The Green Bay Packers' offense has been faltering, costing them wins and playoff positioning. Ultimately, this is a make or break moment for head coach Matt LaFleur.
Matt LaFleur, what what would you say you do here for the Green Bay Packers?
Anybody who has ever seen the iconic movie Office Space will remember that line fondly. Unfortunately, it's probably a line that new Packers President and CEO Ed Policy will have to ask LaFleur after Green Bay's disastrous 10-7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football.
It's certainly a question LaFleur is starting to get from the media, and it's about time. The Packers fell to 5-3-1 after the loss, but they've now lost two in a row and they've seen their place in the standings crater. From first place in the NFC North to third. From first place in the NFC a few weeks ago to now barely holding onto the seventh seed and a playoff berth.
This is a team that seems to be falling apart, but at the same time this a team that seems to have Super Bowl talent on both sides of the ball. Even to the untrained eye, that would appear to be a coaching problem, which is probably why LaFLeur was asked by the media after the Monday Night Football loss if he feels like he's coaching for his job over the rest of this 2025 season.
"l'll leave that for everybody else to decide," LaFleur said. "I’ll just focus on the day to day."
"I feel like you’re always coaching for everything in this league," he continued. "That's just my mindset. It's always been that way. You can’t ever exhale. You gotta always be pushing. That's just my mindset, and that will be my mindset until they tell me not to coach anymore."
That time could be coming sooner rather than later, because LaFleur has been terrible at both of his main functions for this team.
Technically, through the course of his now six and a half seasons in Green Bay, LaFleur has been a good coach. He's taken the Pack to the playoffs in five out of six seasons and even after the loss to Philly, the Packers are more capable of making the playoffs in 2025.
There are franchises in the NFL that would give anything to have a coach like that, but this is not just any franchise. Green Bay is called "Title Town" for a reason, and that's because championships are the expectation and anything short of that is a disappointment.
The standard is high. The dang trophy is named after Vince Lombardi, after all.
Long-term, the big question Policy is going to have to ask himself is whether or not LaFleur can get the Packers over the hump, and we don't have any evidence to suggest that he can do that just yet. He did make the NFC Championship twice with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, but the Packers lost both times. First, to the San Francisco 49ers on the road, and then, to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Lambeau Field.
LaFleur's playoff record is 3-5, but the Packers shouldn't even be looking that far into the future yet, because they may not even make the playoffs this season.
More pressing in the short term, LaFLeur is also this team's play-caller, and the offense has gone bone dry.
It's inconsistent, uninspiring and wildly predictable. Heck, Philly knew what the Packers were going to run in big spots before even the Packers knew, seemingly.
Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) on X
Oh ho ho ho! Very cool! Ojomo (DT 97) loud and clear calling out the 4th and 1 go-to of the Packers.
"Inside zone this way! Inside zone this way!"
Green Bay's offense put up only seven points against the Eagles, but the "advanced" statistics were even more damning. The Pack put up just 261 total yards in 27:55 of possession. They were an abysmal 5-of-13 on third down and 1-of-3 on fourth downs. That last fourth down call, which was so uninspiring that Philly could call it out before it even happened, lost them the game.
The Pack have now scored just 20 points in the past two games and they're averaging only 10 points per game in their losses.
Something is fundamentally broken with this offense, and again, it has more to do than just injuries.
It's on LaFleur to figure that out, and he doesn't seem to have anymore answers no matter how hard he looks at his tablet on the sideline. He's becoming a meme at this point.
FanDuel (@FanDuel) on X
A closer look at the final play Matt LaFleur drew up:
LaFleur does at least deserve the opportunity to try to turn this thing around, but he should be on very thin ice over these next few weeks.
If the Packers can't go on the road and beat a New York Giants team that just fired its head coach, LaFleur shouldn't be allowed back on the team plane to Green Bay. Even if the Packers do get back on the winning track, their next four games after the Giants are against the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos.
LaFleur went 1-5 against the NFC North in 2024. If that trend continues this year, he may not make it out of December.
Nor should he.