You can add the decision to retain Mo Drayton for a full season to that list.

Im sure there is plenty of other evidence of 'duncery' on the part of MLF, but your comment is still 100% correct.

The Newman speed bump is definitely NOT the answer and the entire coaching staff should know that by now.

Let's see what Rasheed Walker can do.
Let's see what Caleb Jones can do.
Lets see what anyone NOT named Newman or Hanson can do... there is absolutely no way that the results could be actually worse.

Shame on you. Very "clever" man told us all - "We are not idiots!"

Agreed Johnny Blood. I was going to call attention to the Bakhtiari comment as well.

I know PFF isn't the be-all, end-all, but this is worth noting:

2020:
Overall Grade: 91.8
Run Blocking Grade: 86.9
Pass Blocking Grade: 91.6

2022:
Overall Grade: 82.1
Run Blocking Grade: 74.6
Pass Blocking Grade: 86.4

So he's obviously taken a step back, but I would not go so far as to say "he's a shell of his former self."

There's the winter surge during the regular season and then there's the persistent power outage in the playoffs. LaFleur can get his team to the dance, but hasn't brought home the big prize. The Packers have suffered from some bad strategic decisions (Mo Drayton and Joe Barry) and some tactical ineptitude (inability to make in-game adjustments, incorrect talent evaluation), all of which have led to premature playoff exits. LaFleur has some pluses and some very obvious minuses.

I don't know how MLF can be called Mr. Winter Surge when all he does is coach O.

He doesn't get involved in D or STs. He's basically a highly paid OC...like MM was, who also had his roadblocks to more SB appearances named Capers, Novak, Slowik, & Zook running the other on field operations.

I think with a solid marketing strategy and cleaver packaging, Matt LaFleur's Winter Surge could be a top-selling colon cleanse product.

Winter surge? Rodgers and Adams plus Dillon/Jones in their element in the late regular season and then a flame out against good teams. Point to one thing LaFleur had done better in late season that evolved and stuck as an innovation.

Let’s see how much LaFleur has learnt from our prior approach to the Vikings. He has not been good at winning after a prior in season loss. If he calls the O he called last week, we will not be playing for more than pride next week, even if Watson is truly healthy. We need to use Doubs more aggressively, I’d say less Cobb/Lazard and some Toure, and not let them focus solely on Watson and then hang him out to dry as if he were a TE.

We need to get the run going and stick with it throughout too, so they can’t just rush flat out all game. If Jones is hobbled, use Taylor as the main battering ram alongside Dillon: hit them hard. Run yards matter, but blunting the rush is just as important in order to have time to get at that D and slow the front down as the game progresses and that’s when the yards start to come. We want to keep their O on the benches as much as possible. Try to take Cook out of the game: our D is in need of that help. Let’s see how much of that materializes.

A Winter Surge....followed by a Winter Slumber.

While true that LaFleur boasts an impressive Dec/Jan records, the reality is, we've come to learn that he fails to make in-game adjustments quickly when his initial plan fails. That's when the winter slumber happens and we're left dissecting where this team went wrong.

Few examples:
Dillon exits the 49ers playoff loss in January 2022 after having to play special teams, and MLF looked like a deer in headlights.

Week 1 vs. Vikings - Justin Jefferson is torching the Packers all day long, and there's no adjustments. You can put some of that blame on Joe Barry too, but it all starts with MLF.

This is not to say that MLF never makes adjustments. I don't like to talk in extremes. But - in games when it counts -- I can't help but feel like we continue to get outcoached and outmaneuvered in critical moments when it counts. If a player gets injured, what's his plan B? Seems like there isn't one, so he lets Rodgers resort to hero ball and chucking it deep on 3rd and 2.

Or, as others have mentioned, MLF will delegate a decision to Aaron Rodgers when he should be the one making the call. These are of course not easy decisions......the down, distance, time left in the game, etc. dictate that maybe it's best to let Rodgers make a call and trust him and other times for MLF to do it.

Either way, I expect more from MLF in must-win games. Sunday's game will basically be like a playoff game.

The question is, will LaFleur rise to the occasion when his initial plan fails? He has to decide, he has to act. Being passive or slow to react is also a decision. He must have contingency plans in place on offense, defense and special teams.

My final point is, what is the identity of this team? Does MLF even know? It should be a run-first team to set up the pass, that can also play defense and get off the field on 3rd downs, but it's New Year's Eve and honestly I don't even know what this team's identity is. They've beaten two trash teams (Bears and Rams) and then beat a solid Dolphins team, but the rubber meets the road on Sunday.

The major flaw of Matt LaFleur is not standing up to the arrogant and domineering Aaron Rodgers.
Besides other examples given in a recent comment of mine about Rodgers usurping the authority of the head coach, consider that Rodgers has his own set of complicated and obscure hand signals for wide receivers apart from his head coach.
The dysfunction of Rodgers interfering in coaching duties is devastating to the Packers in key situations of the biggest games. Sooner or later, it means heartbreak.
Rodgers is the major fault line around which the Packers crumble under pressure.
LaFleur has had some real success as head coach of the Packers, and being so young may have a lot of potential to grow in his role, but his major flaw is selling out his dignity by enabling Rodgers to drag down the team in his delusion of grandeur.
***
For those who think I stress this point overly much, first of all I don't. Secondly, consider how fruitless is everything done by the Packers when the weirdness of Rodgers messes with the entire organization.
For those of us who see the futility of it all, with its inevitable crashes, it's exasperating. It's also quite sad in tainting the historic good name of the Green Bay Packers. It's a dysfunction that should be called out often.
Thirdly, I only do it to get lots of thumbs down. I thrive on them ;-).

