There is a perception around the Green Bay Packers that the team hasn't been good under Matt LaFleur coming off bye weeks. And that's deserved to a point, as the head coach lost his first two games after byes, in 2019 and 2020, in embarrassing manner.

However, the Packers have won two games in a row after bye weeks, in 2021 and 2022, and it became clear that it was much more related to the opponents and matchups than anything strategic. That bodes well for the game against the Denver Broncos next Sunday, the first start from quarterback Jordan Love in this circumstance.

"We've got five games that we can really look back at," LaFleur said. "We've just got to take a good hard look at maybe how our opponents are seeing us and what teams are doing to us from a defensive perspective that is giving us some problems, and maybe we can get in front of some of these things so they don't re-occur."

In 2019, LaFleur's first season as a head coach, the Packers lost 37-8 to the San Francisco 49ers. And while it was bad, it was also a fair representation of the talent discrepancy between those two teams, something which was reaffirmed in the NFC Championship Game.

In 2020, another lopsided loss, 38-10 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This time around, the talent difference wasn't so extreme, but the stylistic matchup was terrible for the Packers, and again it was costly in the NFCCG.

Over the last two years, though, the team has reverted the negative trend. In 2021, the Packers finally won a post-bye game under Matt LaFleur, beating the Chicago Bears 45-30.

It was far from perfect, and the Packers seemed unprepared to start the game. The special teams were chaotic, with big returns allowed and a fumble reverted because of a Bears penalty. The defense also allowed big plays, even though it forced a couple of turnovers from Justin Fields. By the end, the offense dominated in the second half.

Last season, it was a more normal game from the Packers perspective. It wasn't a great offensive performance, but the Los Angeles Rams was playing with recently acquired quarterback Baker Mayfield. The Packers won 24-12.

Against the Denver Broncos, it is theoretically a good matchup for the Packers to show development from their young offensive players. The Broncos are 30th in total DVOA, and 32nd in defensive DVOA.

The opponent seems to be in all-out mode, even considering trades to acquire draft capital before the deadline. It’s the same team that gave up 70 points to the Miami Dolphins and a career game for Justin Fields — the only time the Bears quarterback surpassed 300 passing yards in the NFL.

The Packers come from a bad two-game sequence with losses to the Detroit Lions and Las Vegas Raiders. The bye could be a concern based on what happened at the beginning of the Matt LaFleur era. But things have gotten back on track over the last two seasons, and the Packers have a new opportunity to take advantage of a bad team on Sunday.

This is not exactly a season where Green Bay is a contender, but if the team wants to compete for a playoff spot and to keep a positive vibe, it’s as much of a must-win game as there will be this season.

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