just read this on another Packer site and it hits spot on...""I think LaFleur is not happy unless he is “out-smarting” his opponent….and, personally, I think GB has peaked with him as a HC and play-caller."".

Matt LaFleur is not a great HC. This team plays in his image. Time to move on or continue to flatter to pretend until we play a good team and get whipped motivational and tactically multiple times for the same reasons.

Time to open our eyes to the record of 7 years and the repeating themes. Did yesterday really surprise anyone in how it went down? That’s the point. Time to move on from LaFleur. Let the Bears have him. It would be fine by me. His genius is as tangible as the Emperor’s new clothes and a myth as often repeated as that fable.

"Fellow contender"? Who is a fellow contender to this team? Tampa Bay maybe. Not any of the SB contenders.

Time to move on from JA, he doesn’t play. Trade him for a couple of picks get an edge rusher and a CB in the draft

The healthier team won yesterday. The Vikings offense was too much for the injured Packers defense. The Lions late season injuries will catch up to them in the playoffs.

Yo barkeep, all I ask is for a chip and a chair...a shot of 151...some quarters for J5 on the jukebox...

At least the Pack tends to be winning and if not winning, hopefully learning. At some point, the BIG BOY Pantz need to come on and the Bob the Builder underwear comes off.

It could be worse, check out NY Jets = J-E-T-S

It's always darkest before the dawn - just ask Chester Marcol on his blocked FG against da Bears. We will be fine one way or the other. I may be more ignorant than most but I would be more nervous about the future if we didn't have the mad lad Gute and instead had one more last dance of the latest last dance with Rodgers.

My New Year's resolution is to dumb down my comments a tad so some of you can catch up with what I am throwing down.

Love and stuff,
Pantz

*One, two, three, four...I declare a thumb war. Now, I have taken somewhat of a shine towards Coach LaF. But, we need to have metrics for our HCs as well. Either that or Coach LaF needs to wear elevator shoes the next time the HCs shake hands after the game. Whenever KOC or Dan the Man Campbell shake his hand, they appear like GIANTs. Orrr, grow a beard and start chewing snuff and spat alot during the games. I miss the good ole days of Forrest Gregg's snarl and across the river, Coach Burnsie's bedtime stories...I digress. Sorry, gotta go make bank - have another modeling underwear shoot at Mall of America of all places.

Oh, I use to lawn bowl at Brit's Pub in downtown Mpls years ago. The 4 bowls (stones) we rolled per end were custom made. The heavy end had the color Green/Gold representing the 4 Super Bowl wins. The light end had the color purple with the 4 Super Bowl losses. The Vikings and the Lions will eventually win a Super Bowl.
But can it not be this season???

*My actual New Year's resolution is to lose some poundage. That means, I will look forward to my wife's cooking like never before. ;) Interestingly enough, we have a dog named "Lucky". He gets most of my meal portions under the table. He seems to howl sporadically at night, lost the glimmer in his eyes and hasn't humped any legs with his usual zest in a long, long time.

For better or for worse, just like my beloved Packers.

The lack of a consistent pass rush is the Achilles Heel for this defense. Most of Darnold's completions were after he had time to go through his complete progressions.

It doesn't matter who you have in the secondary if they have to cover for five full seconds. Someone will get open.

Until they can get the QB off his spot and uncomfortable, they will continue to surrender career passing yards to opposing QB's.

Possible Dance Card for the Packers: Beat the Eagles in the WC Round, beat the Ugly Purple in the Div Round, then beat the Lions in the NFCCC.

Call it the Revenge Road Trip.

And then play the Chiefs in a return match up of SB I...in the Battle of New Orleans.

A fan can dream and hope, can't he?

My dad told me as a young lad: It pays to be an optimist. A pessimist is unhappy all the time...an optimist is just disappointed once in a while. I am disappointed today. I will get over it.

1. Gute's picks didn't stand out.
2. They never stretched the field. (Rodgers problem return)
3. The Trench.
4. The Vikings found a QB.
5. Missing Walker ,Williams, and Watson

here's a couple more takeaways. the Packers receivers are mediocre, at best. I've said it before and i'm saying it again. most teams in the league have one or two receivers who are better than our best, whoever that is. reed's expected breakout season never materialized and he has all but disappeared. Watson can't stay on the field. doubs' is just ok. i'll await the usual avalanche of down votes.

lafleur seems smart but he still doesn't get it when it comes to managing the clock. letting the clock run for 11 seconds down to the two minute warning with three timeouts at your disposal is just plain stupid. never...let...the...clock...run...down. if he wants to call me i'll explain it to him.

he's not the only one. so many coaches in the NFL just can't seem to figure out this vital aspect of being a head coach. yesterday, Atlanta completed a pass for a first down at the redskins 22 yard line with 40 seconds left in the first half. instead of using one of their THREE timeouts, they tried to hurry to the line of scrimmage and run a play. they finally snapped the ball with 11 seconds left and threw an incomplete pass. they then kicked a field goal on the final play and went into the locker room with all three timeouts in their pocket. smh

It's perfectly clear that LaFleur has serious play calling weakness. Look back in history. It's 1972 and the Packers reached the playoffs for the first time in 5 years behind the rushing duo of John Brockington and MacCarther Lane only to run into the Washington Redskins coached by George Allen. Allen defended the Packers with an eleven man defensive line and stopped the running game in its tracks. Has LaFleur ever looked at that type of defense...ever? In the Viking game, Packers had the ball on 3rd down and 2. LaFleur calls a running play against a 8 man defensive line...for no gain. What idiot would do that? This was only one of his famous stupid offensive calls. Packer head coach is missing something and it's play calling.

