Green Bay Packers fans are fuming tonight.
And their frustration level after another early exit in the NFL playoffs is aimed at head coach Matt LaFleur.
Yes, LaFleur has the second-most wins in NFL history through his first six seasons as a head coach and has only missed the playoffs once leading the Packers. And yes, the Packers won more games overall than last year.
But don’t dare tell that to Packers fans right now. His gaudy 67-33 regular-season record is the furthest from their minds after watching the Packers lose to the Eagles, 22-10, on Sunday in the wild-card round.
What’s on their minds is how LaFleur’s team couldn’t win a marquee game all season and the problems that were evident all year cropped up throughout the ugly performance at Lincoln Financial Field.
The loss capped a season in which LaFleur’s team went 0-6 against the NFC’s elite teams in 2024 with two losses apiece to the Eagles, Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. LaFleur also went 1-5 against the NFC North in 2024, the Packers’ worst divisional record since the 2005 season. They ended the year with three straight losses.
The divisional playoff loss to the No. 1-seeded San Francisco 49ers last year was crushing for fans because the team might have been a missed field goal away from advancing to the NFC title game. But fans were still optimistic about the future with the high of defeating the Dallas Cowboys in the wild-card round a week earlier still fresh.
This year, after being one and done in the playoffs, fans want accountability for how often the Packers came up small in the biggest games in 2024.
And, for many, that comes back to the head coach, who is now 3-5 in playoff games in his career.
LaFleur’s clock management struggles during the season, decision-making in crucial moments, challenge failures, inability to elevate the offense to greater heights, players continued lack of discipline throughout the years, and slow starts against the game’s best teams is what have fans upset as the 2024 season came to an unceremonious end in an unsightly showing.
The 11 regular-season wins, most of which came against teams with losing records, could often hide some of this team’s warts. But in the playoffs and against Super Bowl-caliber teams there’s nowhere to hide.
LaFleur often takes the blame in post-game press conferences following losses, saying it all starts with him. Packers fans could agree with him about that on Sunday.
Packers fans call out Matt LaFleur for playoff loss to Eagles, season-long failures
Gotta give Matt LaFleur a ton of credit for having the team down double digits in all their big games this year to prepare for situations exactly like this!
— Andy Herman (@AndyHermanNFL) January 12, 2025
Matt LaFleur’s offense and game plans have been stuffed in a locker for weeks now.
There’s something off. No rhythm.
It’s broken right now in Green Bay on the offensive side of the ball.
— Luke Sampe (@LukeSampe) January 13, 2025
Matt LaFleur’s lengthy opening statement: pic.twitter.com/K8QawiRL4c
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) January 13, 2025
