The Green Bay Packers may not have been as dominant against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6 as some would have hoped, but they got the job done at Lambeau Field en route to a 27-18 victory.
One of the main takeaways from the victory was the performance of rookie wide receiver Matthew Golden. The first-round pick had his first breakout performance since entering the NFL as he reeled in three catches on five targets for a team-high 86 receiving yards. Golden also contributed 16 rushing yards on a pair of carries to spark the offensive effort for Green Bay.
While Golden crossed the 100 yards from scrimmage plateau for the first time in his career, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur quickly pumped the brakes when discussing what this means for his usage moving forward.
Packers Won't Change Offensive Philosophy to Get Golden More Touches
"I know everybody wants to force-feed guys the ball, but that's not really how we've done it around here, and I don't plan on changing that," LaFleur stated after Golden's performance in the win, via Zach Jacobson of 247Sports. "That's the beauty of having a lot of guys [that] we have a lot of confidence in. We have confidence that we can put anybody in this situation and have plays off of plays, and a lot of it is dictated off the coverages. The quarterback's role is to make sure the ball is going to the right place based on what the defense presents. Whoever gets those catches, they get them."
At its core, what LaFleur is saying regarding Green Bay's wide receiver group and the distribution of passes thrown to those players makes sense. With that being said, LaFleur has never had a wide receiver on his roster that the front office spent a first-round pick on to add to the fold. Having a wealth of talent at that position is a good thing that should be emphasized to help make Golden an even greater threat to make plays down the field.
Over the Packers' last three games, the speedster has caught 12 of 15 targets for 196 yards. He has a reception of 34 yards or more in each of those three games. Of the 12 different players to catch a pass thus far, only two members of Green Bay's roster have caught a ball for more yardage than Golden's career-best of 46 yards, which he set against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4
No one seems to be clamoring for Golden to be targeted 15 or more times whenever the Packers take the field. Given his obvious big-play potential, though, LaFleur and his coaching staff would be foolish not to find ways to get the rookie the ball in open space multiple times per game.
The numbers prove that good things happen for Green Bay's offense when they do.