On the bright side;

1. The Packers won't have as many prime time games next year, back to noon on Sundays.

2. Gute should have a pretty high draft pick next year to waste.

Thanks for that Al.

Coaching seems to be the number one issue with this team.

There are others, but with better coaching those issues fade a bit or just get identified as the appropriate areas mfor focused improvement.

Anders Carlson seems to be the real deal. His leg strength is unquestioned and now with some decent coaching and focus on accuracy and timing he seems to be embracing the successful lifestyle of a true NFL kicker. I still love you Mason, your years are all appreciated!

Where to find some sunshine in GB these days? Hmmm...

Momma told me there would be stretches like this. They have been few and far between for a looooong time now. I lived through the 70's, 80's and early 90's. This too shall pass. I just hope I am still breathing when this worm turns.

"I though last week's game plan was bad! What a doozy this one was! Coach LaFleur has no idea what this team does well and what it's identity should be."

Coldworld was the first one here that I can recall calling out MLF a few YEARS ago. We all KNEW Rodgers carried LaFleur at some level, I just don't think many of us, or at least myself realized just how much. Matt LaFleur is LOST. This offense is LOST. He has no idea how to put a player in a position to succeed. Everything looks SO HARD for them.

EVERYTHING, EVERY PLAY, looks like they have on cement shoes and are running uphill. NO creativity, something I was certain we'd see. The offense started to stink last season, even with Rodgers in the lineup. He played basically one solid game all season. Scratch that, the OFFENSE played one solid game last season in week 17 against Minnesota. I was POSITIVE it was all on Rodgers...I was wrong. It was the beginning of the end. Actually the loss to the 49ers was in the 2021 playoffs, I just didn't see it.

This year I thought, maybe HOPED, LaFleur would prove he was an NFL Head Coach. He's NOT. His entire offensive coaching staff is a joke other than Tom Clements. His defensive staff is just as bad after losing the ONE coach worth a damn when Jerry Gray actually quit they were so incompetent...Smart Guy.

It started in 2018 with the "SILOS of Mark Murphy. Like it or not, believe it or not, that was the beginning of the end. The START of a PEEK into what we see today. A visit or peek back into the 70's and 80's. I'm really afraid of that happening. LaFleur was MURPHYS guy and Gute has been the GM only in name. That's not to say Brian Gutekunst isn't without blame. I mean EVERYTIME I watch Patrick Taylor get the ball or block, I scream at my TV, really Gute, this is the BEST backup you can come up with???

I don't think this team is talentless...I think there's TONS of talent. But when I look at a staff with 20 some coaches and Rich Bisaccia is the ONLY one worth a damn, it makes it VERY clear. First and foremost it's a COACHING problem in GB. Moreso than anything else anyways.

GO PACK GO!

Once again another good article Al.

I became unhinged when MLF called a time out with 47 seconds left in the half when the Raiders were on offense and letting the clock run out. They should have scored 3 points. MLF got lucky but he made the defense play more plays and then they were out there after the half.

I agree this coaching staff has no direction or vision. There is no rhyme or reason on what they are doing. MLF should not be HC and calling plays. Not sure if he is a better HC or OC. Love being a new starter needs a coach that can spend more time with him. He needs the offensive architect to walk him through the plan and plays. MLF does not have the time to do that because he has his HC responsibilities. So it falls on a first time OC that is questionable on being able to handle the job and a 70 year old QBs coach that may not be able to relate to Love due to the 46 year age difference. That is almost two generations.

What they need to do is make coaching changes but not sure if that is a good thing during the season. The coaching staff (except for Bisaccia) needs to be changed. I would like to see Bisaccia as HC next season. One thing they could do is make MLF the OC and play caller and make Bisaccia the HC sometime this season. But we know Gute will not do that because he keeps people too long. Another thing they could do is bring in a middle age ex QB as a coach or consultant to Love to help him develop and give him a chance.