MLFs winter surge pretty much sums his capabilities as a Head Coach. Why does it take him until December to wake up to his team's strengths when he should be aware of what his can team can do by the end of the preseason. Examples include using Amari Rodgers on returns instead of Nixon. Keeping Mo Drayton beyond mid-season in 2021. Starting guys like Hanson and Newman on the OL. Others include failing to base the offense around Aaron Jones the team's most talented player, hiring Joe Barry as the Packers DC and failing to design Red Zone plays that actually work. He is an alleged offensive genius and play caller. Yet it takes until December for him to get there and then quickly fizzles out in January. I'm just not buying it.

MLFs team does not win 13 games over the last 3 seasons without Rodgers. This season with Rodgers playing through thumb, hip and knee injuries proves the point. His age and injuries have taken their toll on his accuracy and his mobility. All of which points to another MLF weakness. He should have played Love through the first few weeks of Rodgers thumb injury. Unless he and the other realize that an injured Rodgers gives the team a better chance to win than a healthy Love. This situation tells us one of three things. Either Love is not ready, Love is not very good and/or that MLF and the offensive coaching staff can't make the decisions necessary to help this team to win. If it is the latter of the three possibilities than the Packers have the wrong coaching staff. If it is either of the first two possibilities than Love is not the guy and they should trade him for whatever they can get during the offseason. The consistent lack of and/or poor decisions by this coaching staff all season would drive a perfectionist like Aaron Rodgers crazy.

The final paragraph in Bill Huber's December 26th article in Sports Illustrated sum's ups the Packers situation perfectly both for this season and all the way back to 2011, "As it’s always been, it will be up to Rodgers to make the magic. Sunday against the Vikings, back at Lambeau Field, would be a fine place to start." nothing here about it being up to MLF or the coaches or the defense or the STs or even Jones, Dillon or Watson. "As it's always been it will bw up to Rodgers to make the magic." That is a pretty sad commentary about a team in the ultimate team sport that even with the second highest salaried defense in the league and numerous talented offensive weapons that it remains up to a 39 year old injured QB laying through various injuries in the player who it is up to make it happen.
Why do we have 25+ coaches at all??? Thanks, Since '61

LaFleur ruined two seasons by hiring buddies instead of competent coordinators. If the Packers don't make the playoffs this season, his seat should be red hot in 2023.

Jones HAS been injured to a degree where they limit his reps. Dillon is not as quick as Jones. MM did not want to wear Jones out and Matt seems to have the same mindset. Unless, of course, Aaron Rodgers checks out of a run play when given the call. The offensive line has not been that great for many games and that doesn’t help. I agree that Jones and the run game has been underutilized.

Watching the CFP games, here are some prospects that stood out to me in the games:

-Quentin Johnston, WR, TCU: At 6’4 with a 4.4 40, Johnston is an electric playmaker. At the end of the 3rd quarter, he took a hurried screen pass 79 yards to the house! I have thought that the Packers shouldn’t take a WR in the 1st round, as they have other needs, but if Johnston is available at our pick, the Packers should seriously consider going and getting him.

-Chris Smith, FS, Georgia. The ‘Dogs’ secondary hasn’t looked to great so far, but it isn’t because of Smith. So far, he’s allowed not many (perhaps not even a single) completions. He also has made some nice run stopping tackles, too. He has good leadership skills as well, from what I hear.

-Darnell Washington, TE, Georgia. As the announcers said, this 275 lb TE is a nightmare matchup for defensive players. Not only is he tough to bring down, he has sure hands and a huge catch radius. He also moves fluidly, and has a frame of lean muscle. However, he is also an incredible blocker. He has taken on Ohio St’s defensive linemen with ease and won. He would be a great, unique, versatile weapon to add to the Packers’ offense who could replace the Marcedes Lewis-esque role. There are some injury concerns, though, and he is out with an ankle injury and in a boot.
Side note: if the injuries cause Washington’s draft stock to fall, maybe the Packers could scoop him up later in the draft for a bargain. I think we need to draft at least 2 TEs in 2023; one who is an in line blocker, and one who’s more of a receiving type.

Lathan Ransom and Cameron Brown, CB, Ohio St. Brown has done a nice job in coverage, with some key PBUs, and Ransom has done a nice job limiting Georgia’s Mackey award winning star TE Brock Bowers. Both would be good day 3 value picks to have some good depth at CB and potentially develop into starting caliber players.

To me, MLF is a head coaching enigma. On one hand, he tends to start players with experience over players with greater potential of making big plays. On the coaching side, he chooses coaches that have less experience/success in their roles. Certainly, the hiring of Barry and Drayton fall into that category.

So is it a matter of his decision making that makes him a confusing HC? There is no doubt that without AR12 at QB, Adams at WR and Hackett as OC, he would not have had the gaudy won-loss record he had at the end of last season. But outside of an older/injured AR12, he hasn't possessed his earlier advantages as noted above.

My conclusion is MLF needs more HC coaching experience to improve his decision making abilities. The past 3 "easier seasons" are now behind him. He will need to shed is OC style of management and evolve into a more take charge style of head coaching. Insist on his coaches to make changes sooner than later - if they don't, replace them ASAP. If players don't perform to his standards, bench them for players that will (AS12 comes to mind).

Regardless of the above, lets hope for a gritty, determined game on Sunday against the Lions! GPG