Green Bay Packers: 3 Reasons for Optimism about 2021 Season

Reason 3: Matt LaFleur

You can question decisions he makes, you can disagree with some of his philosophies that probably played a big part in drafting A.J. Dillon and Josiah Deguara on night two of the draft, but you can’t argue that in two seasons in Green Bay, Matt LaFleur has gotten results.

Back-to-Back 13-3 seasons and trips to the NFC Championship game for a first-time head coach is exceptional. Yes, he had that elite talent to work with, and I’m not arguing that he’s a miracle worker, but he’s done a lot to turn around the culture from a locker room that had grown stale to an energetic and alive group of guys who win and have fun doing it every week.

In his first season, the Packers were still running a hybrid of his offense with Mike McCarthy’s, but this year, in the first year of the 100 percent LaFleur offense, they were the highest-scoring offense in the league.

He loves using a fullback in both his run and pass concepts, and Dominique Dafney became that guy at the end of the season. He’ll likely be back, but Josiah Deguara will bring even more to the position, and it will be fun to see how LaFleur can use him in a full season. Tyler Ervin was also injured to end the season, and having the dynamic element he adds to the game will be another great chess piece for LaFleur.

In two years with the Green Bay Packers, Matt LaFleur has more than proved that he belongs as an NFL head coach. His complete body of work should give no one any doubt that he will be leading the Packers back to the playoffs again, and maybe, just maybe, third time will be the charm for LaFleur and the Pack.