We're seeing confirmation on the field that like Belichick rode Brady, so too did LaFleur saddle up Rodgers and ride him to at one time the best winning percentage in league history.

Matt's play design leaves a lot to be desired, where his schemes on paper are impossible to execute on the field because the timing they call for lags the actuality of what's happening on the field.

Pay attention to a lot of his plays that call for line traps and backside blocks by WR's and TE's and you'll see why they're getting blown up on the regular. He's asking too much of some very green players and they're simply not quick or effective enough to make the blocks needed for the plays to have the space needed to have a chance to develop and be successful, much less get past the LoS.

this is a poorly coached team its obvious now Rodgers covered up for these flaws lets just admit it.

Agree with the article and previous posts . I would add that playing hard nosed physical football has been absent in Green Bay for a long time.

1. I thought this was exactly the type of game we as fans were “ready” for this season: the defense played well and the young offense struggled. 17 and 8 were contained, but GB still lost.

2. I thought it was Love’s worst game of the year. Problem was, it was hardly against a fearsome opponent.

3. I was happy to see at least they ran 28 straight ahead rather than out of the shotgun.

4. I have been questioning for awhile now the value of edge rushers dropping into coverage, albeit only occasionally. I get that it’s a changeup. But when scouting edge rushers, do they give a wet crap about coverage skills? I hope not. I kinda want my edge rushers to, um, rush the QB. I’ll spare the “why not just switch to a 4-3” talk because nickel is the new base.

5. They need 33. Badly. I really wonder who the RB’s will be next year. As great as he is, AJ is getting long in the tooth. His play is still great but his availability is waning. 28 has not earned a big second contract. Has he earned a modest one in GB? Will he be offered big $ elsewhere?

How many times have we heard.
YOU CAN"T WIN WITHOUT A GREAT QB!
Pick on MLF all you want.
But the patriots aren't any better.

And when you see the ILBs go down.
You attack it.

Something must change.
And it starts at the top.
Having a DE drop into coverage,
starts with the WHY?

And the team is showing their true colors,
on why, Rodgers wanted Gutey replaced.

I am not down on this young team but I am (and have been) down on this coaching staff. Since McCarthy, we have had a steady procession of assistants shuffling through the staff and portfolios. The HC builds his coaching team and they teach the players the system that will define the team. It doesn't appear that Matt Lafleur is attracting or retaining the best coaches. The disarray on the field also suggests that the teaching isn't going so well. If this is the case then the light at the end of the tunnel is dim.

I agree with this.-
"Jordan Love has not been the reason the Packers have been winning games. He has been the reason they're losing."

— @craigcartonlive

"Coach LaFleur has no idea what this team does well and what it's identity should be. It's like he's picking random plays out of a hat."
I feel like the biggest problem is that he hasn't figured out how to run the offense without Jones in there. There have been a lot of moving pieces with injuries and whatnot. Jones basically has only played in week 1. It sounds like he was going to be a huge part of the offense until saturday when he said he couldn't go. That changed a lot for the offense I think.

Ugly Love -
I feel like Love was seeing ghosts out there. He did not play well. But to be fair it didn't feel like anyone played well offensively. There were to many times WR's were in the same area, which usually means someone ran the wrong route. It takes all 11, and i don't feel like all 11 were on the same page for the majority of the game.

Tracking the ball -
Watson has the ability to make every play. But this one felt like he is rusty. He didn't look like he was going full speed.

Left-Handed -
I would like to know why there are more designed roll outs. Love has the ability to run. Let him move.

The Winner -
Carlson has been very good this year. There are no complaints at all with him.

Edge Coverage -
I don't get it. Like at all. There are certain things that Joe Barry does that just drive me nuts. CB's playing off the ball in 3rd/4th and short situations to having an OLB covering the best WR in the league.

