Matt LaFleur addresses lackluster Packers special teams performance throughout 2021 season
The Green Bay Packers season came to an early end last weekend in the NFL’s Divisional Round of the playoffs. Green Bay lost on a last-second field goal by San Francisco 49ers kicker Robbie Gould. In the loss, the Packers’ issues on special teams were on display, leading to serious frustration for head coach Matt LaFleur.
For LaFleur, his frustration fuels from not only the fact that the Packers had issues on special teams, but that they always seemed to pop up during key moments in the game.
“Critical mistakes at inopportune times,” LaFleur said of the Packers issues on special teams.
He added that Green Bay only having 11 players on the field on the final play of the season was “embarrassing.”
Moving forward, fixing the special teams issues will be a top priority for LaFleur and the Packers. He knows that there isn’t a simple solution, but LaFleur’s goal is to eliminate the type of mistakes that proved to be costly in with the season on the line.
“I don’t think it’s ever just one thing but certainly that will be a big-time priority I think for us moving forward, is to not allow something like this to happen again,” said LaFleur.
“I’ve just got to make sure that we’re all pushing to find every advantage we can – players, coaches, everybody involved, to be at their best, to give us the best chance to win because the margin for error in this league is so miniscule. There’s not a lot that separates a lot of these teams, and that was so evident by the games (Sunday), evident in our game. You’ve got to find every advantage you can.”
LaFleur is committed to getting the Packers over the hump
The Packers went 13-4 during the regular season, earing the top seed in the NFC. But in their first postseason action of the season, Green Bay fell short. It was the third consecutive season since LaFleur was hired that the Packers won 13 regular season games but fell short of making it to the Super Bowl.
Now, LaFleur is solely committed to getting the Packers over the hump.
“You’ve got to keep moving forward because like I told our team, nobody’s feeling sorry for us,” LaFleur said. “So you’ve got to pick yourself up from a tough loss and you’ve got to try to learn from it, whatever nugget you can take away from this, and just keep on marching on. That’s the mentality. That’s the only way at least I know how to go about our business here.
“We’ve got to keep searching for whatever it is to help us get over the hump, because obviously, we haven’t found it yet. And my commitment to this organization, to the players, our coaches, our fans, everybody is we are going to be relentless in that pursuit to get us over the hump.”