To say the Green Bay Packers’ offense has been a disaster through six games doesn’t quite do it justice. Running back Aaron Jones continues to be underutilized, the offensive line can’t do the simple things right, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers has not been himself.
Rodgers continues to have plenty of input on the offense, which is perfectly fine. But, at some point, head coach Matt LaFleur needs to have the final say. After six weeks of chaos, it’s time for LaFleur to take control of Green Bay’s offense.
There’s a dynamic between Rodgers and LaFleur that goes relatively unnoticed when the team is winning, and that’s how vocal Rodgers is about his own ideas sometimes trumping LaFleur’s plans.
Go back to the game in London against the New York Giants when the Packers were trailing by a touchdown in crunch time. The television camera caught LaFleur saying to Rodgers on the sideline during a timeout, “You want to run that play?”
The rest is history. Rodgers had two passes in a row batted down at the line, and the Packers lost. After the loss, he addressed the pick-up by the camera on his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
“I wanted to run this play that we’ve run in the past that I felt like was gonna give all three guys on the left side a chance to win. They (the Giants) played it good. … It didn’t quite shape out. … Matt had an idea about a play, and I had an idea about a play. I liked both plays and basically said, ‘Hey, whatever one you think,’ and jogged back out there to give reminders to the guys, and we called the play that I was leaning towards.”
Rodgers is calculated and smart, but it doesn’t mean his word should be final. While it’s fine for LaFleur to lean on Rodgers while the duo brainstorms, LaFleur needs to take more control.
Following another baffling loss, this one to the New York Jets at Lambeau Field, Rodgers mentioned the need for the offense to “simplify things.” When LaFleur was made aware of Rodgers’ comments and asked if he agreed, LaFleur said that he didn’t know what Rodgers meant.
Rodgers mentioned all the pre-snap motion the Packers run and how it could go down a tick, which wouldn’t make much sense in LaFleur’s scheme, which relies on plenty of motion.
LaFleur made a good point about how things unraveled against the Jets and how Green Bay didn’t even use much motion early on.
“The first two drives of the game, I think the only motion we had was we had a halfback go around the quarterback, and they were in man coverage, and the ‘backer went flying out of the box, and we went three-and-out on both those drives.”
The head coach shouldn’t have to provide examples to back up his own strategy. Rodgers having a say in how the engine runs has its benefits, but ultimately this is LaFleur’s show to produce and direct.
Still, it often feels like the exact opposite.
Earlier this summer, Rodgers appeared on Barstool Sports’ podcast Pardon My Take. Among many topics, he discussed his love for the West Coast offense. Rodgers mentioned how he “gets after” LaFleur sometimes for having too much motion involved in the scheme or a given game plan. If the Packers were winning, what Rodgers said then and what he’s saying now wouldn’t seem important. Now that they’re losing and the offense looks miserable, all of it is significant.
For what it’s worth, Rodgers clarified this week on The Pat McAfee Show what exactly he meant by saying the offense needs to simplify things.
“It doesn’t mean less motions or less checks at the line of scrimmage. It just means, let’s make sure that these guys can handle what we’re doing. It really was an alert for our players, like we need to lock in a little bit more and simplify things in our own mind.”
This is an offense ranked No. 24 in the NFL in points per game at 17.8. They rank No. 29 in second-half points per game at six per contest. It’s not as though Rodgers is playing phenomenally, and everything else is struggling. It’s also not the case that Rodgers’ suggestions have worked brilliantly while LaFleur’s haven’t.
At some point, the head coach has to buck up and be the leader. Taking suggestions from Rodgers is fine, but bending the knee to the quarterback won’t solve the riddle for the Packers. It will only dig them a deeper hole.
It’s time for LaFleur to take the reins back.
