are trending in the wrong direction.
After losing in the NFC Championship to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020, they fell at home against the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional round in 2021. Now, in 2022, they failed to make the postseason completely.
During those stretches, LaFleur has made some boneheaded playcalling mistakes. He infamously kicked a field goal from the nine-yard line with just over two minutes remaining against the Bucs and his team trailing by eight points. The Packers never got the ball back and lost by five.
The Packers’ offense struggled in key games as well. They only scored ten points in the loss to the 49ers and 16 in the season-ending defeat to the Detroit Lions. LaFleur had multiple questionable play calls in each of those contests.
Despite the team’s success, the Packers have cycled through coordinators: They’re on their third special team’s coordinator in four years and their second defensive coordinator. LaFleur said he expects to keep Joe Barry for 2023, but there’s a strong case for another firing.
It has to be very difficult to coach Rodgers. He’s a future first-ballot Hall of Famer who is as stubborn as they come. You can see Rodgers and LaFleur’s styles clashing on the field. It could be part of what led to the offensive stagnation this season.
