Nothing hits harder than a team's locker room postgame speech after a win. The scenes of all the players standing in a circle, cheering on their teammates while they get game balls, is the unofficial kickoff of Victory Monday.
It's the perfect lil' treat for when you're driving home, or on the train home, or walking around a vast empty parking lot trying to remember where you parked.
And usually, those game balls go to players. But since Matt LaFleur is different (steam face emoji), it shouldn't surprise anyone that one of his three game balls from the Packers' Week 7 win over Houston went to a slightly out-of-the-box candidate: defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley.
RELATED: Preston Smith's surprising role in Week 7 adds fuel to Packers trade rumors
It's been an up-and-down start to Hafley's career in Green Bay – before this season he was Boston College's head coach for three years – but after one of the better performances from the Packers' defense on Sunday, LaFleur made sure to give Hafley his flowers. And by flowers I mean one (1) single football that's actually probably kinda annoying to keep after the moment's passed.
Matt LaFleur's speech to Jeff Hafley will make you feel things again
We found a way to get it done!#HOUvsGB pic.twitter.com/nx7ijgYZlN
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) October 20, 2024
"We just talked about the defense, and this guy shows up every week," LaFleur said. "Where's Jeff Hafley at? You know what? He called an aggressive-ass game. And that's because of the trust he has in the men in this room. So great job defensively."
As far as team-produced content goes, this is heartwarming. I'm sure it happens more than any of us realize, but it's kinda funny to see a postgame video like this where the *defensive coordinator* gets a game ball. My guess is that Hafley appreciates the game ball more than he does having every member of the Packers simultaneously jump on him while slapping him in the head, but maybe not!
And it's certainly not unwarranted, either. After a rough first month, the Packers' defense has looked so much better the last three weeks: three of the four lowest point totals they've allowed have all come in the last month, and after allowing 30+ points in three of their first four games, the closest they've come to that since was Sunday's 22-point Texans performance.
After having one of the worst run defenses in football last season, they currently rank 14th in yards, 12th in touchdowns, and 10th in yards per attempt. That deserves at least one game ball.