Damn good article. No BS, just honest analysis. Proves that you don’t have to check your brain at the door to be a Packer fan.

"I was looking forward this season to seeing what the true LaFleur offense looks like, and if this it, for sure the bloom is off the rose for me. Having said that, it's only four games and there's plenty of time to make adjustments, especially with a mini-bye this week and a full bye after the Raiders game. But it's going to take a lot more than LaFleur getting up at the podium once again and promising to be better."

Last season I really started questioning whether or not MLF was the right HC for the Packers. My hope was like everyone else's, now we see the REAL MLF offense. A strong running game. Lots of play action and motion. Players SCHEMED open all over the field and the middle of the field being used.

But that's not exactly what we've seen, not even close, and now it seems the defense is even WORSE than it's been in years. Can't run the ball. Can't stop the run. They've given up over 200 yards rushing in 2 of the 4 games, and don't even have a total of 300 yards rushing in 4 games themselves. You won't win many games doing that. Especially when the WR's, TE's are so young and the QB is learning.

Like Al mentioned, it's only 4 weeks into the season and again, we KNEW it would be rough at times. But with all the draft capital spent on defense, a lot of promising new offensive weapons, what was supposed to be a solid O-Line and decent O-Line depth, and a great RB duo, not much of that has come through which leaves us coaching.

This team has talent. They have a LOT of talent, but when I look at that coaching staff, really look, tell me who's really worth a damn? There's not a single coach I would want on that staff other than maybe Bisaccia, that I would want as a coordinator let alone a HC...That's a problem.

Judging by what I've seen through 4 weeks and the level of competition they've played, I'm concerned and rightfully so. They lost one they should have won, won one they should have lost, got whooped, and beat the Bears which is turning out to be no accomplishment at all.

BIG Changes....That's all I want to see Monday Night. I want to see them actually TRY and run the ball with Jones EARLY. I want to see want to see a quick passing game to start. Get Jordan some confidence early. Stop the deep balls. And for the love of God, STOP with the 2 down linemen at the 3 yard line just because they have 3 WRs in the game. You will get your ass kicked, just like you've been doing.

"in-game adjustments" Al? "Having said that, it's only four games and there's plenty of time to make adjustments, especially with a mini bye and the bye week"? Have to stick with the plans already in place or we won't have "continuity". Hang that young QB out to dry!

Guess who's running game is going to come alive this week? I'll give you two guesses if your first one is the Packers. Why would any team try anything else till the Packers show some backbone?

MLF's play design seems to be pretty damn good.
MLF's game planning seems suspect.

It was a weird performance by the entire team. It was like a mix of overconfidence and lack of confidence with a whole lot of "maybe we're just not very good" thrown in. I agree that scheme-wise, the offense was really strange. With Aaron Jones on a pitch count and A.J. Dillon floundering, maybe the Packers were going to look bad regardless of the game plan. Getting whipped up front will do that to you. But still, it was just...odd to keep running those slow-developing plays.

On defense, the front seven got their assess handed to them, plain and simple. Rashan Gary was the only one who showed up, as far as I could tell. And after Rudy Ford's interception, Rasul Douglas and Darnell Savage both tried jumping routes and gave up big plays, one of which was a TD. Even the special teams got into the act, with Jayden Reed, who had looked so cool up till then, taking a stab at a bouncing ball on a punt return, with near-disastrous results.

When the whole team plays badly, it makes me wonder about the motivational aspect of coaching, and it also makes me wonder about the leadership (or lack thereof) among the players. But we will see how the season plays out. There are still 13 games to go.

The question 'who was really leading the Packers?' has been answered.

I'm not sure LaFleur's cut from head coach cloth. He's not shown the decisiveness a team needs for its leader to draw lines in the sand and enforce consequences for crossing them with both coaches and players.

The team has lacks an identity, and has no anchor. It's a young team, but the wildly inconsistent swings aren't decreasing in volume or frequency, and what were thought to be strength areas of the team are being exposed as liabilities, varying game to game.

Each game is turning its own adventure in 'what today?'