Unclean Sweep -
I have no clue why they always run the sweep to the short side of the field. I don't know why but whenever they have tired running the sweep this year it feels like teams know its coming. And the timing of when the ball is snapped to when the guy running across the formation feel off to me as well.
They definitely need to get this cleaned up.

Great article AL. Your comments are among the reasons why I have been questioning this coaching staff and the FO since the NFCCG loss to Tampa in 2020. The decision making in this organization from Murphy down to the in game decisions are just baffling. There are so many "Why are they doing that?" moments during games that it is too much to keep up with. Or "Why did they stop doing that?" moments, such as stop running the ball with Dillon after their one TD drive against the Raiders.

Bottom line is that the OL has not been good. Part of that is on the blocking schemes as you correctly point out and part of that is on the players, specifically Walker, Myers and Runyon. There is enough tape on these guys at this point where defenders are aware of their flaws and they know how to attack their weaknesses.

The receiving corps is a work in progress with a long way to go in route running, blocking and even catching the ball. Then there is Jordan Love who is going through the growing pains of a first year starting QB in the NFL. He needs help in the form of better coaching and simplified play calling which enables him to get the ball out quickly and he needs to work from under center. He also needs Aaron Jones back to take some of the pressure off of him and give him a legitimate NFL level weapon who can score from anywhere on the field. As is stands now, between the Packers OL and their RBs, opposing defenses have nothing to fear from the Packers ground attack.

The defense deserved a better fate against the Raiders. However they can't give up a 75 yard TD drive immediately after a struggling Packers offense takes the lead. They needed to make a stop and get off the field at that point in the game. This doesn't excuse the two 4th quarter interceptions by Love but we've seen the same situation play out for years with the defense giving up leads immediately after the Packers take a lead in a game going all the way back to the McCarthy era.

Nick Perry is correct in his post when he states that all of this began with Murphy's decision to restructure the FO after TTs departure. IMO, the decision making began to go awry even prior to that but Murphy was off building his "Titletown" district. It has taken time but the decisions to restructure the FO, his decision to hire MLF, questionable draft choices and ultimately the loss of Aaron Rodgers has left the Packers with a team in disarray. It's still early in the season and the Packers still have time to learn and grow and play more solidly this season to give hope for the future. However as I have previously posted the decision making that I see from the organization down to the in game coaching does not provide me with much confidence that the management and coaching which has the Packers where they are is good enough to get them out of their current situation. Thanks, Since '61

"Can someone explain to me why so many of the Packers' designed rollouts are to the left side, where throws are much more difficult for a right-handed quarterback?"

Any of my fellow CHTV geezers see Scott Hunter when the Packers roll Love out to the left? I remember Starr doing that a lot with ol' number 16. IIRC, with Hunter, it wasn't even a full roll out; just angle to his left, flip his stance, and get sacked. Like you, Al, I have no idea why you would choose to do that with a RH quarterback.

Maybe we can hope for LaFleur to dial-up a wrap-around draw to Dillon?

Right on spot Al!

I wonder if MLF was coaching staff at that Falcons melting in the second half of their last SB appearance. If I recolect my memmory right, they had 25 something points lead after first half and were menhandled in the second half w/o even try to adapt or change the way how they were playing. Hmmmmm... If that is truth, that should be large red flag for hiring MLF.

But Mr "WANI" was delighted by MLF speach. That was huge mistake. His legacy will be blotchy by his decision to interfering with successful football operation part, establish by Ron Wolf and Bob Harland!

I still did not watch whole game. I watched highlights and listen some comments on you tube. I do not have will to go to watch that game (it started at 2:30 am on Tuesday here in Croatia!).

Lets hope some changes will happen in the next 2 weeks.

Also, I have feeling that game vs Lions in large ruined positive chemistry in the locker room. And all 3 losses are on coaching staff - 80% coaches (with main culprit MLF) and 10% may be on roster situation, rest 10% on players!

