Packers: Matt LaFleur Wanted More Big Plays & He’s Got Them

This offseason, Matt LaFleur said that the Green Bay Packers’ offense needed to create more big plays. Well, through two weeks, he’s got them.

Although the Green Bay Packers were able to finish the 2019 season 13-3 and just one game shy of the Super Bowl, the overall offensive production was very average, to say the least. In Year 1 of the Matt LaFleur offense, we saw spurts – often at the beginning of games – where they would move the ball with ease. Yet, there were also plenty of long stretches where even getting a first down was quite difficult.

While many will be quick to point out that the receiver position was the biggest contributor to the Packers’ ups and downs on offense, and I can understand why, a larger issue was that this was the first year of a brand new system.

What we saw Green Bay running in 2019 was just a portion of what LaFleur wanted to implement, along with some of what Mike McCarthy had established over the years. Not to mention that the players had to familiarize themselves with the terminology, the constant motioning – something McCarthy never used – and, of course, their new responsibilities.

So earlier this offseason, when LaFleur was on the Wilde and Tausch Radio Show, he was asked what areas the Packers could improve upon most in 2020. And without much hesitation, LaFleur wanted to see more explosive plays:

"“One area we really need to improve on is creating more explosive plays. We were pretty efficient … but were 23rd in explosive plays. That starts with play calling (and) maybe take a few more chances to help generate those plays down the field.”"

According to Sharp Football, an explosive pass is a play of 15 yards or more, and an explosive run is a run of 10 yards or more. Well, last season by Sharp Football’s metrics, the Green Bay Packers ranked 19th in explosive pass plays and 18th in explosive run plays. Not exactly what you’d expect from a 13 win team.

In fact, Green Bay’s overall explosive play rate, which ranked 19th in the NFL, was the second-worst among all playoff teams, ahead of only Philadelphia. And keep in mind that the Eagles were decimated with injuries last season, along with being only a nine-win team.

However, the 2020 season has been much different. While yes, we are only two weeks into the new season, this Packers’ offense in Year 2 of the LaFleur system has been much more effective at creating and, most importantly, capitalizing on the big play.

Green Bay already has 12 explosive runs, which ranks as the second-most in football, and in the passing game, their nine explosive plays rank as the fifth most. Overall, they’re generating an explosive play 15 percent of the time – up from just 10 percent in 2019 – good for the third-best rate in the NFL.

Even with all of the talk this offseason about Green Bay’s lack of weapons on offense, they have been one of the NFL’s most explosive teams to start the season.

Right now, this Green Bay Packers’ offense is red-hot. In just two games, they’ve totaled 85 points, over 1,000 yards of total offense, and scored nine touchdowns. As is always the case, there is, without a doubt, a myriad of reasons contributing to their success, including some vintage performances from Aaron Rodgers, a more consistent Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and naturally, Aaron Jones and Davante Adams.

However, when an offense can average 42.5 points per game along with averaging over 500 yards of offense per game, the explosive play is going to be a big reason why.