"I also wouldn't be fooled by the offense's middling success in the second half. "

The Packers put a TE--Deguara or Kraft--on Walker's (and sometimes Tom's) shoulder a lot more in the second half, too...more chipping and help on the perimeter, but the damage was already done.

" Joe Barry says it can be fixed and they WILL fix it. The Raiders are the worst rushing team in the league, so on one hand the timing couldn't be better,"

Do we see Ford elevated and one of the rookies (Wooden?) inactive to try to compensate in base? Does taking Slaton off the field for Ford really change anything or do they move Slaton to DE, put Ford on the nose, and decrease Wyatt's snaps? Getting Campbell back will help some.

The Raiders might be one of the worst running teams in the league, their OL is a mess, and they don't have mobile QBs...but the Packers are what their local media would call a "get right" game for their offense. Whether Garoppolo plays or not, the Raiders will see a chance to establish Jacobs and then take their shots with Meyers and Davante. The Te/Ja matchup should be a good one. Neither of these teams run well...neither has been consistent throwing the ball...but neither defense has been any good at stopping the run, either.

It's the movable objects vs. the resistible forces.

"J-E-T-S"

Who? That's Kelly green, not Packers green.

"Gary"

I might be wrong, but it seemed that they lined up a TE over Gary, so maybe the Packers started playing "hide-and-seek" a little to try to create opportunities and see if they could make the Lions adjust?

"Carlson"

The early front-runner for team MVP.

I thought there were as many Detroit fans in the stands as there were Packers' fans. Gold Package strikes again! Lotta ballgame left, so I'm not getting too upset, just yet. This team does have, however, a lot to work on. They can start with the fundamentals, i.e. tackling, knowing their assignments, blocking technique, etc. On to the Raiders and all the Davante hype that will come with that. GO PACK, GO!!!

I like everything you said Al. Yes we have a young team but it doesn't need to be a team running off madly in all directions. I roll it up to two things - coaching and drafting. Matt Lafleur has not assembled a strong staff and he has promoted the staff he has beyond their competence. The defense is a perfect example, assignment unsure and outschemed. The offense is the epitome of finesse but too weak in the fundamentals to be effective at anything other than stand-up football.

Beyond the coaches pulling at straws, the Packers are not constructed for power or playoff football. On defense we keep drafting edge rushers and speedy corners. You need to go back to Cullen Jenkins and Raji to actually see a 3-4 style of line. Watching Joe Barry and his 2 down linemen on the 2 yard line is car accident watching. Where is the nose tackle on this team? Where is there any real talent outside of Kenny Clark in the trench?

As for the offense, the only real problem is the O-line. Gutekunst keeps drafting late round tackles in the hopes of finding Bak and/or conversion projects. True guards and centers are born a certain way. If we want to run the ball, you need some road graders. Our O-line will always be average at best and second to a NFL four man front.

LaFleur -
For the game plan I don't think they took into account that the OL was going to be as bad as they were. Tom was hurt. Runyan got hurt. Newman has to be one of if not the worst OL in the league that has started, and Walker was entering his 3rd start. They needed to make quicker adjustments. Moving forward they need to find a way to start quicker. Make easier throws early for Love. I would like to see some jet sweeps, some WR screens, some quick slant type of passes. Something to get Love into rhythm.

Disruptive Defense? -
I like that they were planning on doing something new. But did the D Coordinator get the memo? Because it looks the same as it has the last couple of years.

Carlson Clutch -
Carlson has been very good. Can't complain at all with him and his kicking.

Is Gary Right? -
I thought it was a matchup thing. I feel like they knew they could take advantage of him on the right side. Sewell is a beast too.

Here’s my interpretation:
In GB, prior to the Lions game:
1. They probably expect us to start the game on the ground.
2. In the off chance they expect us to throw, they probably don’t expect us to throw deep.
3. They probably think with our banged up O-line combined with our desire to get our young QB into a rhythm early, we’ll throw short.
4. So, with the element of surprise on our side, we’ll start the game throwing deep. It’s brilliant! They’ll never see it coming!

