Chris Lempesis trudged back to the basement Packer room in Milwaukee after spending real, actual, U.S. government-approved money to watch the Green Bay Packers lose 16-13 at Lambeau to the Carolina Panthers — and he would just like to point out, for the record, that none of you suffered like he suffered. You were mad on the couch. He was mad in person. In the cold. In throwback gear he now hates.
On this edition of LempsTalkinPack, Chris unloads on what he’s calling the worst game he’s seen at 1265 in 32 years of going — and that includes the old man “I was there for Jermichael Finley’s ACL” era. This one had everything: a massive point-spread faceplant, a head coach overthinking himself, an offense that somehow did not punt once and still scored only 13 stinkin’ points, and then, just to twist the knife, the news that Tucker Kraft is done for the year with a torn ACL one week after we all talked ourselves into him being Travis Kelce’s corn-fed cousin.
And yeah — Chris puts a lot of this on Matt LaFleur. Not because it’s trendy, but because it was that obvious. He walks through it all: the same sleepy, horizontal, screen-happy opening script; the insistence on trying to be a “run team” when the line isn’t blocking like a run team; and the totally unnecessary 4th-and-8 red-zone gamble when key weapons were out and the smart play was to just take the points and hand the panic back to Carolina. Instead, LaFleur acted like it was 4th-and-goal in a playoff game, not 11 minutes left at home against a team you’re supposed to handle.
Chris also points out something that should be keeping folks on Lombardi up at night: Jordan Love is money in the intermediate part of the field — literally the best in the league on 10–19 yard throws right now — and yet the Packers are throwing behind the line of scrimmage like it’s their job. That’s not playing to your QB. That’s playing to your play sheet. And defensive coordinators, as we saw Sunday, are reading that script like it’s laminated.
Does he let the defense off the hook? Of course not. When Rico Dowdle is out there looking like prime Marshawn, that’s a problem. When you can’t get off the field late, that’s a problem. When you only hit the quarterback twice all afternoon, that’s a problem. But Chris’ larger point is: if the offense shows up like a first-place team instead of like a hungover brunch, we’re not even talking about Carolina having the ball at the end.
Then he zooms out in classic Lemps fashion: this team just went all-in trading for Micah Parsons — this ain’t the “aww shucks, we’re young” Packers anymore. Expectations are real now. So when you’re losing at home to bad teams, twice in a half season (hi Cleveland), you have to ask the uncomfortable question: is Matt LaFleur actually the guy to get them where they’re clearly trying to go? Chris isn’t firing him on a Monday, but he’s also not handing him $60–75 million and a five-year extension for vibes.
He closes with a little sampler of the mailbag — fans mad about running on first down, mad about playing down to opponents, mad about LaFleur treating Jordan Love like he’s still on training wheels — and promises more on Wednesday. It’s cranky, it’s a little hungover, it’s very Wisconsin, and it’s exactly the kind of post-bad-loss therapy session you needed.
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You can follow Chris on twitter at LempsMKE (@ItsJustChrisNow)
LempsTalkinPack is a part of the Packers Talk family of podcasts, serving up five distinct podcasts to satisfy the most fervent of Packer fans. Variety is the spice of life, so subscribe to Packers Talk on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow Packers Talk on Twitter and Facebook.
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You can follow Chris on twitter at LempsMKE (@ItsJustChrisNow)
LempsTalkinPack is a part of the Packers Talk family of podcasts, serving up five distinct podcasts to satisfy the most fervent of Packer fans. Variety is the spice of life, so subscribe to Packers Talk on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow Packers Talk on Twitter and Facebook.
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The post Packers Stunned by Panthers at Lambeau: “Who Are These Guys?” | LempsTalkinPack #229 first appeared on PackersTalk.com Blog Posts and Podcasts.