Martha Careful
a year ago

Wendell Ferreira wrote:
Matt LaFleur Has the First Real Opportunity to Shine as a Protagonist Offensive Mind
Packers head coach has a challenging transition ahead 


By WendellFerreira.   Jul 25, 2023

During a five-episode series of The Athletic's podcast "The Playcallers," it became evident how Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur has long been respected and praised around the NFL. However, he often found himself in the shadows of fellow coaching rising stars, like Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. Throughout his career, LaFleur has been working alongside these renowned figures in Washington, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. While his coaching prowess was recognized, he didn't have the same opportunities to be the true protagonist.

It wasn't until 2018, when LaFleur got his first chance at playcalling with the Tennessee Titans, that he could showcase his offensive acumen. Circumstances forced him to rely heavily on the running game, led by Derrick Henry, due to the limitations of the passing offense around Marcus Mariota.

Since taking over in Green Bay in 2019, LaFleur has undoubtedly done a valuable job.

Nevertheless, his accomplishments often appeared overshadowed, again, this time by the presence of Aaron Rodgers. When the team lost, the blame fell on LaFleur, the defense, or special teams. But when they won, and they have won a lot, it was inevitably attributed to having a future Hall of Fame quarterback.
This dynamic sparked discussions regarding the extent of LaFleur's impact versus what Rodgers is able to do. The quarterback, however, had been playing below his usual standards for a couple of years before LaFleur's arrival. Under LaFleur's guidance, Rodgers went on to claim two more NFL MVP awards. Now, with Jordan Love stepping in as the Packers starting quarterback, LaFleur has an unprecedented opportunity to fully shape the narrative of what Green Bay's offense will be.

While LaFleur himself argued more than once that the offense will always require adaptation, and it won't be different with Love under center, it's evident that in the past, LaFleur had to tailor his offensive philosophy significantly to align with what Rodgers preferred. This led to some initial tension in 2019, and even last year Rodgers expressed a need to "simplify" the offense when things weren't going smoothly. 

"Simpler. Simpler. Simplify some things. All of it," Rodgers said. "A lot of it is simple mistakes. If we're making simple mistakes on complex plays, to me we need to simplify some things."
Throughout the last couple of seasons, Rodgers has also voiced his dislike for motions and shifts, as they interfere with his ability to read the opposing defense. However, motions are a fundamental aspect of LaFleur's coaching philosophy.

With Jordan Love at the helm, a player drafted by the Packers when LaFleur was already in charge, the coach has more freedom to build an offense that aligns with his vision. If this approach proves successful, it will demonstrate LaFleur's true value as an elite offensive mind, independent of Rodgers' presence.
So far, LaFleur has shown great ability to manage the Packers when things weren't working that well. This is something Sean McVay himself praised during last year, when both the Rams and the Packers were having tough seasons.

"I've been so impressed with just watching the consistency and the steadiness at which he's handled things," McVay mentioned. "I think it's reflected with the way that they've responded and in a lot of good instances based on some of the things that they’ve gone through as well."
This season holds transformative potential for the Packers as a whole. For Matt LaFleur, it's an especially crucial moment to emerge as a respected and accomplished offensive mind, entirely on his own merits.

I know we have a thread like this, but I can’t find it. I think this article is very well written and it’s going to be interesting to see how MLS does things this year.
 
Go Packers!!!!
nerdmann
a year ago
Correct. Matt will now create the offense around Jordan's skills and what Jordan does well. Every player has strengths and weaknesses. 

However, the previous QB took this to an extreme by demanding Mike be shitcanned, calling Mike "low IQ," then demanding to keep running Mike's offense. And oh yeah, no motion, no attacking the middle of the field.
“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”
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packerfanoutwest (3h) : 49ers are underdogs at Packers, ending streak of 36 straight games as favorites
Zero2Cool (10h) : 49ers might be down their QB, DL, TE and LT?
packerfanoutwest (22-Nov) : Jaire Alexander says he has a torn PCL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : Even with the context it's ... what?
Mucky Tundra (20-Nov) : Matt LaFleur without context: “I don’t wanna pat you on the butt and you poop in my hand.”
beast (20-Nov) : We brought in a former Packers OL coach to help evaluate OL as a scout
beast (20-Nov) : Jets have been pretty good at picking DL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He landed good players thanks to high draft slot. He isn't good.
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He can shove his knowledge up his ass. He knows nothing.
beast (20-Nov) : More knowledge, just like bring in the Jets head coach
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : What? Why? Huh?
beast (19-Nov) : I wonder if the Packers might to try to bring Douglas in through Milt Hendrickson/Ravens connections
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : The Jets fired Joe Douglas, per sources
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Jets are a mess......
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Pretty sure Jets fired their scouting staff and just pluck former Packers.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Jets sign Anders Carlson to their 53.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : When you cycle the weeks, the total over remains for season. But you get your W/L for that selected week. Confusing.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the totals are accurate..nrvrtmind
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : I don't follow what you are saying. The totals are not the same as last week.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : ok so then wht are the totals the same as last week?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : NFL Pick'em is auto updated when NFL Scores tab is clicked
Martha Careful (19-Nov) : The offense was OK. Let's not forget the Bear defense is very very good.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Who updates the leaderboard on NFLPickem?
beast (19-Nov) : Has the Packers offense been worse since the former Jets coach joined the Packers?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Offense gets his ass in gear, this could be good.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Backup QB helped with three wins. Special Teams contributed to three wins.
bboystyle (18-Nov) : Lions played outside thats why. They scored 16 and 17 in the only 2 outside games this year
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : The rest of the NFL is catching up to Packers ... kicking is an issue throughout league
packerfanoutwest (18-Nov) : Packers DL Kenny Clark: We knew 'we were going to block' Bears' game-winning field goal attempt
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Lions seem to be throttling everyone, but only (only) got 24 lol maybe the rain is why
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Packers vs Lions game doesn't seem so bad.
beast (18-Nov) : Dennis Green "They are what we thought they were, and we let them off the hook!"
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : comment of the day Z2Cool "Bears better than we want to admit. Packers worse than we think. It's facts."
Mucky Tundra (17-Nov) : my worst case scenario: Bears fix their oline and get a coach like Johnson from the Lions and his scheme
Zero2Cool (17-Nov) : Bears get OL fixed amd we might have a problem
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : Pretty sure they already have scouting reports on guys who aren't even starting for their college team. The future is now for me.
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : I tend to let Gute and Co. Worry about the future.
beast (17-Nov) : That's great news and Packers need to keep upgrading their OL, DL and DBs this off-season, so missing one guy doesn't kill them
beast (17-Nov) : That's great news and Packers need to keep upgrading their OL, DL and DBs this off-season, so missing one guy doesn't kill them
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : Jaire and Evans Williams are both ACTIVE! Good news.
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : The badgers really need to change the whole offensive scheme. No draws no screens plus the quarterback is marginal
Cheesey (17-Nov) : If the Badgers had a decent QB, they would have won. The guy can't hit a wide open receiver
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : chop block
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : there was a very questionable job Block call that upon viewing replay was very borderline
beast (17-Nov) : How so? (I didn't watch)
Zero2Cool (17-Nov) : Badgers got hosed vs Oregon
packerfanoutwest (16-Nov) : damn,he hasn't played since week 2
Mucky Tundra (15-Nov) : poor guy can't catch a break
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