Lack of Pro Bowlers Reinforce LaFleur’s Brilliance
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are No. 1 in the NFL in wins.
They’re also No. 11 in Pro Bowl selections.
Of the 10 teams with more all-stars, the Packers own wins over the 49ers (five), Ravens (five) and Rams (four). They’ll play a fourth team, the Cleveland Browns (five), on Saturday.
If the players aren’t that great, then the coaches must be amazing.
What Matt LaFleur has accomplished in Green Bay is nothing short of spectacular. In three seasons, he’s 37-9. That’s more wins than any team in the league. Only George Seifert (38) had more wins in his first three seasons as coach. Unless Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams decide to quit football and take up tap dancing, it’s hard to believe LaFleur won’t etch his name in the record book.
The regular-season results are incredible. The Packers are 20-2 at home under LaFleur. They’re 9-0 after a loss; according to the Elias Sports Bureau via the Packers’ Dope Sheet, LaFleur’s 46-game run without back-to-back losses is third-best in NFL history behind Paul Brown (49) and Guy Chamberlin (47). Last year, LaFleur became the second coach in NFL history with 13 wins and a division title in each of his first two seasons. He could make that a hat trick by winning two more games this year. They’re a ridiculous 29-0 when winning the turnover battle.
Notably, LaFleur’s teams are 17-5 in games decided by one score or less. That .773 winning percentage is the best in the NFL. For some context, Green Bay has played the 19th-most one-score games but has the third-most wins and the fewest losses.
“I think there’s a lot of things that make a good coach,” LaFleur said on Thursday. “First of all, it starts as a person, investing in the player. I think first and foremost, you’ve got to care about your players. I think you’ve got to be able to communicate at a high level. I think you’ve got to be able to listen to your players. And you better know what you’re talking about. You better be able to help these guys, whether it’s with technique, Xs and Os, everything that plays into that in order to help them become the best version of themselves. I think we’ve got a lot of great coaches on this staff and we’re fortunate to have them.”
Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett might be entering the home stretch of his Packers tenure. Likely a hot name in the upcoming coaching carousel, the energetic, fun-loving, experienced Hackett has played an underrated role in Green Bay’s success. Over the past three seasons, Green Bay is fifth in the league in scoring and first in giveaways. Even with an onslaught of injuries, the Packers are No. 1 in points and a few other key categories over the last four games of this season.
Defensive coordinator Joe Barry wasn’t a popular choice by fans this offseason but it’s impossible to argue with the results. Even after a rough four-game stretch, Green Bay is 10th in points allowed, eighth in yards allowed and eighth in takeaways. And that’s without Jaire Alexander for the last nine games and Za’Darius Smith for all but 18 snaps.
The position coaches shouldn’t be overlooked, either. Offensive line coach Adam Stenavich has had eight players log at least 100 snaps. Zero of those have been by All-Pro David Bakhtiari. Defensive backs coach Jerry Gray, leaning on first-round pick Eric Stokes and bargain-bin addition Rasul Douglas, has supervised a pass defense that’s ninth in opponent passer rating. When outside linebackers coach Mike Smith looks at the roster, he sees Smith, Whitney Mercilus, Randy Ramsey and Chauncey Rivers on injured reserve.
And yet, the wins keep on coming. The No. 1 seed is in their grasp.
It’s easy to downplay what LaFleur has accomplished. The fact he’s got the reigning MVP at quarterback no doubt will be held against him when voters fill out their ballots for Coach of the Year. But let’s not forget the Rodgers who is destroying defenses now isn’t the Rodgers he inherited.
Rodgers might bristle at the notion, but LaFleur has brought the best out of the legendary quarterback. In 2018, the final season under Mike McCarthy, Rodgers finished 13th with a 97.6 passer rating. While he was exceptional with 25 touchdowns vs. two interceptions, he ranked a lowly 26th in completion percentage. In 2019, the first year under LaFleur, Rodgers’ numbers were practically identical: 12th with a 95.4 passer rating, 26 touchdowns vs. four interceptions, and 21st in completion percentage.
The Rodgers of the past two seasons is gold-standard quarterbacking. Among quarterbacks who’ve played in both seasons, he is No. 1 in passer rating, touchdown percentage, interception percentage and completion percentage.
Simply put, Rodgers has regained his Hall of Fame form because he’s a Hall of Famer, but also because he and LaFleur have been so terrific together.
In Coach of the Year voting, LaFleur finished fifth in 2019 and third in 2020. Ultimately, LaFleur probably should have won the award in 2019, when he took the Packers from 6-10 to 13-3 without Rodgers’ overwhelming brilliance.
He’s back in the mix this year, at least at sportsbooks.
At SI Sportsbook, New England’s Bill Belichick is the heavy favorite to earn Coach of the Year at -125. That an implied probability of 55.6 percent that Belichick will win. LaFleur is second at +250, an implied probability of 28.6 percent. It’s not so lopsided at FanDuel Sportsbook, where Belichick is +135 to win and LaFleur is +250.
Right or wrong, it’s hard to believe Belichick won’t win the award. After his Patriots went 7-9 and missed the playoffs last year, they’re 9-5 and holding the No. 2 seed this year behind rookie quarterback Mac Jones. Meanwhile, the Packers are winning (again) with Rodgers playing at an MVP level (again).
Of course, none of this matters. Not his Coach of the Year candidacy. Not his annual success. Not his record-breaking first three years. Not his ability to win games despite one of the most beat-up rosters in the NFL. None of it. It’s a fact he acknowledged on Thursday. The only thing that matters is Titletown being Titletown again and LaFleur joining the likes of Vince Lombardi and Curly Lambeau as champion coaches.
That his team even has a chance with so much firepower on the injured list speaks volumes to the understated LaFleur’s ability to not just scheme up success but inspire it.
“I think it speaks to the leadership of our football team,” LaFleur said, going into deflect-praise mode. “I think it speaks to everybody in that locker room because they have a choice whether they want to follow that message or not. That’s the bottom line. We’ve got great leaders in that locker room and they choose to jump on that train, and it’s done us well over the last couple of years.
“Now, granted we haven’t gotten to where we want to go, and we know that there’s a lot more in front of us and we’ve got to continue to attack it on a daily basis and just keep improving each and every day. Like the old saying goes, you’re either getting better or you’re getting worse, you’re never staying the same, and I think those guys take that to heart. When you get a lot of good people that are talented, you have a chance to do something special.”
