Green Bay’s offense has shown great improvements in year two under head coach Matt LaFleur. How, you may ask? Let’s take a look at those reasons.
Improvements in Growth
In 2019, we saw flashes of greatness from the offense, but never sustained success in games. In fact, in the first three games for Green Bay last season, they averaged just 19.3 PPG. A definite far cry from this year with a league-best 40.6 points per game. Another note worthy point is Green Bay’s total points scored (122), is the 6th best point total through the first three games in NFL history. The offense has shown to be a formidable force within this growth process very early; which is both a very promising sign for them as a team, and also a very dangerous situation for the rest of the league — especially considering that the offense isn’t even clicking on all cylinders yet. The improvements made in this area of the offense has helped Green Bay sustain success on offense thus far.
Improvement in Explosiveness
The 2019 season for Green Bay saw them go 13-3 with an NFC championship game appearance. Within the overall success of the season came a shift in the overall flow of the offense as a whole. It wasn’t just line up five wide and throw it deep anymore, there seemed to be some semblance of creativity within the play calls. Now in year two, the creativity has meshed with effectiveness; making the offense less predictable and in turn, more explosive.
Rodgers has also praised the play calling under LaFleur. Here’s what he had to say after the Packers’ Sunday night victory over the New Orleans Saints:
“Right now, [with our offense], I feel really good about it. We got in a good flow, I feel like Matt [LaFleur] had a really nice flow with the calls. We were opportunistic with some big plays when we needed it. [We] got a lot of guys involved, we had a number of guys catch passes, we had a number of guys who we needed to play well, play well.”
This definitely speaks to the explosive nature of the offense. Multiple players at multiple positions playing a factor into the outcome of the game. It’s only week three, so I think the most impressive thing about this offense is how it continues to grow and adapt week in and week out. What’s scary is that it hasn’t even reached its peak yet.
Improvement in Versatility
One of the best improvements about this offense overall has been the versatility of it. It’s not just one play or player that controls it week in and week out. Different players take control each week which makes it unpredictable and very dangerous. Rodgers also spoke about those facts as well:
On previous year’s offenses:
“We’ve had some good offenses over the years. I think about the fourteen offense. I felt like we had such a run there at home, where we were scoring something over twenty something points every first half and I wasn’t playing a bunch of fourth quarters during that year because we were lightin’ up the scoreboard.”
“Eleven, obviously, we had a really good offense and put up some amazing numbers. This [year’s] offense is just so different. Other than Davante, I don’t think many teams look at us and think we have a number of stars that they’re really worried about.”
On the versatility of this year’s offense:
“Week one it was Davante, week two was a number of other guys, obviously Aaron Jones had a big one, and then today, was kind of all over the place [offensively]. Allen [Lazard] had a big game, Bobby Tonyon made a number of catches, Jace [Sternberger] had the next most yards, it wasn’t an explosion of offense, but the efficiency was really really good.”
On the comfort level in year two under Matt LaFleur:
“I feel so much more comfortable in the offense this year and I think Matt [LaFleur] has really settled into the rythm of the play calling and it’s made my job a lot easier.”
The overall execution of the offense has been spectacular. On play-action alone against New Orleans, Rodgers was 8-9 for 188 yards, and three touchdowns. LaFleur and Rodgers executed the calls to perfection. Also, some credit has to be given to the offensive line; who through three weeks, has given up zero sacks — which is the fewest in the NFL. This improvement has shown itself very early in games for Green Bay. This week, it’s the 0-3 Atlanta Falcons, who own the league’s worst defense, giving up 36.6 points per game, traveling to Lambeau Field. Meanwhile, Green Bay owns the league’s best scoring offense at 40.6 points per game. Something has to give. Game time has been changed from 7:15 CST to 8:00 CST on ESPN Monday night.
What are your thoughts on the offense through the first three weeks of the season? Can Green Bay continue this historic scoring pace and will the defense step up to help them out? How effective can the improvements be?
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