GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are broken on offense. Can Matt LaFleur get them fixed?
Here are the weekly Overreactions following the Packers’ 10-7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Coach Matt LaFleur is considered an offensive mastermind. Laugh all you want in light of what happened the last two weeks, but LaFleur took on a reclamation project named Aaron Rodgers when he was hired in 2019. In his debut season, the Packers reached the NFC Championship Game. In 2020, they led the NFL in scoring and Rodgers won MVP. In 2021, they finished 10th in scoring and Rodgers again won MVP.
The Packers traded Davante Adams before the 2022 draft. They traded Rodgers before the 2023 draft. LaFleur won with Rodgers. He won with Jordan Love. Heck, he won with Malik Willis.
So, it was hard to say what was more startling on Monday night. That the Packers scored seven points against the Eagles. Or that LaFleur walked into his postgame news conference as if he’d just handed out participation trophies and cupcakes rather than victory game balls?
“Unfortunately, there’s absolutely no moral victories in our sport, but I was proud of our guys’ effort. I thought they battled for four quarters,” LaFleur said. That the players didn’t quit, I suppose, is a good thing for LaFleur’s short-term job security.
“We knew it was going to be a four-quarter fistfight,” he continued. “I thought our defense was outstanding and, unfortunately, just too many mistakes offensively to overcome it. I have said this many times: You hold good football teams to 10 points, you should win the football game, in my opinion.”
I know LaFleur’s point but, for the record, he’d never said those words. That’s because the Packers were 15-0 when allowing 10 or fewer points during his tenure. In fact, the Packers were 26-0 when allowing 14 or fewer points in a game.
Green Bay’s offensive performance was, well, offensive. Again. That starts with LaFleur, as he’d be the first to admit.
Sure, Green Bay’s injuries are a factor. The Eagles, on the other hand, were healthy and coming off their bye.
But the defense gave LaFleur’s offense a low bar last week against Carolina. It gave the offense an even lower bar against Philadelphia. Instead of stepping over it, it stumbled face-first into the outhouse.
On Monday night, the game was tied 0-0 at halftime. The Packers had 83 yards – including 20 net passing yards – and zero third-down conversions. The second half was better – it couldn’t have been worse – but they went from stepping in cow manure to horse manure.
In the second half, they gained 181 yards. They went 5-for-8 on third down. However, instead of kicking extra points or field goals, they kept kicking themselves in the shins with their crap-covered cleats.
The first possession of the second half ended on Bo Melton’s fourth-down drop. The second ended when an illegal-formation penalty eliminated a completion to Christian Watson that gained 22 yards to the Eagles’ 13. The third, finally, ended in the end zone. The fourth ended on the doomed fourth-and-1 handoff to Josh Jacobs when the Eagles knew exactly what was coming.
“They called out our play,” Jacobs said. “We ran it like four times (and) they called it out.”
A team should be building in November so it can compete for a championship in December and January. Instead, the Packers’ offense is crumbling.
Defenses are begging the Packers to run the ball, but they do it at only a mediocre level. Defenses are allowing the Packers to settle for underneath passes, but Love was 6-of-10 for 39 yards in the first half.
On the second-to-last drive, the Packers faced third-and-10. Love completed a short pass into the flat to Luke Musgrave. Tucker Kraft would have taken that pass and blasted through three defenders to get the first down. Musgrave went down on first contact and gained 9.
Third-and-10 to Musgrave gets 9. pic.twitter.com/9AxMnhr67c
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) November 11, 2025
That set up the killer fourth-and-1. The Eagles knew what’s coming and Musgrave and right guard Jordan Morgan were destroyed at the point of attack.
Fourth-and-1 run to Jacobs doesn’t have a snowball’s chance because the Eagles know what’s coming and the blockers get mauled. pic.twitter.com/eiUJMxUxag
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) November 11, 2025
If defenses are going to play with two deep safeties and dare the Packers to run the ball and throw it short, then it’s up to LaFleur and Love to beat them while doing it. Yes, the Packers badly miss Kraft, a point driven home with an anvil during the final moments, but it’s up to LaFleur to adjust.
