Matt LaFleur refuses to address Packers’ most pressing question after embarrassing loss to the Falcons
Green Bay’s offensive line allowed 21 pressures against Atlanta, and the coaching staff’s inability to develop talent along the front is becoming impossible to ignore.
The Green Bay Packers lost to the Atlanta Falcons 35-14 on “Thursday Night Football,” and the worst part of the roster was on full display. The offensive line allowed 21 pressures, including 13 from the starting guards alone. Jager Burton gave up seven pressures, Jacob Monk surrendered six, and the unit looked completely overmatched against Atlanta’s front. The performance raised serious questions about the coaching staff’s ability to fix the problem, and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur shut down the most important one.
LaFleur was asked if he would consider changes on the coaching staff on offense, and particularly along the offensive line.
“I’m not even going to respond to that question,” LaFleur said.
The real problem on offense isn’t a surprise
That refusal is part of the problem. The Packers made questionable decisions along the offensive coaching staff, and the results have followed. When Adam Stenavich was the offensive line coach, Luke Butkus was the assistant offensive line coach, and Nathaniel Hackett was the offensive coordinator, the offense had strong results. The offensive line in particular had a track record of developing players, including mid-round picks.
Then a sort of Peter Principle took effect. Several pieces of the staff were promoted to spots where they may not belong. Stenavich was promoted to offensive coordinator, and it’s difficult to point to what he adds to the equation now. Presumably he helps with the run game plan, but that area of the offense has been underwhelming at best. Butkus was promoted to offensive line coach, and the development pipeline has dried up since.
Invested resources, diminishing returns
Green Bay has poured capital into the offensive line. Jordan Morgan was a first-round pick, Anthony Belton was a second-rounder. Aaron Banks signed a contract worth $19.25 million per year in free agency. Despite all that investment, the current state of the group features talented players like Jager Burton who simply don’t develop as expected. The growth from year to year along the offensive line is nonexistent, and that’s how the situation deteriorated to this point.
This coaching staff structure on offense has been in place since 2022. There has been time to adjust. After how things went last season, the problems on offense and along the offensive line were already visible. LaFleur should have made a decision this past offseason to create a better environment for quarterback Jordan Love and the offense in general, and he opted not to.
Mounting pressure on LaFleur
Now the offensive staff is under pressure, and LaFleur himself is under far greater scrutiny. The situation could cost him his job, or at minimum force the Packers into tough decisions down the road.
It’s a fair question whether Green Bay will make offensive staff coaching changes during the season. LaFleur refusing to at least explain why he would keep those coaches throughout the year is a bad look and not what the Packers need at this moment. The team needs answers, and to find them, the Packers first need to understand what’s going wrong. Based on LaFleur’s response Thursday night, it doesn’t sound like that understanding exists yet.
