Matt LaFleur gave one of his better press conferences yesterday. He didn't dodge questions and gave insight on the decisions made -- it was informative. One thing that keeps getting brought up is "execution" and it's kind of pissing me off. It's true, if the players executed, then the special teams dominates, the offense dominates and the defense dominates. That's one of those "no shit sherlock" things.
The Packers signed CB Rasul Douglas during 2021 and he played the perimeter. He did so well the Packers gave him 3 year/$21 million contract. Then in their infinite wisdom, they moved him inside. A guy who doesn't have that quick twitch or lateral speed. A guy who excels pressing WR's with his physicality. I thought OK, you gotta get Rasul, Jaire and Stokes on the field at same time, I get it. It's been five games and it's not working and it's not improving. Put him back on the outside and let him shut that side down. Put someone else inside, maybe Jaire, maybe Stokes or hell even Savage.
The point here is the players are not executing so you need to change things up so they have a higher probability of executing successfully. It's no different on offense. Coach says they loaded the box "daring us to pass", and they missed the passes. Why? Why change up? Your running game was EXECUTING and you change it? You stop because they are loading the box daring you to pass instead of run?
We can relate this to defense too. We're once again having DB's pointing at one another because of communication issues. I have no doubt Joe Barry defense would be successful if executed. Your defense would be. My defense would be. The thing is, you need to put players in the best opportunities to SUCCEED → to EXECUTE!
I know some of you are too young to remember all the way back to 2010, but our defense suddenly went from being stingy to damn near dominate. Remember, we were never more than 7 points out of the lead that entire season. What changed during the last half of the season? Players went to the DC and said they were thinking too much. Players said after the season, the defense changed to be more simple and they could just react, not think.
So, yes, execution matters, but it's the coaches job to put players in the best positions to execute successfully. 3rd and 2, you run it. You live with the results. If it falters, you pass it on 4th down. If it succeeds, you win.