Tag: matt lafleur

Matt LaFleur hated how ‘praying’ quote about Packers kicker Anders Carlson became unwarranted controversy

Matt LaFleur doesn’t like when people put words in his mouth.

Even the Buffalo Bills will tell you this (twice). You don’t lose playoff games because of one missed kick. Heartbreaking postseason defeat is usually a matter of several mistakes compounding on one another.

This also applies to the Green Bay Packers, who fell just short of an NFC title game appearance partly because of an Anders Carlson missed kick. After the loss, a quote from Fox’s Tom Rinaldi about how Matt LaFleur “prays” every time Carlson lines up for a kick went viral. Carlson had the NFL’s 24th-best kicking percentage this season and was not usually someone the Packers could rely on.

But even still, the way everyone ran with LaFleur’s quote about Carlson irked the Packers head coach. Because according to LaFleur, that’s not what he meant about his kicker:

As LaFleur explained, he meant “praying” in the sense that Carlson’s kick attempts are always out of his control, not that he didn’t have faith in his player. I’m inclined to believe this explanation because the easy conclusion from the Fox report would’ve been to pile on an athlete for making a massive mistake in a big game and running with it. Without full context, it’s irresponsible for anyone to assert LaFleur didn’t believe in one of his players. Coaches talking trash about their players publicly is a rare exception, not the norm.

Good for LaFleur for stepping to the microphone and quashing this unwarranted controversy.

Jordan Love’s final interception was a bit too much like a certain Brett Favre mistake

Jordan Love’s game-sealing interception against the 49ers reminded everybody a bit too much of a former Brett Favre mistake.

The deep cross-body throw is one of the most difficult feats a quarterback can attempt — it is not a high-percentage play. You’re throwing against your own momentum, usually with one or more angry defenders in your face, and you’re trying to hit a target 30 or more yards downfield, when you factor in the horizontal yardage involved. And if you’re making a throw like that in a game-defining situation.., well, you’d better be pretty sure of yourself.

One quarterback who was always sure of himself, to his own detriment at times, was Hall of Famer and negatively creative financeur Brett Favre. Ol’ No. 4 did most of his work with the Green Bay Packers, but near the end of the Minnesota Vikings’ 2009 season, Favre threw a cross-body pick to New Orleans Saints cornerback Tracy Porter, causing the game to go into overtime. The Saints drove downfield, won the game with a 40-yard Garrett Hartley field goal, and we had the game that changed the overtime rules.

In Saturday’s divisional-round game between the Packers and the San Francisco 49ers, it was Jordan Love who had a similar situation. With 52 seconds left in the game, and the 49ers up 24-21, Love tried a deep cross-body pass to receiver Christian Watson that was intercepted by linebacker Dre Greenlaw.

The throws, and the results, were alarmingly similar.

“I haven’t looked at it yet,” Love said after the game of that last throw. “I haven’t looked at any pictures, so looking back on it, yeah, throw it away. I don’t know if I had an opportunity to be able to run. Maybe get out of bounds, but I forced it across the middle late, which is a mortal sin. It’s something I’ll look at. That’s an area right there where I’ll be able to look at, grow from and get better in the future.”

Matt LaFleur’s quote about always ‘praying’ before Anders Carlson kicks got roasted after Packers kicker missed

That’s not great, especially in a playoff game.

First off: The Green Bay Packers didn’t lose their divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers because Anders Carlson missed a key kick in the fourth quarter.

It still would have been 24-17, with the Niners able to tie the game. Sure, it didn’t help, but there was also that Jordan Love game-sealing interception and a few other rough moments.

That said, there’s one quote about Carlson that had everyone raising their eyebrows: Fox’s Tom Rinaldi reported that Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said that whenever Carlson goes out to kick, “I just pray.”

Not great! While I’m sure a lot of head coaches do the same, it doesn’t sound good. Other NFL fans and others agreed:

Matt LaFleur painfully described how the Packers let the 49ers break their hearts again

Matt LaFleur sounded devastated about the latest Packers’ playoff loss.

