Matt LaFleur fell on the sword for the Packers’ Week 1 performance, but Aaron Rodgers preached patience after the Vikings’ 23-7 win in Minnesota.
LaFleur gave a blunt assessment of his personal performance as a play-caller in a sport wherein the Packers averaged 6.7 yards consistent with bypass strive and seemed to break out from the only efficient unit — the run recreation — too early.
“manifestly, it wasn’t very good,” LaFleur said. “That starts offevolved with me. I need to have a higher plan for the team and get the men prepared.”
LaFleur even threw some logs on his very own hearth when it came to the offensive distribution.
“whenever Aaron Jones comes off of a game with 8 touches, that is no longer properly enough,” LaFleur said.
However Rodgers, who became visibly disappointed on the sideline because the Packers stumbled out of the gate offensively, seemed to have mellowed a chunk by the point postgame rolled around.
“We had lots of probabilities these days,” Rodgers stated. “no longer taking some thing faraway from (the Vikings’) defense, but we harm ourselves generally, myself included. I had a whole lot of possibilities to score plenty extra than seven (factors).”
There’s reality in what each men stated. LaFleur has authored extra on-point recreation plans than now not in his generally exquisite Packers profession. But he actually may not be framing this call sheet.
The Packers got here out passive and unwilling to check the Vikings’ secondary deep a variety of times early. A part of that understandably can be chalked up to the offensive line being pretty beat up.
But getting far from his pleasant playmakers in the sport, Jones and A.J. Dillon, ended up backfiring. They blended for 23 touches; realistically, that variety ought to be toward 40 than to twenty.
Rodgers agreed on that point. However he additionally saw the brilliant side of what outwardly turned into a pretty dim overall performance whilst it mattered maximum.
“appearance, it is tough to win on this league, and honestly tough to win while you get to your personal manner too many times,” he said. “I sense like we did some properly things. We perhaps gotta get some extra touches for Jonesy and Dillon.”
Rodgers did ensure to point out that it changed into a long way from best, even though.
“(We) made numerous errors in the perimeter, missed some throws, so there may be lots to smooth up all the way around,” he stated.
But he might be onto some thing in a single regard: The Packers suffering in Week 1 isn’t always new. They had been abysmal in that weird season opener a yr ago against the Saints, losing 38-3 and collecting simplest 229 yards and 14 first downs — far worse than today.
For refresher’s sake, the Packers might win their next seven games, finish the season thirteen-4 and Rodgers might win AP NFL most precious participant for a 2d consecutive season. Sometimes terrible matters happen in Week 1 that may be fast washed away.
However that crew had Davante Adams, some thing this club does no longer. Even as Adams become busy catching 10 passes for 141 yards and a rating in his Raiders debut, the Packers’ wide receivers together totaled 12 catches for one hundred twenty yards, the considerable majority of which got here after falling behind through 17 factors.
An early drop by rookie Christian Watson on a skip that need to have been a 75-yard touchdown set the tone for the day.
“Drops are going to take place, it’s part of the game,” Rodgers stated. “it’s the mental stuff that we just can’t have because we’re hurting ourselves.”
Perhaps LaFleur will rethink his selection to no longer play his starters inside the preseason, something he’s now completed two years in a row. Doing it closing yr turned into one factor; taking that approach with a unit it really is make-up has modified markedly is quite some other.
“this is years in a row that we have pop out and now not appeared prepared,” LaFleur stated. “really all and sundry will appearance inward, and will make the important corrections.”
The ones corrections could come as quickly as Sept. 18, when the Packers host the 1-zero Chicago Bears. Even after Chicago’s pleasant defensive overall performance in Week 1, it is really worth reminding that Rodgers has owned the Bears in latest matchups.
If that trend keeps, similar to green Bay’s gradual start a 12 months ago, the Packers need to be simply satisfactory, while unpleasant as Sunday’s end result was.
