#PackersDaily: Something to prove
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and his new starting quarterback, Jordan Love, have plenty to prove in 2023.
By PackerAaron
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Comments (17)
BuckyBadger
June 21, 2023 at 04:40 pm
I would be nice if fans and front offices could compartmentalize more but Gute and MFL are tied to the hip to Love. If Love fails the team won't win very many games and everyone from Gute down to the coaching staff will be let go. I don't think they get fired this year but if Love falls on his face Green Bay isn't all that different than any other franchise, they will move on from everyone. McCarthy didn't get very many losing seasons and he won a title. The Packers fan base hasn't had sustain losing in 30 decades and they won't be silent if the team isn't making the playoffs multiple years in a row.
I think Gute should be the one feeling the heat. His drafts haven't been great usually only rendering one or two contributors each year and way too many guys who are not even staying in the league in rounds 3 and 4. Then you look at the transition which I feel he totally bumbled. One of the benefits of getting a QB in the 1st round is to have the cap space for 5 years to build around him. You want to give that QB every chance to succeed. The Packers will have to make a choice on Love before they are clear of the Rodgers anchor and can put any talent around Love. Gute couldn't commit to his new QB and kept paying the old one while that QB was trying to get him fired.
Untylu1968
June 22, 2023 at 06:40 am
Lucky for Gute and MLF, that Love is going to be just fine, and it'll be business a usual. Stacking successful drafts, and not carrying dead weight because of #8, will have us back on top in no time.
greengold
June 22, 2023 at 07:14 am
That’s much the same way that I’m perceiving the Packers currently.
Gutekunst has had his gaffes like every GM. For any first time GM it’s on the job training. Given his recent drafts, he appears to me to be “an ascending talent.” All of that is yet to be determined, of course, but I like what I’ve seen these last few years.
There’s a lot of promise with the talent he’s assembled.
Guam
June 22, 2023 at 07:18 am
"Then you look at the transition which I feel he totally bumbled."
That transition had Murphy's fingerprints all over it. Murphy resigned Rodgers, not Gute, and then proclaimed "We're not idiots". We will likely never know, but I suspect if had Gute gotten his way, Rodgers would be on the second year of his stint with Denver.
And Gute's recent drafts have been very productive.
PackerAaron
June 22, 2023 at 09:02 am
Spot on, Guam.
greengold
June 22, 2023 at 10:03 am
The Guamer Guamin'!!!
The Guamer Guams.
Both work.
SicSemperTyrannis
June 22, 2023 at 11:48 am
BB, JL10 only needs to be JimmyG levels of competent if our O line is solid and he can do very well with a run first dink and dunk offense. I very much want to see that strategy early, then as the offense gets some confidence hopefully QB finds some wide open WRs. Threading needles should be off the menu IMHO, this needs to be a very different offense.
AR12 won 6 games his first season as a starter, I have no problem with that. If every player gives 100% effort every down, every game, all season long I think there's a good chance of being contenders in 2025.
Leatherhead
June 22, 2023 at 10:47 am
I don't think "The Transition" was bumbled. I think it was well done, especially in contrast to the last time we did this. Gutekunst squeezed two MVP seasons out of Rodgers, while simultaneously acquiring and developing his replacement, and then traded Rodgers for two premium draft picks after he didn't need him anymore.
How is this a bumble?
If you recall, Favre failed miserably in his last game as a Packer. Then he retired, then he unretired, then he tried to manipulate the team into releasing him, then he tried to force his way back onto the team, then he finally took a trade for a Day 2 pick, retired again after the end of the season, and then signed with Minnesota so he could "Stick it" to the Packers. Along the way, he used family members to smear crap on the organization.
That's a bumble. This was a win, a clear win. We got Love, Rodgers won two MVPs, and we narrowly missed the playoffs last year. Now Love is ready, with a solid group around him. We're going to be better than last year, mark my words.
Untylu1968
June 22, 2023 at 11:57 am
Then he took a pic of his dick, don't skip over that special HOF moment!😁🐓📷
NJ-RICK
June 22, 2023 at 11:04 am
The day Gute is let go is when the rebuild offically starts in Green Bay. Front office has failed IMO.
