Matt Lafleur is an Elite Coach

First play of the drive. The Commanders show an aggressive man coverage look here. They have one safety back deep and every other player is up near the line of scrimmage. There’s a high chance one or two of these mugged up defenders are coming on a blitz. One of the pass catchers needs to be able to beat man coverage and Love needs to find that player quickly. All this must happen before the potential blitz gets home.

Lafleur has a spectacular call for this situation and it’s one he’d already used before in this game. Lafleur has Wicks speed motion across the field into an out route. This sets Wicks up for a free release and affords him an easier chance at beating Lattimore’s coverage on the play. This type of motion has been a Lafleur special over the years. I first remember it from the 2021 Divisional Round game against the Rams. Davante Adams beat Jalen Ramsey for a short touchdown on a very similar play design. This type of design shows how great coaching can compliment great players. I absolutely love this design. 

This play here is a fun one. Up until this moment, the Commanders’ big defensive tackles had made interior running very tough. The offense needed some sort of jolt in the run game to keep the clock and this drive rolling. Now, Lafleur hasn’t traditionally been known as much of a trick play artist, but his bag was deep enough to pull out this great design. Such a fun way to get your playmakers the ball. 

Another incredible call here to cap off the drive. Look how aggressively the Washington linebackers are playing the two tight ends split to the right. With no help over the top, it’s clear those linebackers are on an island against any routes from those tight ends. 

The 2 previous plays to this were interior runs from the Packers out of heavy personnel looks. On each of those plays, the Commanders linebackers creeped progressively closer to the line of scrimmage. They were clearly keyed in to stop the run first. Knowing this, Green Bay came out in a similar personnel grouping here. In response, Washington’s linebackers aggressively crept forward and put themselves at a disadvantage against this type of play action pass. Advantage Lafleur! He had officially won the chess match at this point. 

Lafleur used the prior run plays to set up this favorable look here and it paid off with an easy touchdown. This play once again highlights how Lafleur can make a player’s life easy. 

Matt Lafleur brings so much to the Green Bay Packers. As a leader and a playcaller he is one of the game’s best. This year, the tone of his leadership has changed. Even to the fans it is noticeable. This team is locked in right now, and Matt is a big reason why. 

Add this to the fact that Lafleur consistently gives his players their best chance for success with schematic design and attention to detail. Today I highlighted only one drive, but this level of design and detail goes into every single play the Packers run. I know Matt isn’t perfect and the playoff successes haven’t been there yet, but I have a feeling that is coming. Matt Lafleur is an elite coach in the NFL and you can’t change my mind!