A conservative game plan was the right blueprint when the Green Bay Packers faced the Minnesota Vikings last Sunday, given Minnesota’s inept offense. Still, far too many times this year, head coach Matt LaFleur has gone ultra conservative when the situation didn’t call for it.
On Thanksgiving against the Detroit Lions, LaFleur cut Jordan Love and the offense loose, and it was a masterpiece.
Look up and down the stat line from Thursday. Green Bay had 60 plays on offense; Detroit had 60. The Packers had 359 total yards of offense, the Lions had 352. Green Bay had 234 passing yards while Detroit had 233. Neither team turned it over. Both teams had under 25 penalty yards.
The difference was LaFleur’s aggressiveness paying off.
Green Bay went 3 for 3 on fourth down, and those three conversions went for two touchdowns and a first down that put the Packers in victory formation. On the flip side, Dan Campbell‘s Lions were 0 for 2 on fourth down. That was what made the difference on an afternoon when almost everything else was dead even.
With Green Bay leading 3-0 early in the second quarter, LaFleur kept the offense on the field on a fourth-and-three from the Detroit 22-yard line. Love went with a shot play to wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks, who just barely got both feet in for a touchdown.
On its very next drive and leading 10-7, LaFleur again kept the offense on the field on a fourth-and-one from the Detroit two-yard line. Love found Romeo Doubs on an out route for six.
Then came the boldest of all three decisions.
Leading 31-24, Green Bay had the ball with less than two minutes to go, and the Lions had burned all their timeouts. It was a fourth-and-three from Detroit’s 45-yard line. Everyone in the world knows what Campbell would’ve done in that situation. There wouldn’t even be hesitation. However, many believed LaFleur would punt it. Instead, the offense stayed on the field and Love connected with Wicks to move the sticks and put the game on ice.
Green Bay’s defense is championship-quality. The offense has been up-and-down, and a lot of that coincides with LaFleur calling plays one way one week and another the next. It’s almost as though he picks and chooses when he does or doesn’t trust Love to let it rip.
He left no doubt on Thursday. Love echoed that.
”Matt wanted to definitely stay aggressive in this game,” Love said. “We had conversations all week (about it).”
It was almost as though LaFleur pulled an Uno reverse card on Campbell. It was a dose of Campbell’s own medicine that left a sour taste in Detroit’s mouth. Campbell noted afterwards that the fourth-down results made all the difference.
This game came down to fourth down in those critical moments and we were zero for two and they were able to capitalize on three of them. Those are the one or two plays that really make the difference when you are playing a really good team. It’s really kind of what it came down to.
The biggest question moving forward will be whether LaFleur sticks to this level of aggressiveness. Cherry-picking which opponents to go full throttle against and which to dial back against doesn’t seem like a recipe for long-term success. Showing confidence in his offense can have a ripple effect, jolting the entire group to another level. Those vibes were felt through the television on Thursday, and the Packers spoke about them loudly after the game.
“Man, I loved it,” Wicks said of LaFleur’s aggressive style. “That’s what it comes down to. Coach believing in you and you just go out and make the plays — and that’s going to keep him believing. I’m happy he had that mindset, and we came out and executed in the way to win the game.”
It was evident that Green Bay’s offense had been wanting this approach. For one reason or another, it hadn’t happened often. There was no choice but to do exactly what LaFleur did, knowing the Packers were on the road against a Detroit team that can put up points with the best of them.
The road ahead is littered with more challenges. Green Bay still has a road trip to Denver and a home game against a Baltimore Ravens team fighting for a division crown. There are two massive meetings with the Chicago Bears and a regular-season finale in Minnesota.
Four of the five are against teams that will be right in the thick of the race to the playoffs. Turning back to the old way shouldn’t be an option for LaFleur.