SicSemperTyrannis
June 22, 2023 at 11:51 am
Everybody drafted last year made the team. Now there's so much talent it's impossible to predict who gets cut. Gutey's doing fine, this is on coaches now; development and evaluation, even before coaching a game.
Untylu1968
June 22, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Lucky for us Packer fans, that light is way down the tunnel!
Leatherhead
June 22, 2023 at 12:14 pm
This Front Office has won more games over the last 4 years than any other team in the NFL, they were in the Championship twice and they won the division 3 times. That is not failure, unless it's a league where everybody else is a failure too. Compared to the other 31, we're doing pretty well.
I've been a fan of this team since the 60s, and IMO, this is one of the best front office setups we've ever had.
Win the division. Beat your divisional opponents. That formula worked for three straight division titles, but last year, we score 7, 9, and 16 in losses to division opponents who weren't even very good defensively. If you have the inclination, go back and rewatch those games....season opener, mid-season, season ender at home.....and tell me why so many of those possessions resulted in 0 points. In any event, if we'd scored a little more we could have been 10-7, at least, and in the playoffs.
It all starts with beating your division opponents. If you can't beat them, you don't deserve to win the division, which means you're a wildcard at best. This is why I'm so excited about this Bears game, because just like last year, we have a chance to beat a divisional opponent on their own field in the opener. We have almost 3 months to prepare for it, and it's inexcusable for us to come out and score 7 points in the opener, or 3, like the previous year. I'll be disappointed if we don't crush these guys, seriously.
TarynsEyes
June 22, 2023 at 12:45 pm
"This Front Office has won more games over the last 4 years than any other team in the NFL, they were in the Championship twice, and they won the division 3 times"
How easy it seems to totally ignore who the QB was (2 time MVP that was heralded by all) during this FO highlight reel. Not to disregard the fact that the weakness of the Division rivals was a near guaranteed 5-6 wins, which more often came down to the play of Rodgers.
If Rodgers wasn't in GB the last 4 years, would you be giving such adulation to the FO?
I think not. I know it's the "IN" thing to do, hate on Rodgers, but to dismiss what he did is pure childish behavior.
Furthermore, I won't disregard the failure of Rodgers play in the playoffs, but it was him that got them into the playoffs, and we must wait and see, if Rodgers to Love actually follows suit of TT's Favre to Rodgers to give any credence to the FO.
I won't give credit to this FO for the success that came from Rodgers via TT's decisions. This FO now has to earn its own mark with Love, and a free MLF at the helm.
Leatherhead
June 23, 2023 at 08:43 am
You seem to think the QB wins games. I think the team around him wins games. Giving all the credit to Rodgers seems unfair to all the other people who are busting their asses trying to win games.
TarynsEyes
June 24, 2023 at 10:20 am
I'm not giving all the credit to Rodgers, or any QB, for the wins, but I won't discard how much of their play decides a game being a win or loss, something that you apparently like to do.
How can the QB position be declared the hardest to master, and then be so slighted as to its bearing a team's win-loss record. Yes, the HC or OC may call the plays, but the QB needs to execute it first, by being able to decipher the Defense to put the play into a winnable situation. This does not discount the others who need to execute their roles also. Again, do you believe the Packers win total would have been near the same without Rodgers at QB? If you do, you're in denial of how much those teams needed him, especially since he has done the same even before your assumed great MLF was hired. You'll get to see what MLF actually brought to the table with Love going forward.
Leatherhead
June 24, 2023 at 10:36 am
OK....let's do math. In the old 16 game schedule, an average team, with an average coach, and an average team around them, with an average amount of luck, would be 8-8, with an average QB. One bounce of the ball, or an official's call, make it 9-7 or 7-9, which is where about half the teams in the league finished. If you were better than that, you went to the playoffs.
So, the difference between 9-7 and 13-3 is four games you could credit to the QB. Unless you had some other exceptional guys contributing, like Aaron Jones. Or Jaire Alexander. Or Kenny Clark. If you have a slightly above average team, with a slightly above average coach, you can win 11 or more games.....just ask Kirk Cousins.
Do I think the Packers win total would have won as many games without Rodgers? Probably not. But I do think an average QB would have given us a better chance in the 2021 playoff loss, or the season ending loss this year.
I think this TEAM, with this QB, is going to be fine, and people are going to have to give credit to somebody else other than Aaron Rodgers.