Early on this season, we witnessed the Green Bay Packers get off to an uncharacteristically slow start, scoring just seven points against what now ranks as the NFL’s fifth-worst defense. While head coach Matt LaFleur then got his team to rattle off three consecutive wins, what happened next was nearly unprecedented for a team led by four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers, losing five in a row.
This would put the Packers at a rare disadvantage in the NFC North, falling behind to 3-6, with the previously high-scoring offense nowhere to be found. We saw Rodgers’ frequent misconnections with his new cast of receivers, leading many to believe (including the QB himself), that the Packers would simply make a trade deadline acquisition to improve his stable of pass-catchers. But Green Bay made no such move, choosing to stick with their youth.
Many believed it was only a matter of time before the Packers’ offense took flight once again, and in some ways, it has, with their past three games representing two of their highest point totals yet this season.
But why the sudden turnaround? What helped the Packers get back on the treadmill?
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Green Bay Packers adjusted their preparation habits mid-season
Coach LaFleur seemed to confirm some comments made by Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the ESPN broadcast, indicating that the Packers hadn’t been reviewing game film as a team early on in the season. The broadcasters mentioned LaFleur indicated their biggest change came from watching film together as a team, as opposed to previously doing so in individual gatherings.
LaFleur essentially confirmed these comments publicly earlier this week.
“Yeah that’s something that just thinking back in previous years, we had done that, most of the time together and then after that first year, again we had a more veteran group of wideouts and we allowed it to, just from an efficiency standpoint and a detail standpoint, allowed the position groups to meet independently of one another in some instances. Now, I would say, I can’t remember what week it was, but we decided to start watching every practice together as a whole unit.”
Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur on changing film review habits (H/T to Kalyn Kahler of The Athletic)
Apparently this change has helped the young receivers, such as Christian Watson, get up to speed, where he’s averaged 71.8 yards per game while chipping in seven touchdowns in the past five games. But it begs the question, why didn’t the Packers do this all along? Or at least much sooner?
Coach LaFleur simply says, “That’s just the way it transpired.”
Who knows whose decision it was to not watch film together and then begin to do so, but from a team/chemistry building standpoint, it seems to be the only way to operate. At least the Packers figured it out now, even if it is too little, too late to make an impact this season. But they’re not giving up hope just yet.
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