{"id":34482,"date":"2025-10-03T13:40:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T13:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=34482"},"modified":"2025-10-03T13:40:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T13:40:18","slug":"breaking-is-matt-lafleur-holding-the-green-bay-packers-back-from-greatness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=34482","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING : Is Matt LaFleur Holding The Green Bay Packers Back From Greatness?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Is<\/p>\n
\n
\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

All gas, no brakes?<\/p>\n

Or perhaps you slam the brakes, then drive in first gear?<\/p>\n

After 6 \u00bc seasons and 112 football games, Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur still has an identity crisis.<\/p>\n

At times, LaFleur sticks out his chest and plays with reckless abandon, ala Riverboat Ron Rivera. At others, he turns into Captain Conservative like Marty Schottenheimer was for 2 \u00bd decades with four teams.<\/p>\n

Because LaFleur still seems unsure of himself, so are his Packers.<\/p>\n

And right now, the identity of the 2025 Packers is sloppiness, confusion and a lack of discipline.<\/p>\n

In a year where general manager Brian Gutekunst stressed \u201curgency\u201d, then proved it by trading for Micah Parsons \u2014 the franchise\u2019s biggest deal since acquiring Brett Favre in 1992 \u2014 LaFleur isn’t holding up his end of the bargain. And he could be the one person preventing these Packers from greatness.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s examine the latest string of debacles from Green Bay\u2019s 40-40 tie with Dallas on Sept. 28, a game that dropped the Packers\u2019 record to 2-1-1.<\/p>\n

1. End of first half<\/h2>\n

The Packers were clinging to a 13-9 lead with 21 seconds left in the first half. They had a first and 15 at their own 27 and no timeouts.<\/p>\n

The odds of moving the ball roughly 33 yards to get into field goal range for kicker Brandon McManus were slim. And while it\u2019s easy to second guess, the best play here was certainly to run the football and take your four-point lead to halftime.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point, should have just shut it down and I didn’t,\u201d LaFleur said.<\/p>\n

Instead, LaFleur was looking for a chunk play and sent four receivers downfield. Working out of the shotgun, quarterback Jordan Love dropped seven more steps.<\/p>\n

Love held the ball 3.45 seconds before defensive end James Houston beat left tackle Rasheed Walker, had a strip sack and recovered the loose ball at Green Bay\u2019s 15 with 15 seconds remaining.<\/p>\n

On the next play, Prescott hit George Pickens with a 15-yard TD and Dallas surged to a 16-13 halftime lead.<\/p>\n

LaFleur\u2019s gamble failed miserably, and the Packers were in a 16-13 halftime hole.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were trying to be aggressive and it backfired and it killed us,\u201d LaFleur said.<\/p>\n

2. End of regulation<\/h2>\n

The ultra-reliable McManus saved LaFleur\u2019s bacon here.<\/p>\n

Trailing, 37-34, Green Bay drove to the Cowboys\u2019 40 with 17 seconds left.<\/p>\n

Someone should have been telling LaFleur that McManus has made 90.6% of his career field goals inside of 50 yards, and 57.5% from outside of 50. That\u2019s a gigantic swing of 33.1%.<\/p>\n

Either LaFleur didn’t know or care and ran Josh Jacobs on back-to-back carries for a total of 5 yards. McManus then delivered with an extremely clutch 53-yard field goal to force overtime.<\/p>\n

Still, LaFleur should have tried helping his kicker out even more. Green Bay had a timeout left and was moving the ball at will.<\/p>\n

LaFleur\u2019s conservative approach could have been costly, but thanks to McManus, it became an overlooked part of the game.<\/p>\n

3. End of overtime<\/h2>\n

This was the worst clock management moment in LaFleur\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n

In fact, LaFleur himself said this was, \u201clike watching a slow-motion car crash in front of your face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for LaFleur and the Packers, he was the driver.<\/p>\n

Green Bay had a first down at the Dallas 25-yard line with 1:15 left and another first down at the Cowboys\u2019 12 with 32 seconds left. That should have been plenty of time to attack the endzone and try winning the game.<\/p>\n

Instead, LaFleur was worried about leaving Dallas time if the Packers had to settle for a field goal. So his play calling turned ultra-conservative and Green Bay\u2019s 2-minute offense had a Keystone Cops feel.<\/p>\n

