If you're hoping to see Matt LaFleur relinquish play-calling duties anytime soon, you're going to be disappointed. The Green Bay Packers' head coach laughed off the question with a simple "no" when asked during Wednesday's press conference.
And based on his smile to completely dismiss the question, we can assume his stance won't change at any point in the near future, either. But LaFleur is right. He shouldn't make a play-caller change. He still is, and always has been, the best person for the job inside 1265 Lombardi Ave.
That doesn't absolve him of the blame for the Packers' offensive struggles. It's on LaFleur to fix it.
Matt LaFleur is correct to remain defiant on the play-calling duties, but he needs to adapt
The Packers' offense has a problem. A big problem. From an underperforming offensive line to a ground game that can't generate explosive plays to the Philadelphia Eagles literally calling out the Packers' inside run on the crucial fourth-down failure on Monday night, fans have good reason to feel concerned.
Changing the play-caller won't solve that. LaFleur would likely hand the keys to offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich, who has no experience running the show during a regular-season game.
While Stenavich would be the one sending the plays to Jordan Love, his decisions would still live inside the walls of a LaFleur-designed game plan. If LaFleur's intention is to run the football against two-high looks, Stenavich isn't going to start calling for Love to launch it deep. It's still LaFleur's game plan, and he'd have the final say.
The plan wouldn't change. The Packers would just have a far less experienced play-caller.
Handing the duties to Stenavich isn't guaranteed to fix anything. It may help remove some of LaFleur's tendencies, but the scheme won't look entirely different. LaFleur has to adjust his offense, not just the person who is calling it.
"You have to look inward," LaFleur said. "The complexion of each game is going to be a little bit different. I told the team today, I don't care if we win 3-0 or 49-48. Bottom line is we have to find a way to get it done, otherwise you're going to get criticized. That's just the way it is. I think, that, especially as the play-caller, you're trying to put people in the best position possible to go out there and have success. And when we're not having collective success, you have to challenge yourself to do better."
The natural fan reaction to a struggling offense is to blame the play-caller. In this case, it's fair, but the Packers must address the root of the problem.
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That's where the biggest concern lies. LaFleur insists on going run-heavy against two-high coverages, which is smart on paper but not working on the field. Based on his comments this week, we can expect more of the same.
"We are trying a lot to try to push the ball down the field," he said. "It just depends on what you're seeing. You can force it down the field. We did it a couple weeks ago and it was an interception. The whole thing for us, and if you look at our track record and our history, we have to be efficient and effective, especially when you're getting shell defenses."
"You have to be able to run the football," LaFleur added. "If you're not as efficient at that, or getting big gains versus lighter boxes, it's going to be more difficult on everybody as an offense. That's just the numbers game."
LaFleur is ignoring the reality of Green Bay's broken run game, which is a result of awful offensive line play. According to PFF, just 124 of Josh Jacobs' 608 rushing yards this season have come before contact, with the other 484 coming after he gets hit. It's a jarring statistic that shows just how quickly defenders are breaking through the Packers' run-blocking barrier.
Yes, you have to run the ball well, but the Packers aren't. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results won't work.
It doesn't matter who's calling the plays. It's the stale game plans, not just who has the headset, to blame. Stenavich would be playing by LaFleur's rules, not to mention that we have no idea if Stenavich is actually capable of managing that role on game day. He has no experience.
LaFleur is correct to dismiss the idea of giving up play-calling. His career track record proves he's among the best in the league at it. But until he is willing to adapt his offense to the players he has, and not the system he wishes he had, the Packers' offensive woes will only deepen.