Head coach Matt LaFleur has been a big part of the Green Bay Packers’ success over the last six years. In his first six seasons with the team, they have gone to the playoffs for the fifth time. But that doesn’t mean he is immune to criticism — and, well, there have been a lot of it lately.
Against the Chicago Bears, LaFleur made a costly game management mistake, and it probably cost the Packers the game.
With less than a minute left, the Packers called a timeout before kicking the 55-yard field goal with Brandon McManus. That left a lot of time for the Bears to have a last drive and kick a 51-yarder with Cairo Santos to win it.
LaFleur explained his thought process after the game, and his initial idea was to go for it on fourth down. When the Packers lost yardage on third down, Rich Bisaccia said McManus could convert the field goal.
“At the end of the game, that’s thoroughly on me. Just got caught in a situation where our plan was going for it, they felt like Brandon could make that field goal. Hindsight is 20/20, I wish I wouldn’t have taken the timeout, because that gave them obviously way too much time to go down and operate,” LaFleur said. “Like I told the team, that’s on me, that can’t happen.”
A situation like that can’t happen in the playoffs, and LaFleur knows it. But at the same time, the coach is confident about what his team can do against top opposition — despite what happened in the regular season.
“We gotta wipe this as soon as possible, it’s a new season now,” LaFleur added. “Everybody is 0-0, we knew we’re gonna have to go on the road, so we’re gonna have to go on the road to Philly and figure out what day we’ll play and put a plan in place. Obviously, I’m very disappointed right now.”
Next week, the Packers will face the Philadelphia Eagles in Pennsylvania. Against the second seed in the NFC, mistakes can’t happen.
“We gotta be tough-minded, gotta be critical. We gotta flip the script as soon as possible and move on to the next game,” LaFleur stressed. “Like I said, it’s a whole new season. We know we’ve got a tough road in front of us, but one I know guys are gonna attack for sure.”
