The Green Bay Packers are clearly under fire after dropping back-to-back games where the defense played incredibly, begging the offense to take control. This has opened up frustration with head coach Matt LaFleur for his team's inability to consistently put points on the board. A big source of this inability has been Brandon McManus struggling past the point of unreliability.
However, it seems that LaFleur is content with moving forward with McManus, according to USA Today's Ryan Wood. The head coach offered that "We're confident in Brandon," citing what the kicker had accomplished in practice. This isn't going to sit well with Packer fans who are already beyond frustrated with their head coach.
Packers Coaching Staff Doubling Down on Brandon McManus at the Worst Time
Citing practice as a reason to have full confidence in a failing kicker is a weak defense that works a lot better when he's not costing the team games. The Packers haven't been able to score consistently, and now the few times they do manage to drive the ball downfield they're risking coming up empty-handed. All of this paints a picture of why McManus shouldn't be afforded this level of patience. It is impossible to believe that any other team in the league wouldn't already be turning the page — especially with a promising replacement like Lucas Havrisick already on the roster.
Havrisick's 4-field goal sample this season doesn't give much to go off, but his career 79.2% rate (19-of-24) obliterates McManus' 64.7% (11-of-17) on the season. He's also already hit a 61-yarder this year, while McManus hasn't hit one from longer than 56 since the 2021 season (when he was getting some extra leg from the thin air in Denver).
The coaching staff might see something else happening on the practice field, but at some point the in-game results need to take precedence. McManus was phenomenal last year, for sure, but that shouldn't earn him unlimited runway, especially when that year was a total outlier compared to his recent performance other years. There's a reason the Broncos let him walk after nine years with the team and why he only played one year in Jacksonville.
- 2022: 77.8% (28/36)
- 2023: 81.1% (30/37)
- 2024: 95.2% (20/21)
- 2025: 64.7% (11/17)
Other coaches do not have the patience for these struggles that LaFleur does.
Looking around the league, the failing Atlanta Falcons have switched kickers twice this season when Younghoe Koo or John Parker Romo missed in big spots. The Los Angeles Rams are benching Joshua Karty for kicking 66.7% despite his great 2024 season. These teams are both hunting for playoff spots or seeding, and they know they can't be patient with someone costing them points at the kicker position.
The Packers opting to move forward with a player who cannot be relied on while playing a clutch position is a failure of leadership. This is directly on the shoulder of LaFleur and Rich Bisaccia, who are already under the microscope at this point. One more rough week from McManus, and it is easy to imagine that it won't be just the kicker who suddenly finds his job in question.