Meanwhile, in Detroit:
1. Punch them in the mouth.
2. Bite off kneecaps.
3. Repeat.

Al your comments are spot on. It may be time to go back to calling Matt LaFleur Matt LaChooch. However, I'm going to hold off until after the Raiders this Monday night.

If the Packers get their players back including Jones, Watson, Alexander and maybe Jenkins the Packers have the opportunity to look and perform like a much better team than they have shown so far this season. Beyond getting their players back the Packers need to get their OL right. They should go with Walker, Jenkins, Tom, Runyon and Nijman. That puts their best 5 on the field and maybe with Jenkins return and Tom at Center the Packers can solidify the interior of their OL.

On defense the Packers need to figure out how they will stop the ground game. The Raiders should provide at least a temporary cure for the Packers defense. Except for Davante Adams I'm not sure that the Raiders have any weapons that the Packers should be afraid of. Quite frankly the next 2 Packer opponent, Raiders and Broncos with a full bye week in between, should be an excellent opportunity for the Packers to get healthy, to figure out what they're doing and to stack some successes. If their level of play does not improve over the upcoming stretch of games we'll know that this team is really bad off.

If we're outcoahced and outplayed again I'm not sure where the coaching staff goes from there except out the door. Go Pack Go! Thanks, Since '61

Like as has been written above I was looking forward to this season as we entered the unknown. I am not totally disappointed yet as I projected 5 or 6 wins so I am in the ball park. I still look forward to watching the Packers this season but I do expect improvement.

First of all I agree that it is all about execution and that is on the players but it is up to the coaches to devise a game plan that matches the players that are on the game day roster. That is why they get paid millions.

Something is wrong when you have two starters in the defensive backfield not playing and they run the ball successfully. The DL needs to control the line of scrimmage and keep the OL from getting to the next level so the LBs can hit the gaps. On Thursday there was nothing special about what the Lions were doing. All they did was run inside the tackles and they were successful. The Falcons were successful at doing that also but they tended to run outside more. Berry needs to concentrate on stopping the run first because if you do not do that then you are in for a long day.

Offense has had more injuries and is less talented so I expect to see issues. Jones being out and Dillon not playing well has hurt the offense. One thing it does is it tells us that we should only sign Dillon to a contract that is midrange for an RB at best. I believe in putting the best 5 OL on the field but along that line I would say the best 5 for run blocking so we can run the ball. With all the injuries we need to concentrate or talent in one direction. Also the passing game needs plays that are quick. Get the ball out quick and let the reciever run with the ball. The only pass they should call that takes time is a screen pass. Use the screen pass to slow up the pass rush.

STs have had issues. Easy tell Nixon to fair catch the ball. Very few if any have been returned past the 25.

I've mentioned the passive attitude MLF seems to have instilled this team. Perfect example was Fords inception. He ran out of bounds, rather than knock the Lions QB ass over tea kettle. Damn it. Make those Lions pay, but no. Damn woke football. No reckless abandon, no meanness,no smash mouth, and NEVER any ass kicking. If this is an example of the woke direction the NFL going, this game was spot on.

Now that LeFleur is seen as 'Pepe Le Pew', a smelly skunk who thought himself fantastic, but always revealed himself as a stinker, where does everyone place the credit for the deceptive 13 win seasons that now seem, so far away from that past, and the 'hoped' for future.

Nothing this HC has done this season has erased the stink that has been smelled, but ignored, by so many spraying cheap perfume (excuses) to cover it up.

I know a plate of crow is possible, though more improbable this season, but don't bet on it or him to serve it up.