The end result was the Packers were an eyelash away from not having time to attempt a field goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously the play calls sucked,\u201d LaFleur said.<\/p>\n

First, a screen pass to Matthew Golden lost three yards to the 15, and the Packers called their final timeout with 28 seconds remaining. On second-and-13, Love\u2019s check down to running back Emanuel Wilson in the right flat lost a yard to the 16.<\/p>\n

Green Bay was painfully slow getting organized as precious seconds ticked away. Love finally took a third down snap with just 6 seconds left, and fired incomplete for Matthew Golden in the endzone.<\/p>\n

When the ball landed, there was just one second on the clock. Yes, one second.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how close the Packers came to losing this game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just looking at the clock and I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh my god \u2026\u2019 (long pause) \u201c\u2026 there\u2019s going to be no time left.\u2019 It\u2019s a very humbling experience to go through that and it\u2019s unacceptable quite honestly,\u201d LaFleur said. \u201cAnd there\u2019s nothing we can do about it now other than we\u2019d better learn from it \u2014 everybody. I\u2019m sure it\u2019ll be a teach tape for around the league to be honest with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imagine that?<\/p>\n

Being a \u201cteaching tape\u201d for ineptitude.<\/p>\n

Love certainly deserves his share of the blame for his lackadaisical approach during the chaotic final seconds. But everything begins and ends with LaFleur, who communicates directly with Love through his headset and should have been screaming at his quarterback to pick up the pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cDissecting that whole end-of-game process, there\u2019s been a lot of conversation on that and where I need to be better for our team is just communicating in that situation,\u201d LaFleur said.<\/p>\n

LaFleur also admitted he needs to devote more practice time to those end-of-game situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tough learning lesson for us, but it\u2019s one of those things that you can\u2019t just practice every once in a while,\u201d LaFleur said. \u201cThat needs to be a part of practice every week if you want our guys \u2026 because in those critical situations you\u2019ve got to be flawless.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen (those situations) come up, they matter because it\u2019s the most critical point of the game. To not execute that in that situation, that was tough to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fall from grace<\/h2>\n

LaFleur had the magic touch early in his Green Bay tenure.<\/p>\n

He started 28-7 with an aggressive, hard-hitting approach. At the biggest moment of his coaching career, though, LaFleur lost his nerve and the Packers lost the 2020 NFC Championship Game on their homefield.<\/p>\n

Trailing, 31-23, Green Bay drove to Tampa Bay\u2019s 8-yard line, where it stalled with 2:09 left. Instead of going for a potential touchdown and game-tying two-point conversion, LaFleur elected to attempt a field goal.<\/p>\n

Packers kicker Mason Crosby drilled a 26-yarder to pull Green Bay within 31-26. But the Packers never got the ball back and lost by that exact score.<\/p>\n

Months later, LaFleur remained steadfast in his decision to kick a field goal, saying the analytics supported it. What analytics can\u2019t fully factor, though, is that Tom Brady \u2014 the greatest quarterback in NFL history \u2014 was on the other sideline.<\/p>\n

Since that painful loss to the Buccaneers, the Packers have just one playoff win, have been passed in the division by Detroit and arguably Minnesota, and are 43-31-1 overall (.580).<\/p>\n

Green Bay\u2019s special teams under LaFleur and fourth-year coordinator Rich Bisaccia remain a mess. The Packers have had kicks blocked in consecutive weeks, they seem confused by the new kickoff rules and McManus was forced to make two tackles against the Cowboys.<\/p>\n

The Packers are tied for the third most penalties in the league with 9.3 per game. Green Bay was in the top-10 for most penalties in 2023 and 2024, as well.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, though, the team lacks an identity.<\/p>\n

LaFleur, who has just one year left on his contract after this season, wasn\u2019t given an extension by new team president Ed Policy last offseason. That means this is likely a \u201cprove it\u201d year for LaFleur.<\/p>\n

He has 13 games left to sink or swim.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a year where Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst stressed \u201curgency”, head coach Matt\u00a0LaFleur isn’t holding up his end of the bargain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[98,24,48,45,235],"class_list":["post-34482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-green-bay-packers","tag-brian-gutekunst","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-green-bay-packers","tag-jordan-love","tag-matt-lafleur"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING : Is Matt LaFleur Holding The Green Bay Packers Back From Greatness? - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=34482\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING : Is Matt LaFleur Holding The Green Bay Packers Back From Greatness? 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