Packers season ends because the team can't begin (again) thanks to LaFleur, Love
Another big game featuring a small offense as the Packers get blanked in the first half to keep the streak of bad offensive performances against good teams.
Good morning!
The Green Bay Packers ended their season in a 22-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles thanks to yet another slow start from the Packers in a big game. Jordan Love matched a career-high with three interceptions, half the team got hurt, and Keisean Nixon fumbled but other than that the offense was great.
Today's edition of The Leap examines the culpability of Matt LaFleur and Love in this season-ending loss and looks forward to an offseason of potential change.
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Why did this team struggle to start fast against the best teams this season?
Peter Bukowski: Identity.
LaFleur masterfully adapted this run game for Josh Jacobs, then built on that adaptation for Malik Willis at quarterback, and seamlessly reintegrated the ground attack with Love returning under center.
But they went away from play-action, particularly from under center, and lacked a go-to mode other than salting the game away with Jacobs pounding people.
The passing attack suffered because LaFleur, Love and Co. never found a way to marry the run and pass, a core tenent of this tree of offensive coaches. After the game though, Love dismissed the play-action criticism.
“I don't think there's anything to it. It's definitely a part of our offense, the stuff we have ready and practice throughout the week. You know, whether it's the looks they're giving us on defense or just the flow of the game that we don't be able to dial up,” Love said.
“But there's definitely stuff that we weren't able to get to that maybe we wish we could have. But at the same time, it's the flow of the game. You get down a couple scores and I don’t think they’re respecting some of that stuff as much when you do play-action. Something that we’ll look at.”
Coincidentally, the Packers used play-action on the very first play of the game, and Love sailed the ball over Dontayvion Wicks’ head to the point it was nearly picked off.
Green Bay had an elite play-action game when they ran it most of the season, finishing in the top 5 in EPA/play off play-action. But they went to it less and abandoned it in big games. That’s an identity problem. They never quite found their version of rolling the way the 2023 team had late in the year.
It’s not gone forever.
LaFleur also managed the clock poorly all season, got exponentially more conservative in kick/go decision-making, and never found any answers. He’s as culpable as anyone, and he’ll have plenty of soul-searching to do this offseason.
How much is Jordan Love to blame?
PB: Well, we can start with the obvious: Love picked the worst time to have his worst game of the season.
He has to be better. Forget the money, he’s the quarterback. He’s the cornerstone player, the guy the organization said goodbye to Aaron Rodgers to play. He has to elevate his teammates, and will the offense to make plays in the exact ways we saw him do last year.
That’s the thing about Love criticism: it falls flat when you realize we’ve seen him do everything the critics say he can’t do. But in this game, the Packers needed more. They needed him to use his legs more to make plays rather than force the ball into coverage.
On the play Romeo Doubs got hurt, Love had a chance to run for the first down or drop it off to Jacobs. He got greedy, an issue all year with Love who played with such magnificent controlled aggression in his first year as a starter. On the interception to Zach Baun, even if Baun hadn’t been there, the ball from Love was behind Malik Heath, who was well-covered on the play.
You just can’t make that throw in that situation. Not a $55 million quarterback.
The loss of Christian Watson can’t be overstated. Watch the Week 1 game against the Eagles; defensive coordinator Vic Fangio regularly had coverage over the top of Watson, which opened up opportunities for Jayden Reed. When speed leaves LaFleur’s offenses, everything falls apart. This was true going back to MVP Aaron Rodgers days when they didn’t have Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and that was with Davante Adams!
Then, to lose Doubs and Reed in the game spelled too much disaster, not to mention Elgton Jenkings going out in the first half. Travis Glover got benched after a string of holding calls. Kadeem Telfort didn’t manage the dynamic Eagles interior pass rush much better. Telfort got Love sacked by Nolan Smith on a three-man rush where he got beat cold off the snap.
This, by the way, is why a team can never draft too many offensive linemen. Jordan Morgan would have been awfully handy to have on Sunday afternoon.
Would a true WR1 have been the difference?
PB: Let me put up my hand here: I loved the egalitarian style of offense the Packers run. They didn’t lose to the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara last year because they didn’t have a WR1. They lost because the defense couldn’t get stops late or take advantage of their turnover opportunities.
It must be said that the defense against the Eagles played championship-level ball, holding Philly to under 300 yards and Jalen Hurts to just 121 yards through the air. The pass rush got after Hurts even with a four-man front and Rashan Gary was the player we thought we’d see most of the season.
What felt most glaring on Sunday encompasses everything we’ve talked about so far. If the Packers had an alpha receiver, that player would provide identity. When it was Rodgers and Davante Adams, they always had that, like the Stockton and Malone two-man game. When you needed a score, they could go to that.
When Love missed Malik Heath on the out route with the game on the line, my first thought was how many times Adams had scored on plays exactly like that one. Heath didn’t do anything particularly special, it’s just that route in that circumstance is damn near impossible to defend. Heath half-stumbles out of his break, Love leads him a step too far and it’s a missed opportunity.
Green Bay has to settle for a field goal after 1st-and-goal at the eight yardline. If that’s Doubs or Watson, it’s probably a touchdown. They were hurt, so that’s not a roster construction problem.
But what about on 3rd-and-8 in the first quarter when the team needs a play? What’s the call? Doubs is your most reliable player, but what’s his go-to route? Wicks is your best separator, but is he going to catch the ball? Reed is the best with the ball in his hands, but is he going to be man coverage? Can Tucker Kraft win one-on-one with a linebacker or safety to get open?
It ultimately places the burden on LaFleur to dial up the perfect call for coverage and Love to make him right. When the offense is humming, that works. They have good enough players. But when they’re not, where do they turn to get a bucket?
They’re still trying to problem-solve this offense, when what they need is a player who can solve their problems.
It wasn’t a problem until it was. And now it is. When the pressure is on, when they’re not going to sneak up on anyone, when everyone knows they’re a good team and has tape on all their pre-snap motion, what do they have? What counter-punches can they throw? Having a true WR1 would be a nice place to start.
Nicely done
Well said!