Nothing is guaranteed in the NFL. So even while the Green Bay Packers, one of the league’s youngest teams, seem to be at the start of something special, it’s no guarantee they ever reach their lofty goals. There’s just too much variance in play.

That’s what might make Green Bay’s 24-21 defeat at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers sting even more. (Beyond Jordan Love looking like Brett Favre, that is.) Sure, it’s a moral victory that the precocious Packers ever pushed the NFC’s No. 1 seed to the brink. There’s a lot to build on this offseason in Green Bay. On the flip side, even with the Packers’ youth, they’re not necessarily destined to take that next step and finish games like this whenever (or if) they get another opportunity.

Matt LaFleur understands this unfortunate reality, as he painfully described why another Packers’ postseason loss stung so much:

Pro football is a volatile game. Beyond the unfortunate specter of injuries, sometimes things — progressive development, roster construction, schedule — just don’t come together as planned. The Packers should hold their heads high, knowing they gave the 49ers the fight of their season. But to pretend as if their best opportunity to unseat NFC royalty wasn’t on Saturday would be foolish.

You never know — they truly might not get this kind of golden opportunity again.

Win or lose, the Packers’ young guns are going out in a blaze of glory

Don’t confuse the Packers’ youth for weakness. The Green Bay Packers are a confident team that is ready for any obstacle.

Minnesota Vikings Hall of Fame defensive tackle John Randle had one of the most quotable NFL Films sound bites of all time when he yelled, “Regulators, mount up!” quoting Emilio Estevez’s Billy the Kid.

Funny enough, though, it is the hated Green Bay Packers who are the NFL’s young guns, and their sharp-shooting quarterback has them within one more shootout of getting to the NFC Championship Game.

With an average of 25.7 years of age, the Packers have the youngest roster in the NFL, but that hasn’t fazed them in the slightest. Since Week 12, their offense is second in the league in EPA per play, trailing only the San Francisco 49ers. They are also third in success rate in that time frame, and their young leader has emerged as one of the best gunslingers in the NFL.

In the final seven weeks of the season, Jordan Love was second in the NFL in EPA per dropback, and he led the NFL in CPOE. Love also finished sixth in the NFL in DYAR and DVOA (min. 200 attempts). The Utah State product has been one of the best deep ball passers this year as well, finishing fifth in deep-ball completions and third in yards off deep balls.

Love’s emergence as one of the most complete passers in the game has been the silver bullet in the revolver for the Packers’ group of youthful playmakers. Jayden Reed caught 64 passes and eight touchdowns. Romeo Doubs matched Reed’s eight touchdown catches. Dontayvion Wicks had north of 500 yards. Both Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave became vital parts of the intermediate passing game as well, averaging over 10 yards per catch apiece. And don’t forget about Christian Watson, who missed time with injury but averaged 15 yards per reception in the nine regular-season games he played. Every one of the Packers’ top six receivers is a rookie or in his second season — that is unheard of in terms of a team that just won a playoff game. This isn’t a group that has shaky hands when it comes time to pull the trigger; this is a motley crew of young, confident desperados who just kicked in the doors of the corral, took what they wanted and knew that there was nothing their opponents could do about it.

Now the Packers are reaching the climax of their cinematic season. They face an absolute wagon of a 49ers team that will look to exploit their 27th-ranked defense in terms of DVOA. The Packers defense hasn’t been good when it comes to early-down pass defense, and the 49ers lead the NFL in empty formations on first down, doing so 6 percent of the time. Green Bay’s defense was 26th in yards allowed per drive; the 49ers’ offense led the NFL in yards per drive.

San Francisco will look to kill the Packers with a thousand cuts. Green Bay’s defense played phenomenally against Dallas in the wild-card round, but there is a large difference between playing a Mike McCarthy offense and a Kyle Shanahan offense. The 49ers painted those end zones red, they’re going to be well rested, and they will be out to make an example of Brown County Regulators.

