The Green Bay Packers offense had one major task heading into their Week 3 matchup against the Cleveland Browns: block Myles Garrett. He’s a future Hall of Famer with the talent to completely destroy an offense if you don’t commit 110 percent to containing him. Even at full effort, it’s still a tough assignment.
While the main task was containing Myles Garrett, Cleveland’s entire defense is elite. Entering Week 3, they were the best in the league in yards allowed, sixth in pass rush win rate, and third in run stop win rate. The Packers had their hands full with this group, and their preparation and execution had to be flawless to move the ball.
Most people expected that Matt LaFleur would come up with a more conservative game plan for this matchup, especially considering how Cleveland’s front is far stronger than that of the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders. Still, the offensive game plan left much to be desired, and Matt LaFleur’s cautious approach ended up costing the Packers big time.
Green Bay strayed from its usual approach before the opening kickoff. LaFleur usually takes the ball when he wins the coin toss. On Sunday, the Packers won the toss and elected to defer. Perhaps they may not have scored, but taking the ball would have at least sent a message to his team.
If Green Bay had scored a touchdown, it would have started the game with at least a six-point lead against an offense that ranks in the bottom ten in almost every advanced metric.
LaFleur’s play-calling wasn’t ideal either. The Packers ran a lot of underneath concepts to get the ball out of Love’s hands quickly, a testament to how much LaFleur respected Cleveland’s defensive line. Even so, Love attempted only one pass that traveled 10 or more yards all game — the 34-yarder to Matthew Golden. His average depth of target on Sunday was just 1.7, compared to 10.8 and 15.0 in the previous two weeks.
look how they massacred my boy
pic.twitter.com/o5fUiSlFkU
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) September 22, 2025
LaFleur was rightfully concerned about Cleveland’s pass rush. However, he still had to keep defenses honest by dialing up some deeper passing concepts.
Green Bay never tried to establish a vertical passing game, and the offense became overly predictable. It’s fine that they were worried about Myles Garrett, but then they should have used max protection and sent one receiver deep to test the secondary, along with an underneath route for a possible checkdown option.
“I knew that D-line was pretty good,” LaFleur said on Monday. “Probably underestimated them to some level, the other guys.”
Green Bay only averaged 2.6 yards per rush as a team, which made it hard to set up play-action passes. That allowed the Browns to drop into soft zone coverage because the run game wasn’t as varied as usual, and the offensive line struggled to hold blocks. With no real threat of the run, Cleveland had no reason to worry about Green Bay’s rushing attack.
There were other instances where Green Bay’s offense strayed from how it typically operates. Late in the third quarter, they faced a third-and-one and didn’t need to snap immediately because the quarter was ending. Still, they ran the play, and Cleveland sacked Jordan Love. They could have used the break between quarters to set up a play to gain the first down, keep the drive alive, and potentially take a three-score lead in the fourth.
On Monday, LaFleur said the play was 100 percent on him. The offense tried to rush to the ball, faced man coverage, and Love called a man-beater. Still, LaFleur took responsibility for trying to run an extra play.
LaFleur also took responsibility for Jordan Love’s late-game interception that shifted the momentum. Facing third-and-seven with just over three minutes remaining, Love tried to hit Dontayvion Wicks on a quick slant against man coverage. However, Grant Delpit peeled off Tucker Kraft and jumped the route, picking off the pass and returning it inside the five. That play set Cleveland up to tie the game moments later.
“They were playing man coverage, the guy, Delpit, did a hell of a job, he passed off (Tucker Kraft) to the inside backer and he fell off into the window,” LaFleur explained. “That’s a bad call. We shouldn’t have called that play. That’s on me.”
Green Bay got a real wake-up call in Cleveland. Matt LaFleur is a good head coach who will learn from this. Bad days happen in the NFL, and this was one of his worst. He’ll likely bounce back soon, but he can’t let caution take over how he runs this offense. They still have to go up against guys like T.J. Watt, Trey Hendrickson, Aidan Hutchinson, Brian Burns, and Dexter Lawrence later this year, and they can’t win if they play conservatively.