When Matt LaFleur was hired in 2019, it was clear that the Green Bay Packers needed a restructuring.
The offense had become sluggish, the defense was stuck in neutral, and there was an air of monotony about the entire franchise. They seemed like a fish out of water, a team that looked old compared to the rest of the league.
To his credit, LaFleur got the offense up to modern standards pretty quickly despite a limitation. He and Aaron Rodgers agreed on what the offense should look like. It was a marriage between LaFleur’s system and things that Rodgers really liked when Mike McCarthy was running the team. That compromise remained until Rodgers left at the end of the 2022 season.
Last year, with Jordan Love, we finally got to see more of a pure offense from the LaFleur Packers, and after some initial hiccups, things really started to take off.
That continued in the last two games without Love. LaFleur was in good form and impressed opponents so much that the Packers continued to win even without the franchise quarterback.
Needless to say, the crime has been completely modernized.
What about the defense?
It took a while, but with his third defensive coordinator, Lafleur seems to have finally hit the nail on the head, even if the sample size is small.
Jeff Hafley seems to have FINALLY brought the Green Bay Packers defense into the 21st century. They are aggressive and create turnovers. They have as many interceptions through three games as they did all of last year, which is a franchise record for fewest in a season.
This is an indictment of both Hafley and his predecessor, Joe Barry.
They also go after the quarterback, which is a must in today’s NFL. You can’t let a quarterback sit around all day. Even a bad quarterback can tear you apart sometimes.
The transformation even extends beyond the playing field to the Internet.
I’m not sure where or when the change occurred, but if you’ve followed the Packers on social media over the years, you’ll notice a stark contrast this year: humor!
Gone are the days when the accounts were just an automatic feed of articles and slideshows. Now there are funny jokes, memes, and (gasp) interaction with fans. What a concept! But hey, at least the Packers made it happen, right?
Thanks to Hafley’s arrival and LaFleur’s development as a playmaker, the Packers are in a good position now and for the near future. For a team with such a tradition, that’s great to see.
The Packers now honor their past while looking forward to the future.
For being over 100 years old, the Packers look damn good for their age.