Metaphorically, the Packers are already pinned down and surrounded, ready to make their final stand with all odds against them. That said, this team has shown all season that they aren’t afraid of the moment. They aren’t afraid of the 49ers riding in on their white steeds ready to hold down their fort. Will they come out victorious? No one seems to like their odds. But win or lose, this iteration of the Green Bay Packers, and the young guns who lead them, are going down swinging, guns up in a blaze of glory.

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Previewing the divisional round of the playoffs

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys preview all the big matchups in the NFL’s divisional round.

And then, there were eight! It’s time for the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. and Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire and the USA Today Sports Media Group, are here to get you ready for the most interesting matchups that could decide who advances to the conference championships.

Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens: The Week 1 game between these two teams doesn’t mean a lot, because the Ravens were dealing with C.J. Stroud in his rookie debut, and Stroud is an alien at this point. The Ravens are aware, and here’s how they can counter the Texans’ outstanding defense. Also, both of these teams have a ton of great, underrated talent on defense.

Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers: The Packers have seen desperately-needed defensive improvement over the last three weeks, but is that enough to stop Kyle Shanahan’s offense? And how will Jordan Love do against a San Francisco defense that doesn’t really have one type of staple coverage?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions: When these teams played in Week 6, Baker Mayfield had his worst game of the season. But this is a different Buccaneers team than it was then, and there are ways for Mayfield to engineer a different result. The problem for the Bucs is that Jared Goff has proven that he’s ready for whatever Todd Bowles throws at him.

Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills: The Bills have far too many injuries on defense, and Patrick Mahomes is finding winning concepts with at least one receiver, so this will have to be a Josh Allen game if the Bills are to advance.

You can watch this week’s episode of “The Xs and Os,” featuring all the most important matchups of the divisional round, right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to “The Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Matt LaFleur’s comment about the Packers’ different vibes had everyone making Aaron Rodgers jokes

Aaron Rodgers was a rusty anchor on Matt LaFleur’s Packers.

For years, after winning Super Bowl 45, the Green Bay Packers struggled to reach the NFL’s mountaintop with Aaron Rodgers again. And in the Matt LaFleur era specifically, Green Bay consistently fell short in the postseason. It all culminated with a drama-filled breakup between Rodgers and the Packers last offseason.

After the Packers punched the Dallas Cowboys in the mouth in Sunday’s afternoon Wild Card Game, Matt LaFleur made it seem like all that Rodgers hoopla was firmly in the past.

In fact, based on LaFleur’s phrasing, it was almost as if he had nonsense with Rodgers in mind when praising the Packers’ “different energy” these days. Hmm.

It should be no secret that Rodgers often carries himself like a selfish egotist. And I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that his tiresome act wore on the Packers toward the end of his Green Bay career. For the organization to get a playoff win with Jordan Love in the first year without Rodgers is almost poetic.

It sure seems like the Packers and LaFleur are overjoyed about it, too.

Cowboys’ defense never stood a chance against Matt LaFleur, Jordan Love, and Aaron Jones

The Dallas Cowboys had no chance against the Green Bay Packers, and that story was told before the two teams even hit the field.

We’re sure that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will want to investigate how and why his high-priced, Mike McCarthy-led offense made the Green Bay Packers’ defense, led by embattled defensive coordinator Joe Barry, look like the ’85 Chicago Bears when it mattered in Dallas’ humiliating 48-32 wild-card loss. But the real issue causing Dallas’ early exit from the postseason was that the Cowboys’ defense, led by highly-regarded coordinator Dan Quinn, never had a puncher’s chance against Packers head coach Matt LaFleur’s offense.

