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Coaches are designed to want more, to chase perfection. So even though his team is 8-2 coming out of the bye week, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur believes his team is capable of so much more.
Specifically, LaFleur doesn’t think the Packers have put together a complete game so far in 2019.
“I don’t think we’ve gotten to a point where all three phases have really put it together for all four quarters,” LaFleur said Wednesday. “There have been glimpses in each phase.”
A look at “expected points added” from each phase during the team’s first 10 games validates LaFleur’s opinion. The Packers still haven’t finished a game with positive expected points added on offense, defense and special teams.
And there have been flashes from all three. It just hasn’t all come together at once. Every team strives for consistency, and the Packers haven’t found it in any one phase.
“I think there’s a lot of room for improvement in all three phases. I think more than anything, just playing consistent football,” LaFleur said.
The lack of a complete game doesn’t just fall on the special teams, either. The Packers only have two games where both the offense and defense provided positive expected points added.
Sunday night would be an ideal time for the Packers’ first complete game. A trip to San Francisco to play the 9-1 49ers figures to provide the biggest test of the year for LaFleur’s team, and it could be a season-defining game for a team with aspirations of obtaining homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
Beating good teams on the road almost always requires positive contributions from all three phases. Can the Packers be efficient on offense against the NFL’s No. 2 scoring defense? Can Mike Pettine’s defense control the 49ers’ versatile and creative offense? And will the Packers special teams find its footing and avoid crippling mistakes?
The answers to those questions may determine whether or not the Packers come back from San Francisco with the top seed in the NFC on Sunday night.