The Green Bay Packers have emerged as one of the hottest teams in the NFL.
After their upset victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night it feels like both local and national media are starting to believe trading Aaron Rodgers and betting the future on Jordan Love may actually pay off.
According to ESPN Analytics, the Packers had just a nine percent chance of reaching the playoffs following Week 10. Now, with five games remaining in the 2023 regular season, that number has skyrocketed to 66 percent.
It’s easy to point out Jordan Love’s massive growth over the last three weeks especially as the catalyst for the turnaround, but one former Packers’ QB points directly to Matt LaFleur, even though he was critical of the Green Bay front man earlier this season.
Former Green Bay Packers QB Praises Matt LaFleur For Adapting
Kurt Benkert was never a starter in Green Bay and saw very little playing time during his lone season with the Packers.
The former UVA standout QB made the practice squad in 2021 and was elevated in December to replace Jordan Love, who was placed on the COVID-19 list the day before. His only action came on December 12, kneeling the ball twice in the closing seconds of a commanding win over the Chicago Bears.
Although he signed a reserve/future contract in January of 2022, Benkert was released by the Green Bay Packers on June 17.
Still, a full year in the quarterback room with Aaron Rodgers, Love and learning the behind-the-scenes coaching style of head coach Matt LaFleur gave Benkert plenty of insight most would never get.
On Tuesday, Benkert took to social media to praise his former coach in a major way, crediting him for Love’s recent success.
My shout out today goes to Matt LaFleur.
His willingness to adapt and change his play calling over the last few weeks has been really cool to see and he has the entire team playing at a championship level.
The trust that he has put into Jordan on critical 3rd and 4th downs +…
— Kurt Benkert (@KurtBenkert) December 5, 2023
“My shout out today goes to Matt LaFleur. His willingness to adapt and change his play calling over the last few weeks has been really cool to see and he has the entire team playing at a championship level,” Benkert said.
“The trust that he has put into Jordan on critical 3rd and 4th downs + the red zone is so evident now. I’ve obviously been critical of him when I felt like it was warranted and will be equally as quick to say that he is coaching the best ball of his life right now with the youngest team in the NFL.”
Those are valid points and a unique perspective coming from someone who was in the building for a year. But then Benkert took his praise for the Packers’ coach to the next level.
“He deserves to be in coach of the year conversations now with the turn around that this team has had.”
LaFleur Is Clearly The Catalyst For The Green Bay Packers Success
It may sound like common sense, but anyone that watched Green Bay early this season could obviously see the head coach didn’t have full faith in his first-year quarterback.
Former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky is widely respected for breaking down the intense details that the average fan may not grasp at first glance, and agrees LaFleur and the Packers’ coaching staff has adapted to set Jordan Love and the youngest offense in the NFL up for success.
In a piece written by ESPN Packers’ beat reporter Rob Demovsky, he highlighted these same points based on Orlovsky’s film study of Love.
Demovsky noted Orlovsky noticed two major differences in the Green Bay Packers and Love over the last month.
Matt LaFleur’s use of play-action as a means to protect Love, and Love’s ability to (despite some mechanical issues that Orlovsky said can be fixed) complete more of the basic throws.
“Do I think he is where he needs to be mechanically with his feet right now?” Orlovsky asked. “No. But I think that they’ve realized that if he’s clean or protected, they can get to the mechanics and his feet in the offseason a little bit with his balance and base. They’re really doing a good job trying to keep him clean in that regard.”
Demovsky backed up Orlovsk’s observations by looking at the numbers from the upset win at Detroit. Jordan Love went 9-of-11 for 151 yards and a touchdown off play-action, according to ESPN Stats & Information. That was the most play-action passing yards in a game of his career. In all, he has completed 70% of his play-action attempts this season.
Jordan Love, Games 1-7 And 8-11
| STAT | 1-7 | 8-11 |
|---|---|---|
| Comp% | 58% | 65% |
| YPG | 213.1 | 276.8 |
| TD-INT | 11-8 | 8-2 |
| 15-yd passes | 35% | 65% |
(Chart credited to ESPN.com piece)
Then Orlovsky explained the second thing he’s noticed that’s made a major difference.
“The second thing, from Week 3 to about Week 8 or 9, the glaring thing for me outside of — I’ve talked about his feet and the hoppy-ness — he would either have a ‘9’ throw or a ‘2’ throw, meaning if you were grading the throw 1-10, he’d have three, four, five a game that were 9s, and then he’d have three, four, five a game that were 2s,” Orlovsky said. “He didn’t have many 6s. On the box score, it might even be a completion. But instead of it being an 11-yard gain, it was a 4-yard gain because it was low or he stopped the receiver or something like that. A lot of great throws, not enough good throws.”
All of these little things don’t just magically happen. They come from solid coaching and adapting from week to week based on the personnel available.
While this roster may be raw, it appears to be clicking at the right time.
Quarterback is clearly the most valued position in the modern NFL and if Love can continue to grow under LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers coaching staff, the future is bright.