Coming into this game, the Cowboys had played the third-highest rate of man coverage (39.4%), behind only the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. And against man coverage in the regular season, Packers quarterback Jordan Love had completed 61 of 128 attempts for 788 yards, 581 air yards, a league-high 12 touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 92.2. Also, the Cowboys played the second-highest rate of single-high coverage in the regular season (64.9%), behind only the Cleveland Browns (65.4%). And against single-high coverage this season, Love has completed 100 of 155 passes for 1,253 yards, 776 air yards, eight touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 104.0.

So, the Cowboys tried to play a bit more zone against the Packers, to little avail, but this was a clear case of a miserable matchup in which Dallas’ opposing quarterback was ready to demolish everything the Cowboys threw at him. And at that point, it mattered little that the Cowboys came into this game with the fifth-best Defensive DVOA.

The absolute nadir of Dallas’ defensive approach in this beatdown was Love’s 38-yard touchdown with 1:27 left in the third quarter. The game was already 34-16 in Green Bay’s favor, and though the Cowboys did their best to come back against the Packers’ backups, that was pretty much it.

As we always like to say here at Touchdown Wire, don’t play man if you can’t play man.

The second part of Dallas’ defensive breakdown was what running back Aaron Jones was able to do to them, and this was even more predictable. The Cowboys under Quinn feature a ton of big nickel and dime defense, which means that the guys up front, generally in four-man fronts, had best be able to hold up. That hasn’t happened with consistency since defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 14 against the Philadelphia Eagles. Hankins was back on the field for this game, but it didn’t matter, and it didn’t matter because Jones had been among the NFL’s best running backs in the last few weeks of the regular season.

Well, Jones finished this game with 119 carries and three touchdowns on 21 carries.

Similarly to the Browns’ inability to adjust to the things about their defense that C.J. Stroud was obviously set up to tear apart, the Cowboys had no answers for the Packers, because the Packers were designed as if to specifically demolish everything Dan Quinn loves.

Browns’ refusal to adapt on defense cost them dearly against C.J. Stroud

At a certain point, you just have to tip your hat and move on to next season.

Eagles fans rejoice after Cowboys 48-32 loss to Packers in wild card round

Philadelphia Eagles fans were excited after the Dallas Cowboys embarrassing playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers on Wild Card Weekend

Eagles fans have had to endure a 1-5 finish down the stretch, and Nick Sirianni’s team is imploding despite being one of the first teams to secure a postseason berth.

Philadelphia (11-6), traveled to Tampa for a Monday night matchup against the NFC South Champion, Buccaneers (9-8) at Raymond James Stadium.

The Eagles can host a divisional round game after the Packers’ 48-32 upset win over the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium.

Social media reacts to everything, and the Dallas loss had Philly fans pumped and heading into a cold Monday morning.

Aaron Jones and Green Bay’s run game could decide who wins Packers-Cowboys

With Jordan Love and Dak Prescott, the Packers-Cowboys wild-card game is dead even from a QB perspective. RB Aaron Jones could make the difference.

From a quarterback perspective, Sunday’s wild-card matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys is as evenly-matched as it gets.

Let’s start with Jordan Love, who’s been among the NFL’s best quarterbacks in the second half of the season. Since Week 9, he’s completed 237 of 345 passes (68.7%) for 2,666 yards (7.7 yards per attempt), 21 touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 108.2. These are wildly impressive numbers for a first-year starter with a highly aggressive mindset – in that time, Love has completed a league-high 23 passes of 20 or more air yards for 724 yards, seven touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 126.4.

Under pressure, which Love will see from the Cowboys, he’s also been outstanding, with 42 completions in 92 attempts under pressure for 742 yards, seven touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 100.9. At this point, there isn’t much you can do to fluster Love, and the extent to which head coach Matt LaFleur has handed the offense over to his young quarterback tells you all you need to know about his development. 

Here’s the issue for the Packers – we have a situation in which Dak Prescott is saying, “Everything you can do, I can do… perhaps better.” In that same period since Week 9, Prescott has completed 254 of 370 passes (68.6%) for 2,882 yards (7.8 yards per attempt), 26 touchdowns, four interceptions, and a passer rating of 110.7. And yes, Love does have the league lead in deep completions, but Prescott it tied with him – 23 completions in 49 attempts for 741 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 127.3. Under pressure, Prescott has completed 62 of 103 passes for 864 yards, five touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 99.3. 

