Stepping out of a Legend’s Shadow

Many players have come through the NFL over the years who make those around them better with their own talent and skill. It could be a pass rusher that gets through the line so quickly that their secondary benefits from many rushed and errant throws. A running back that benefits from the excellent run blocking of an offensive lineman. Or a linebacker that benefits from a defensive lineman’s ability to draw blocks. But perhaps the most talked about is the rest of a team’s benefit to having a great quarterback. The Green Bay Packers, of course, had their legendary quarterback who seemed to always make the rest of the team that much better, in Aaron Rodgers. 

During Rodgers’ 18 years in Green and Gold, he had many receivers who caught 10+ touchdowns from him. Many of these receivers were considered good targets when they wore a Packers jersey, but after moving on to other teams, their careers seemed to go nowhere. This led to many of their actual skills being called into question. Were they really that good? Or did Aaron Rodgers make them better? 

Coaches are not exempt when it comes to this line of questioning. From the moment Matt LaFleur was announced as the new head coach of the Packers in 2019, the headlines were packed with questions of whether or not he’d work well with Aaron Rodgers. Cameras seemed to be trained on Rodgers and LaFleur to catch every single facial expression and speculate what the meaning of it was. The big question was, could LaFleur work with Aaron Rodgers well enough to get him back to MVP form? Could LaFleur get the Packers back to their winning ways in the years Aaron Rodgers had remaining in Green Bay?

The answer to that question, was yes. After only breaking the plateau of 12+ wins twice in the ten seasons prior, the Packers had 13 wins in each of Matt LaFleur’s first three regular seasons as head coach. Rodgers also won the MVP award twice in those first three seasons with LaFleur. Mission accomplished right? LaFleur turned Rodgers and the Packers around immediately and got them back to playing championship football again right? Not so fast. Despite this obvious success, everyone said that it wasn’t Matt LaFleur. Instead, it was all Aaron Rodgers, and that Matt LaFleur was just lucky to be along for the ride. 

But that wasn’t the case at all, and LaFleur somehow had to prove it. 

Entering the Spotlight

There’s one concept of this whole situation that never sat well with me. If it was so easy for Matt LaFleur to win 39 of his first 49 regular season games because he had Aaron Rodgers at the helm, then why didn’t Mike McCarthy accomplish this? In McCarthy’s final 49 regular season games with Aaron Rodgers starting at QB, he only put up 18 wins. Under LaFleur’s leadership, they eclipsed that number within 22 games. That should be enough to convince everyone that LaFleur doesn’t live in Rodgers’ spotlight right? Wrong. The narrative then switched to Rodgers just being happy he has some new ideas in the building or the fantastic comment that Aaron was so bitter after the Jordan Love drafting that he decided to take it out on the rest of the league. 

To be honest, those theories could still be correct. Aaron Rodgers always had a knack for cranking up the juice whenever he had the proper motivation. So again, Matt LaFleur was left being told he was only riding number 12’s coattails. 

When the Packers traded away Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets, it wasn’t just a move to say “Jordan Love, you’re up,” it was also a move to say “Okay LaFleur, show us you’re not just a supporting actor.”  

It was time for Matt LaFleur to show that he could run this football team and win with a different quarterback. In 2023, the Packers fell as low as 3-6 and there was a lot of doubt they would be able to turn it around. The offense was just not gelling at all being unable to score touchdowns in the first half of games. Many, including myself, were questioning LaFleur’s game-planning. He seemed to be more coaching hypothetically than for the team he had. Play-calls and game plans looked like they would work in theory, but would not be executed by the players the Packers had. It was understandable though, the Packers had a very young team, especially on the offensive side of the ball. But while many coaches may blame the youth and inexperience and toss in the towel, LaFleur took it upon himself to simplify things for his offense. And suddenly, they began to click. 

This led Packers fans from wishing to tank the season and draft Caleb Williams in week 10, to cheering them on in the second round of the playoffs and believing Jordan Love is the man. 

Before Jordan Love took the helm in 2023, he only had one NFL start to his credit, in 2021 vs the Kansas City Chiefs. In this game, Love showed signs of promise but struggled mightily against Cover 0 defense. After the game, Matt LaFleur stated that the coaching staff did not prepare Jordan Love as well as they should have, and he blamed that on Love’s first loss as a starting QB. Fast-forward to 2023, and some of Love’s highlight reel passes, came against a Cover 0 defense. Matt LaFleur took what he thought was a weakness for Jordan Love and a mistake on behalf of his staff, and turned it into a positive. He made sure those issues would not strike Jordan Love again. 

Situations like those above are what make coaches great. Matt LaFleur stepped out of the shadow of Aaron Rodgers in 2023. We cannot wait to see what more our great head coach can do for us.