Former Packers QB Drops Bombshell Matt LaFleur Take

A former Green Bay Packers quarterback added to the noise at Lambeau Field on Thursday night, saying Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores should be Green Bay’s next head coach while the home team stumbled against the winless Atlanta Falcons.

Kurt Benkert posted the message as the Packers headed to the locker room trailing 17-7 in their home opener.

“Brian Flores should be the Packers next head coach,” Benkert wrote.

The comment landed after an ugly first half in front of a restless crowd. Green Bay scored first on Jordan Love’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson. The offense produced little after that.

Atlanta answered with a Bijan Robinson touchdown run and a Nick Folk field goal. The Falcons then blocked Trey Smack’s 47-yard field-goal try late in the second quarter. Michael Penix Jr. drove 63 yards and hit Austin Hooper for a five-yard score with 1:02 left before the break.

The Packers managed 108 total yards, six first downs and 12 rushing yards at halftime. They converted one of six third downs. Atlanta piled up 253 yards and held the ball for nearly 20 minutes. Boos followed the Packers off the field.

Atlanta kept rolling after the break. Brian Robinson Jr. scored on a seven-yard run late in the third quarter to make it 24-7.

The Falcons entered the night 0-2 and had scored only 16 points in their first two games. That backdrop made the first-half showing at Lambeau even harder for Green Bay fans to watch.

Benkert is not a random voice on the topic. The Packers signed him in 2021. He spent most of that season on the practice squad behind Aaron Rodgers and Love, appeared in one regular season game and was released in June 2022.

He did not spell out his reasoning in the Thursday post. Packers fans did not need much explanation. Eleven days earlier, Flores’ Vikings defense turned a 22-10 Green Bay lead into a 39-22 Minnesota win.

According to NFL.com’s Nick Shook, Minnesota blitzed Love on 78.3% of his dropbacks and generated pressure on 50% of them. The Vikings forced a strip-sack and an interception on consecutive fourth-quarter possessions. Both turnovers set up touchdowns as Green Bay allowed 29 unanswered points.

That aggressive pressure plan has become Flores’ calling card as Vikings defensive coordinator. Minnesota has allowed 19.2 points per game over his first three seasons in the role, second-fewest in the league.

LaFleur is not working on an expiring contract. The Packers announced multi-year extensions in January for the coach, general manager Brian Gutekunst and executive vice president Russ Ball after a 9-7-1 season that ended with a five-game skid and a wild-card loss at Chicago.

LaFleur entered Thursday 77-41-1 in the regular season since taking over in 2019 and 3-6 in the playoffs. Green Bay has reached the postseason in six of his seven full seasons but has not returned to the NFC Championship Game since 2020.

The Packers came into the Falcons game at 1-1 after an overtime win at the New York Jets. The early offensive line problems and late-game collapses that marked the Minnesota loss remained a talking point heading into the home opener.

Benkert’s post did not change the scoreboard. It did put a name to the frustration that was already audible at Lambeau as an 0-2 Falcons team controlled the night.