Matt LaFleur says Packers using bye to search for answers on offense
Matt LaFleur has a problem with the Packers. His offense isn’t scoring points, especially in the past three games. And he’s at a loss for a quick fix.
The latest display was the 17-13 road defeat to the Raiders on Monday Night Football. Quarterback Jordan Love tossed three interceptions and neither the Packers running nor passing game seemed especially effective.
“Obviously, (we’re) searching for a little bit of answers right now,” LaFleur told reporters. “I think this week will give us an opportunity to kind of go back. I thought we did that over the mini-bye, but we’ve got to find something to get us going, to jump start us. Just reflecting how the game laid out, probably we needed to stick with the run a little more.”
The good news, if there is any after a loss, is that the Packers have a bye week. They don’t play again until Oct. 22. And that’s when they’ll play the Broncos in Denver. It’s a winnable game and oddsmakers have Green Bay as an early favorite.
Bye weeks, especially, can help reset young quarterbacks like Love. It wasn’t even three weeks ago that Love led the Packers to a flurry of fourth-quarter points as he led a comeback against the Saints. Green Bay was down 17-0 in the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field, which also happened to be Love’s first career start at home. The Packers started erasing the Saints lead with 11 minutes to play. With just under 3 minutes to go, Love threw a touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs for the TD.
But since that game, the Packers lost 34-20 to the NFC North-leading Lions and now the Raiders.
“That was obviously a very disappointing loss,” LaFleur said. “When you have three turnovers, it’s tough to overcome that, and we’ve got to do a better job. . . . Offensively, we’ve got to find a way to score points because any time you hold somebody to 17 points I think that’s enough to win football games in this league.”
In the opening halves of the last three games, Green Bay has scored all of two field goals.
Maybe having Aaron Jones back in the lineup will help. The Packers had planned for the running back to see more playing time Monday against the Raiders. But he reaggravated a hamstring injury and was a late scratch. Meanwhile, receiver Christian Watson, who also has been limited by a hamstring strain, caught nine passes for 91 yards against the Raiders.
Circling back to Love, Troy Aikman, the Hall of Fame quarterback and analyst for Monday Night Football, believes the quarterback sometimes is overwhelmed.
“I think when I watched him coming into this game, there’s been times when he’s looked really good,” Aikman said Monday night. “I also sense that he feels an enormous amount of pressure. When I watch him, it seems like he knows that pressure is there. It’s on his face.
“Tonight, I don’t know that it much mattered. I don’t think it would have mattered who was playing quarterback. He didn’t have much time. (Raiders) Maxx Crosby, of course, was the issue. They weren’t able to run the football and, quite honestly, that’s been a problem for this team throughout the season.”