Who’s To Blame For Green Bay Packers One & Done Postseason Run?
Grant White
Host · Writer
They had their chances. The Green Bay Packers just couldn’t capitalize.
Sadly, that’s become the status quo under Matt LaFleur. The Packers’ head coach is consistently out-gunned by his opponents, which was the case again on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. The wild card team couldn’t get anything going against the NFC East winners until it was too late.
Consequently, the Packers were handed another unceremonious playoff exit and are left wondering, who’s to blame for this year’s disappointment?
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Championship-Caliber Defense
This year, the Green Bay Packers disproved the notion that defense wins championships. While their unit was superb, it still wasn’t enough to guide the Packers into the Divisional Round.
Until the game’s waning moments, Green Bay did virtually everything right on defense. They held the Eagles to just 290 yards in the contests, their second-lowest total of the season.
Jalen Hurts was completely out of rhythm in his first game back, and the Packers’ defense gets credit for that. They consistently applied pressure, sacking Hurts twice and, at one point, holding him to seven straight incompletions. More impressively, they contained Saquon Barkley for the better part of the afternoon. The Offensive Player of the Year frontrunner was hovering around 85 rushing yards on the afternoon until the final five minutes of the contest.
While there’s plenty of blame to be passed around, none of that should be directed the defense’s way.
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Injury Plagued Offense
Things could have gone better on offense. Still, the Packers churned out a respectable 302 total yards and vastly overachieved when we factor in the injuries that hampered their production.
Green Bay entered the contest without Christian Watson, foreshadowing what was to come on Sunday. The Packers would go on to lose Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, and two offensive linemen, negatively impacting their scoring-ability against the Eagles.
No free passes are awarded in the postseason, and the Packers must account for their limited scoring. Nevertheless, some healthy teams couldn’t accomplish what Green Bay did in Philadelphia. As such, the offense is assigned a moderate amount of blame for the loss.
Matt LaFleur’s Consistent Underachieving
His tenure as head coach got off to a promising start. Lafleur won the NFC North in each of his first three years, guiding the Packers to the Divisional Round every year. However, that would be the peak of Lafleur’s tenure in Green Bay.
Three Divisional Round appearances is the glass half-full way of saying 2-3 in the playoffs. Since then, the Packers have been unable to climb the NFC North mountain and have just one win in three postseason games.
In many ways, Sunday’s loss to the Eagles was reminiscent of LaFleur’s tenure as Packers’ head coach. It was good, but not good enough. And for that, LaFleur needs to be held accountable. This loss lies mostly on his shoulders, and he’s running out of chances to prove he can make the necessary adjustments in the playoffs.
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Final Thoughts
Like his unmistakably bad challenge record, Matt LaFleur lacks the discerning nature to become a Super Bowl-winning head coach. Now, Green Bay’s brass must decide whether to bring him back for another mediocre showing.
The Packers have fallen out of favor in the NFC North and clearly can’t make the playoff adjustments to be considered a legitimate contender. Most teams would have made up their minds a few seasons ago.
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