I believe you told it like it “was”.
But the spin still is; Pepe’ the stink.
And I just can’t go along with that.
We know we're in a “Rebuild”.
The Blue in the stands shows it.
And I believe there is just TOO Much Pre “LOVE".
For anyone; to really condemn MLF.
But when the musical chairs start.
How can you not give the Back-ups snaps.
The OL had promise. But the same ideas.
When guys go down. It’s not on MLF.
And as I for told everyone.
GoFF is a Top 10 QB.
Barry knew after NO what could happen.
If it’s their belief that the Schematics can Fix it.
I can’t buy into that, because it’s the wrong Defense.
The eagles as well as others have switched to the 4-2-5.
It’s not about taking a DL and turning them into LBs.
If the Rush solved everything. No one would tackle.
Is Gary Right? He might not be.
But then neither are the packers.
Their Time has ended. And the fix hasn’t worked.
And thats on the GM. TT fired Sherman.
Gute’s vision was No different.

There is frustration, and disappointment, in the Bay of Green, notwithstanding, a fan, a realistic fan, not a cock-eyed optimist, or a sky is falling pessimist, but rather someone in between, would look to see how to approach the situation in a solution finding way, so as not to simply say “fire everyone”, but also to say, not, “keep doing what we’re doing” (which defines the very definition of insanity), and to use the means at his or her disposal, since a prime Anthony Munoz was failing to walk, resplendently, through the proverbial open door of the Green Bay roster, and thus bringing with him the victories and glory this once proud franchise layeth claims to.

Give Gute the power and responsibility of a true General Manager. The ability to hold the coaching staff's feet to the fire and remove and replace as he sees fit. Our CEO is spending most of his time expanding Lambeau and enhancing revenue. We need one guy TOTALLY responsible, devoting all his time and energy to football operations.

So this comment goes with the name of this column. Sorry it is not Packer related.

I am sick and tired and do not want to hear anything about or see Taylor Swift when watching a football game. I am ok with her attending games but I do not care who she is dating, if she is cheering, or anything else she is up to. Oh and that goes for other celebrities. it is about football and football only.

I share the frustrations with this defense. I had my doubts about the promised changes. I'm at a point where I don't think it's a matter of Barry being stubborn and not wanting to change. Even he has to see what he's doing isn't working. I think it's more this is the only way he knows how to coach a defense. If that's true, then just expect more of the same unfortunately.

That being said, I don't understand all the vitriol against the offense. What happened to all the talk about being patient because of all of the youth and inexperience? That there would be some ugly games while all these young guys learned to play together? And that was BEFORE all the injuries. Who could have predicted TWO Pro Bowl Oline men, Aaron Jones and Watson being out the majority of the first quarter of the season? All the while with a first time starting QB, two rookie TE's and the youngest WR group in the entire NFL.

It seems like a lot of the same folks who were preaching patience are now the loudest alarmists...after 4 games!

I read the same comments over and over, the same articles site to site.
I love Al's 3 plays and Confessions...
As fans we want to help. Here's my attempt.
This is the hand we've been dealt for this season. What is our overall goal? Super Bowl? Play-offs? Improvement of a young team? I'm going to go with play-offs.
My first suggestion would be scrap the zone blocking. You want OL'men to block? Then fire off and block somebody. I see numerous times that we have angles on certain plays and our first moves are parallel to the LOS. Can't go forward going sideways. I see a lot of posters saying how bad Meyers is, for example, then I see him trying to reach a 3 tech. C'mon, be fair. Some things just can't be done. If you want to use the Lions as an example, go back and look at how many times they had an angle on one of our DL, and just crushed him down the LOS.
I'm not a huge Jordan Love fan, but he's our guy. What routes does he struggle with? What routes does he throw well? For some reason he seems to struggle with the 15 yard dig/crossing route. He sure looked like a HOF 'er on the back shoulder route to Doubs v. New Orleans. Play more to his strengths.
Defensively , I love the potential of just about everyone that steps out on the field for us. That being said, we are often playing 9 v. 11. It seems that we have an initial scheme or plan, but not everyone is on the same page. The linebackers never seem to work in tandem, the line often seems to do one thing, like maybe a stunt, with no coverage behind it. We have yet to adjust to an unbalanced line. I'm going to be a good Christian here and say that Joe Barry is probably a very smart man. But, somehow the concepts being taught are not being absorbed by all 11. The guys are playing hard, but fundamentally lost at times. We have all had teachers that are geniuses, but can't get their material across to the students.
As far as MLF is concerned, he worries me. I see every week the message seems to be we are going to make changes to take care of our issues. That tells me the original " plan" wasn't that great to begin with. If it were me the message would be - we are going to work our asses off till we get this thing right.
My very first coaching job back in 1981- the head coach said that we can debate and argue in the office from sun up till sundown, but when we hit the field this is the very best defense ever. Sell it to the kids. We ran a 27 defense, with a sky or cloud coverage in the secondary that's all. We had about 8 running plays and maybe 4 pass plays. We were 8-2 the first year and 9-1 the second.
The kids knew how to re-act to whatever they were up against.
I realize that football is more complicated now than 40+ years ago. But, some things stay the same. If someone is not sure what their assignment is, that is for sure where we are going to get beat.
GPG