So, we’re splitting hairs. The advantage would seem to be in Prescott’s direction because of something neither quarterback can control. Dallas’ defense has been outstanding all season long, though they’ve dropped a bit in Pass Defense DVOA since Week 10 – eighth in the first half of the season, and 13th in the second. However, and as all Packers fans are aware, there are issues all over Joe Barry’s defense. Green Bay ranked 22nd in Pass Defense DVOA in the first half of the season; they’ve dropped to 27th since. 

The quarterbacks are as even as you can get. That’s not the problem for the Packers. The problem for the Packers is the same problem they’ve had all season. It’ll be up to Barry and his staff to close the gap with a quickness.

Let’s now assume that Joe Barry isn’t going to close the gap with a quickness, and move on to how the Packers can gain an advantage elsewhere. And that advantage could easily be gleaned in the run game cultivated by head coach Matt LaFleur.

Over the last three weeks, running back Aaron Jones has 63 carries for a league-high 359 yards, 5.7 yards per carry, and four runs of 15 or more yards. Only James Conner of the Arizona Cardinals has more (five), and Conner got to face the Eagles’ and Seahawks’ run defenses over the last two games. The 14-yard run against the Bears last week was a great example of how the Packers get Jones going.

They motioned tight end Josiah Deguara from right to left, and tight end Tucker Kraft moved from the right side of the formation to deal the left inside edge against linebacker T.J. Edwards. Left tackle Rasheed Walker kicked up to take linebacker Tremaine Edmunds (taking him about 20 yards upfield before depositing Edmunds on his butt), and Deguara took out safety Jaquan Bricker. Meanwhile, receiver Romeo Doubs was busy keeping cornerback Tyrique Stevenson out of the play. The Packers are on point with their blocking concepts for such a young team on that side of the ball. 

This approach could work against the Cowboys, who run a ton of big nickel and dime defense with a stunt-heavy front four. Defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, who returned last week from the high ankle sprain he suffered in Week 14 against the Philadelphia Eagles, With Hankins on the field this season, the Cowboys have allowed 4.2 yards per attempt, and 2.2 yards after contact per attempt. Without Hankins, Dallas has allowed 4.9 yards per attempt, and 2.7 yards after contact per attempt. On-off splits don’t take all factors into account, but this one’s pretty simple, and the tape backs it up.

“He’s been toting that rock,” Hankins said this week of Jones. “He’s fast. He can run through blocks. All in all, he’s a great running back. They have a good combination of running backs, a great scheme. They’ve been doing everything they’ve needed to do to get where they’re at. It’s up to us to go out there and stop the run.”

“Hank don’t move,” Dallas edge demon Micah Parsons said this week of the big man in the middle. “He’s a crucial piece to this defense. It’s real crucial to have Hank back – especially with how good their gap schemes and pullers are – to get him back in this lineup and get ready for Sunday.”

As for LaFleur, he couldn’t be happier that he has Aaron Jones on his roster, and he probably understands just how crucial Jones could be to his advancement in the postseason.

“He’s a guy that tilts the field in your favor,” Lafleur said of Jones after the Bears game. “He’s so dynamic, so explosive. Take all his ability as a football player out of it. He means so much to this locker room by his actions, by what he says and what he does on a daily basis. He’s a real leader in this locker room. Real leader for our football team. He inspires everybody and comes to work each and every day with a great attitude. I can’t say enough great things about him. I’ve said it a million times about the kind of person he is. 

“You cannot have enough Aaron Jones[es] on your football team.”

The Packers have one Aaron Jones, and they’d better deploy him generously.

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys dive deeper into the importance of Green Bay’s run game against the Cowboys.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os,” previewing every game in the wild-card slate, right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.