“Obviously,” he said, “didn’t do enough offensively and we’ve got a short week. Can’t feel sorry for ourselves. Got to figure it out, come back and be better.”
Time is of the essence. Solutions were needed yesterday.
“We’re midway through the season,” Jacobs said. “We can’t just keep saying, ‘All right, we’re going to address it.’ We’ve got to find actual answers to our problems.”
This season is sinking fast. Given a bonus day to get ready for the Eagles, Green Bay’s offense went from bad to worse. If LaFleur can’t find answers, he might have to find a new job.
The Packers were eliminated from last year’s playoffs by the Eagles. Their offensive line was overwhelmed in that game, so general manager Brian Gutekunst got to work.
Rather than running it back with Elgton Jenkins at left guard and Josh Myers at center, Gutekunst in free agency signed left guard Aaron Banks to a $77 million contract and moved Jenkins to center. In the second round of the draft, he selected tackle Anthony Belton.
The line is new. It’s certainly not improved.
The run blocking is terrible. The Packers are 26th in the NFL with 3.95 yards per carry, even with Josh Jacobs scratching and clawing for every inch. Last year, they were sixth with 4.75 yards per carry.
Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jaelan Phillips (50) pressures Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love. / Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The pass protection isn’t much better. Jordan Love has been pressured on 36.4 percent of his dropbacks, which is right in the middle of the pack, according to Pro Football Focus. Last year, he was pressured on 34.4 percent of his dropbacks. Against the Eagles, it was 47.6 percent – third-highest in the league in Week 10.
Whether Gutekunst botched the personnel decisions on Banks, Belton and last year’s first-round pick, Jordan Morgan, is a matter worthy of debate. But the players are the players. The trade deadline has come and gone, and it’s not as if there’s an abundance of quality linemen sitting at home. So, the Packers aren’t going to get better personnel for the stretch run. In fact, they’re going to have to deal with lesser personnel following Jenkins’ injury.
You can’t change the players. You can change the coach.
Perhaps it’d be worth considering moving on from offensive line coach Luke Butkus, move offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich back into his old role as line coach, and give Jason Vrable a shot as coordinator in hopes of providing a spark to the overall unit.
During their previous two games, the Eagles scored a combined 60 points. Jalen Hurts threw seven touchdown passes compared to only nine incompletions.
Coming off their bye, the Eagles were healthy and probably had a fresh idea or two to throw at the Packers.
Jeff Hafley’s defense shut it all down.
The Packers’ second-year defensive coordinator put on a masterclass against the Eagles. Green Bay limited them to 294 yards, 13 first downs and a combined 7-of-18 on third and fourth down. The indomitable Saquon Barkley gained 2.7 yards per carry. The red-hot Hurts completed only 57.7 percent of his passes.
It wasn’t as if Micah Parsons or Rashan Gary took over the game. In fact, the Packers finished with zero sacks and zero quarterback hits. Of Green Bay’s 13 pressures, according to PFF, Parsons had seven.
Hafley’s defense plays hard and plays with fundamentals. We counted only three missed tackles; PFF counted four. Under increasing pressure to carry the load for an inept offense, the defense refuses to crumble.
Hafley, with his success on the field and his obvious ability to be the voice for the entire program, is on the fast track toward becoming a coach. If Matt LaFleur can’t lead the team out of the abyss, is the team’s next head coach already in Green Bay?
Whatever Hafley’s future, his presence is the biggest reason why the Packers don’t have just a chance to salvage the season. They have a chance to make some noise in January.
“To the fans, they should have hope,” Parsons said. “It would be different if we’re getting blown out (and) in despair, like we can’t win these type of games. We’re very capable of winning these games. We’re just not playing to the level of the standard that we set for each other, and we’re beating ourselves in fundamentals and technique. And once we do that, we’re going to be a really good team. …
“I wouldn’t panic at all. Like we’re going to win a lot of football (games). The way we just played, we’re going to win a lot of football games. This is considered one of the best offenses in the National Football League. So, I would not panic, I wouldn’t stress. We’re going to win football games, I promise you.”
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