Matt LaFleur throws Packers offense under the bus to protect Joe Barry after Panthers game

Did Matt LaFleur watch the same game as the rest of us? The Green Bay Packers defeated the Carolina Panthers in Week 16, but Joe Barry's defense did everything it could to throw the game away.

Panthers rookie quarterback Bryce Young hadn't thrown a touchdown pass for 35 days. He completed 23 of 35 passes for 312 yards and two touchdowns with a 113.0 rating against Barry's defense. It was easily his best performance of the season.

The Panthers averaged 14.7 points entering Week 16. They scored a season-high 30 points on Sunday.

Green Bay took a three-point lead with only 19 seconds remaining. But Barry's defense almost gave it away again, allowing 44 yards on two plays. Had the Panthers spiked the ball a second earlier, they would've had a chance to tie the game on a 48-yard field goal attempt.

LaFleur's comments after the game were infuriating.

Matt LaFleur's postgame comments about Packers defense were baffling

The first surprise was the lack of Barry questions during LaFleur's postgame press conference. When LaFleur did speak about the defense, he shifted all of the blame onto the offense.

"That was definitely frustrating. But it wasn't just on the defense. Offensively, you've got to give them a breather, especially if we're bleeding a little bit defensively," said LaFleur. "We've got to find a way to put together a scoring drive. Find a way to get some first downs to allow those guys to recover."

It's the offense's fault?

Green Bay's offense put up 369 total yards and scored 33 points. The Packers were missing Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, and Luke Musgrave and then lost Dontayvion Wicks. Jordan Love still threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns against a Panthers pass defense that ranked third in the NFL entering Week 16.

But LaFleur's only mention of the defense was to blame his offense?

How about the unit that just got burned by Bryce Young and a struggling Panthers offense? Young entered the game with only nine touchdown passes and hadn't thrown for 300 yards in a game. He had also only thrown multiple touchdown passes in one game.

In the past three games, Tommy DeVito, Baker Mayfield, and Young have completed 62 of 84 passes for 851 yards, seven touchdowns, and no interceptions, earning a 133.6 passer rating against Barry's defense.

The problem isn't the offense not giving the defense a breather. It's Barry's defense turning opposing offenses into the Kansas City Chiefs.

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