Sean Rhyan and Yosh must be really bad? For Royce to still be playing and Tom/JRJ to be playing hurt.
Is Luke Tenuta still on IR? That’s right, I’m officially begging for Luke Tenuta.
Wooden and Brooks were drafted to pressure the QB. Now 4 games in , we remembered we need help stopping the run?

"And yet, the early plan was to have Love drop back and throw the ball down the field with slow-developing routes."

I don't think the game plan was to throw the ball down the field. I think there were a number of times Jordan passed on the short throws that were open in favor of the longer throws. All too often those decisions led to sacks, or putting the ball in harms way.

Having read Al's article and the comments in here, I am surprised that there isn't more criticism for Jordan. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of his. I think his is going to develop into a very good NFL QB. However, his decisions, especially early, left a lot to be desired. There was plenty of opportunities to take the quick out to Doubs, or the check down to the RB. These are the kind of things that are on Jordan rather than the coaches. Take the 7 yard out on first down!!

The fact is, Jordan's inexperience showed, and understandably so, but he has to get the ball out instead of passing on the open man to look for a bigger play. That stresses an already stressed O-Line, not to mention putting them behind the sticks.

I love JL, but he needs to walk before he runs. He'll get there, but so far he has been a mixed bag of raw talent and poor decisions. Not unexpected, but not free of his share of the blame either.

Okay, just for dung and giggles:

Would you even consider (if available & cost is attenable):

Coach Belichick
Justin Fields (as backup) to groom and a career restart
Zach Wilson (as backup) to groom and a career restart

*maybe not so much a good idea with Fields and Wilson at this time. (after some reflection)

* I wasn't able to watch last week's game vs the Lions, so caught some on my phone. Just a tad demoralizing to see (hear) teams come into Lambeau and enforce their will by either being more physical, more prepared, more intensity...not sure why but we need to show more grit and guts and heart. This is coming from a person that never even played in college, so I don't have credentials but I have eyes and intuition. Our identity will come when we take off our tin man costumes before Halloween. Please, ugly please!

I would be up for giving this coaching staff a tad more leeway for the remainder of this season IF I saw inspired play AND the ability to ADJUST game plans while the game is still being played.

I would pay some bucks if the coaching staff had free reign in what they are able to share with us regarding the whats and whys going into their decisions. As for Taylor Swift, you be you girl. But, I would rather see a HUGE picture of a smiling #66 instead. A Ray of hope ....

Burp and Boo and a Leine's Brew

Wow.

We finished last season at 8-9 and in a bad cap situation. Since then, we did a lot of fixing on the cap and made a change at QB. We brought in some more firepower on offense. And we're a young team that's 2-2 with a great chance to go 3-2 next Monday

I truly believe that some people don't want to enjoy the season. They want to enjoy some fantasy season where things are different. I am enjoying this team, this season. I don't think the Front Office is a Clown Show. I don't think LaFleur is a bad coach or a perfect coach. I like our players. I think Love will do his job if he's given time and protection, and injuries have hurt us in that regard, but I'm confident the team will find a way to protect him so that he can continue to practice and grow with these guys like Doubs, Reed, Watson, Musgrave. Doubs and Reed have both made more than one catch this year where I'm watching it and I say "Are you kidding me?" We've seen what Watson can do. He averages a TD every 9 touches.