The lack of identity comment--something that this team does that it can hang its hat on--is particularly striking. They acted as if power-running was that thing on Monday...it only really paid off on one drive in the second half. The Packers were able to do a few things early on this season that allowed an inexperienced QB with a young group of pass-catchers to move the ball, but there's plenty of film out there now and teams are figuring out how to attack a hobbled OL (I don't think Jenkins looked 100% on Monday) and take the first looks away from 10. The versatility in this offense seems shot...especially without 33.

Right now, opposing defenses are just overpowering the OL, shutting down the run game, and making it even harder for 10. Dillon is not a dynamic back, and doubling down on him like they did on Monday when he's been struggling was a head-scratcher. If the Packers want to give 10 a chance to develop--yes, I know he's in his 4th year, but would you be comfortable knowing the guy flying your plane has lots of experience in the simulator, but this is only his 4th or 5th actual flight?-- they need to shore up the OL somehow, otherwise they're just throwing 10 away. He might not be an elite QB, but with the right pieces, he might be good enough...at least until they find the next guy.

That said, I'm actually going to throw a kudos to the defense that played well against a lousy offensive squad on Monday. They, at least, carried their water, and that was with the middle of the defense gutted by injury. Last week, I said they needed some of LaF's attention and were underachieving.,..maybe LV provided a 'get-right' for them. They've got plenty of weak sisters on the upcoming schedule, and the Packers will need them to hold those teams down so its punchless offense can find a stride.

Putting all the blame on the coaches and forgetting the missed blks, dropped passes, foolish holding calls, linemen down field is just taking too simple of an excuse. It's the fault of all involved with youth, inexperience, and brainless play the main culprit. Case in point, Kraft on the ground grabbing defender's leg, that does not need to be coached to someone who played college ball.

Lot of criticism of MLF in here, and it's fair to say much of it is warranted. That doesn't absolve Jordan Love of his share of the blame. Regardless of what Lafleur calls for a play, for the most part JL has not been up to the task. Long passes, short passes, check downs, middle of the field mid-range throws, none of them have worked. Let's be honest, so far Jordan Love has not even been a serviceable NFL QB.
We can blame it on the youth and inexperience of our WR/TE weapons, fair enough. We can blame injuries to Jones and our O-line, and certainly that has contributed to the issues we are seeing with this team. We can blame MLF's play calling, and there is truth to that, but at the end of the day, bad execution, bad reads, bad throws and bad decisions are on Jordan. He ultimately decides where the ball is going.

All that said, I still believe Jordan has the talent to be a very good QB in this league. He needs to get back to the fundamentals and so does MLF as Since '61 pointed out.

Ultimately this team was built by Gute. He made decisions he felt he had to make for the future of the organization. The product we are seeing is a result of those decisions. Were they the right decisions? Will Packers history see Gute in the same way it sees Ron Wolf ? Time will tell. Hopefully the last 2 games are the low point of this season. We Packers fans have patience. We knew there would be times this season that would try our patience, but if this team continues to regress, the wolves will be howling.

Lafleur is reminding me of Linfante. Murphy hired him hoping for a hybrid of Shanahan/McVay and ended up with counterfeit.

Expensive DC's like Fangio and Flores were passed on this last off season to keep Barry. This has been a trend for coordinators under MLF, and it was only broken when RB was hired for special teams.

Perhaps we should hire the SF "DC in waiting." The last two DC's for the 49'ers ended up as head coaches and the next coordinator up has continued the trend of rock solid 49er defenses. While we can't poach their current DC, why not identify the "DC in waiting" and poach him. It couldn't turn out any worse that what we have now.

And to think many here just couldn’t wait to see the back side of Rodgers so that we could see Lafleurs real offense. I was expecting some ups and downs but not seeing many ups. I’ve been holding my breath ever since I read that they interviewed zero other HC candidates before going with Lafleur. That’s just downright mismanagement of an organization.

And wasn’t Watson one of the guys practicing with Love in the off off season?