We always expected this young Green Bay Packers offense to have its ups and downs. A first-year starting quarterback throwing to inexperienced receivers was always going to be a difficult ask, and that was before the team was plagued by injuries.
But it’s concerning when the offense looks worse week after week and plays its weakest game against one of the most inept teams in the league. After a strong start against the Chicago Bears in Week 1 and three good quarters against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2, Matt LaFleur’s offense has mostly pulled a vanishing act. The Packers are invisible in the first half before coming up with something mildly better after halftime.
Jordan Love has regressed after a solid two-week start. There are a few excuses available for the first-year QB1, but the most significant one is that the offense needs more from LaFleur’s scheme. The lack of game plan, team identity, and execution ultimately fall on the coach. The team simply needs a better plan from its brilliant offensive play-caller.
The Detroit Lions forced LaFleur’s group into six dropback passes, and an early deficit required the Packers to abandon the run game almost entirely. They ran into the opposite problem last week. Green Bay established the run early rather than take advantage of the Las Vegas Raiders’ poor pass defense, which was already down two starters.
It took until the second half to get the pass game in focus, and LaFleur neglected the team’s best skill-position players for most of the game. Even when LaFleur prioritized the passing game, receivers never seemed to be open. Maxx Crosby had his way with the offensive line all night; Green Bay’s only answer was throwing tight ends to block him.
We didn’t see LaFleur cleverly scheming receivers open. Too many plays were either behind the sticks or shot plays with low odds. There was no cohesion or tempo. Not enough pre-snap motion or “illusion of complexity.” This team lacks an offensive identity.
It’s especially frustrating considering the Shanahan tree is the hottest offensive coaching group in the league. It might be unfair to compare the Packers to the San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, and even the Minnesota Vikings, who have stacked personnel and are in a different stage. But even the Houston Texans are getting more with less in a Shanahan-tree scheme.
Of course, not every shortcoming is LaFleur’s fault. With a chance to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, two drops and a poorly thrown ball leading to an interception sealed a Raiders victory. And LaFleur couldn’t account for Aaron Jones and David Bakhtiari missing so much time. Not having your two best offensive players is a huge loss for a young team.
Even then, LaFleur generally has his best schemes when he’s missing his top players. We’ve seen it in the past (admittedly, with Aaron Rodgers) when Davante Adams and Aaron Jones have missed time. One of LaFleur’s best-called games was against the then-undefeated Arizona Cardinals down his top three receivers. And he faced a similar problem in Week 1 of this year against Chicago and called an excellent game.
Maybe I’m a fool for taking anything away from a game against the Bears. But that performance showed that a creative LaFleur scheme can still overcome the young offense’s woes — at least against weaker opponents. And he doesn’t need to go that deep in his bag. Find simple concepts that work and get Love into a rhythm early. Find something the team can do well and build off of that rather than trying a bit of everything. And find better ways to get Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs involved.
Simplifying the offense will help the young receivers get into a groove, and a simple offense doesn’t mean an ineffective one.
As always, LaFleur is the first to admit the problem starts with him and recognizes a need for change. “Searching for a little bit of answers right now,” LaFleur said regarding the offenses’ slow starts. “This week will give us an opportunity to kind of go back. I thought we did that during the mini-bye, but we got to find something to get us going.”
The bye is probably coming at a good time for the Packers. In addition to getting some players back, they have enough of a sample size to see which plays are working and which ones aren’t.
This team will have its rocky games. That’s the truth for such a young squad. But LaFleur can put his offense in a much better position to succeed by reevaluating the scheme and getting back to his roots.
As former Packers QB Kurt Benkert suggested, “Them being the youngest team in the NFL showed up tonight, and if you’re going to be the younger team, you have got to be the best coach team on the field to have a chance to win games and have insane athletes.”
I still believe in Matt LaFleur as a head coach and as a play-caller. He’s always the first to admit the problem starts with him. Let’s hope the fifth-year head coach can make the most of the bye week and put his team in a position to succeed.