This is a young team that's going to grow during the season. I guess if we win 10+ games and make the playoffs the bloom will still be off, Barry will still need to be fired, and a bunch of not-good-enough players will need to be chucked.???????

In my best Darth Vader voice: Your lack of faith ..disturbs me.

LaFleur: He has to find a way to get in more favorable down-and-distance situations. The offense isn't doing enough on first down, Love is completing less than half his passes on second down, and the average distance to convert third downs is over 8 yards. Maybe trying more screens is the best bet, I don't know, but when your OL is this suspect, all this is easier said than done. Your reshuffled offensive line proposal is definitely worth a shot; what have we got to lose?

Disruptive defense: Schematic changes may be helpful against teams with weak rushing offenses like the Raiders and Vikings, but I have my doubts against playoff caliber teams. I think we need a few more bigger and physical players on both sides of the trenches. Also there were some pretty good debates here a few days ago about how Quay fits into this.

LaFleur has a few problems. First, for some reason, he hires mediocre coaches, promotes from within with dire results, and hangs onto his coaches past their expiration date. Yes, we can all point at Barry. But the OL is the result of sticking with guys that simply can't do the job. The same thing happened a few years ago. For some reason, it takes major trauma for there to be change. The OC (Stenavich) is bad; the DL/RB coach (JMontgomery) is bad; and the new OL coach (Butkus) is bad. Even special teams, where the team finally admitted they had a major problem after the loss to SF at home, was ranked 22nd best in the league last year (Rick Gosselin) are currently ranked at 27 league wide.
Second, there seems to be no answer when the offensive or defensive scheme isn't working. There is never a "Plan B"; instead, keep on with the original plan and hope it works. LaFleur himself has called this sort of planning "madness". Yet it has been happening for years. Again going back to the SF playoff game. The Packers scored a TD on their first possession. SF adjusted their defense. And the Packer offense was non-existent for the rest of the game. No adjustments. Nothing new to try.
Lastly, this team doesn't lack an identity. It is clear to other teams that you can out-muscle and out-coach the Packers easily, Just physically attack, on both sides of the ball, and watch them flounder. If you can't get a big lead, simply stick around, and the Packers will fold. Either LaFleur has to clean house, bring in a bunch of new coaches, actually spend some money on salaries for top guys, and see if that makes a difference. If not, then it's time for LaFleur to go.

Very good article Jersey Al. Thoughtful. Insightful. Balanced.

Yes, there are still 13 games left. This is a young, exciting team of athletes. I don't buy all the GB media hype crap in terms of an elevated won-loss record for this season. This a very young team that are going to make mistakes. A young QB that's going to have some growing pains. It's understandably going to be a roller coaster ride.

But what I can't abide is piss poor coaching, scheming and player evaluation. Accordingly, the bloom is most certainly off the MLF rose. Is he and his staff up to the challenge of coaching so many inexperienced players? There's no Rodgers or Adam's to inflate MLFs record now. And due to previous cap management decisions, there's no room to bring in experienced free agent help.

Maybe MLF can sell the fact that this year is developmental and therefore he nor Barry should be let go? Even with 13 games left, these 2 will have to eventually fix something to justify their continued employment one would think? Just a thought - how about having a prepared team to start a game?

It's gonna be a long, up and down season folks so buckle up. I know I say it a lot but it's true. Gonna be some moments where the kids flash some potential. Gonna be some games where the team shits the bed against quality, experienced opponents. Everybody is raving about Dan Campbell but it took him a 1 1/2 seasons for his team to play competent. Meanwhile Packer fans are pissed at MLF for not doing it in 4 games....

Nothing I can add here. Al certainly nailed it this week (again).

Bad defense and uncertain leadership run through this thread. Could somebody explain to me why Kenny Clark escapes criticism here? Does he get double teamed constantly and thus the other guys on the DL aren't taking advantage? I don't hear his name called much.