That was a humbling defeat but the good news is, we toss out the records when the playoffs begin. We have two weeks to right this ship!

Getting pretty tired of guys like Stockholder et al - with all the doomsday predictions and comments. Who is in the playoffs - who has not really had a whole bunch of top picks because we have always in the playoffs. Who is at home crying and wishing for different results. Cowboys, 49ers Cinci Miami - all supposed Superbowl contenders with MVP type QB's - As I posted elsewhere - even if we didnt have too many drops and fumbles that effected last game - it only takes a bit to figure that our 2nd year starter QB is progressing well with the youngest roster and unlike some other teams dont rely on a running QB who dont last long- Washington used to have a running QB - remember RG3 - these guys just dont last - If I was on the other team - I would pound him and pound him even if it meant a roughing the passer penalty. Miami - Arizona - even Hurts - they all eventually have to learn not to run those RPO's or suffer the consequences. But finally we are still the youngest team in the league - never mind the playoffs.

I kind of think we got a little ahead of ourselves with expectations when last year was supposed to be a rebuilding year and the Packers out kicked their coverage. At the beginning of last year, I think we all would have been pretty happy with staring at a 12-5 record at the end of this year. I think we are seeing who this team really is now, and its missing some pieces to take it to the next level. If Watson, Alexander, and Evan Williams play, maybe that gets us close, but I still think they need a little more help.

Not saying Love is the sole reason for the loss but his decision making is baffling. Same/similar mistakes.

MLF as a head coach isn't helping and while MLF isn't dropping the passes... his play calling is questionable.

Kraft has to be more involved. Don't abandon the run game. Take the FN points.

It's just amazing the draft capital GB has spent on the D with seemingly the same results.

It's great were in the playoffs. Yes, hopefully we can have a playoff run. It's just frustrating.

Give MLF one more year to get us to the SB. No appearance, new head coach.

A great head coach finds a way to overcome these issues...

GPG

I'm a Packer fan, and always have been. I don't get too caught up in the media hype machine and consider myself a realist. I believe to be the best, you must be able to "realistically" self assess your abilities and CORRECT your deficiencies immediately. Which is likely not going to be viewed well in this fan forum.

This article, from a strategic standpoint, rings true to me. We are NOT a great team yet. We have clear deficiencies that deter us from being a great team: (1) We are too young and inexperienced - from QB, to receivers, even our DC. This is the cost of building a young team. We have to live with these frustrating growing pains when few veteran players are on the roster (2) Our HC is a great offensive mind, but a poor in-game decision maker. (3) GB is a small market team, run like a small market team. The GM had the cap room this year to pick up veterans - especially in the DB room - to improve us this year. The Lions did it. The Vikes did it. GB did not. No surprise there, outside of the off season free agent acquisitions that clearly made us better. We had the cap space, so why not? Argh!

I would like to think - with my fan heart - that we will magically fix our issues and be a force in the playoffs. But realistically, I don't see it for the above reasons. I hate coach excuses like "the margins are razor thin". Yes, they may be, but bold moves and realistic self assessment are needed here to win in the playoffs. GPG

Yes, we are all disappointed but in reading the comments I sure see more negativity than there should be. Yes we lost. If we had Williams and Alexander Healthy and maybe even Watson, we probably win this game.

Nobody likes to lose but let's keep our chins up!

ML has completely changed last seasons offense with Jacobs running the ball. Last season we were running and gunning all over the field. A lot of pass drops but it cleaned up later in the season for a pretty scrappy WR group. Now they have been pass blocking so much they can't catch a pass again. I believe we went too extreme with the run game. It works great on mediocre teams we should and did beat but poor in-doors in enemy territory. The testament of differences between Vikings top 3 WR's and all of our WR's is a drop off of a 10 to a 5. The game plan and play calling was crap with no adjustment. JL looks like early last ROOK season. WR's playing like crap also. Made Pack look like JV HS football team. I thought the defense held up okay in first half with zero pressure on the QB. Vikings ran out their top 3 WR's and got it done....Something Pack has never done against good teams. There is a HUGE talent drop off in the WR department for our team....and it showed. Huge drop off in defensive rushing game. These things need to be addressed this off-season as well as no pass rush from the DL and stronger OL. We got the $.....IT'S TIME TO BUY WHAT WE NEED TO GET OVER THE HUMP.

maybe that Rodgers guy was pretty good and made MLF look like a great coach?

Love is average at best. Better figure something out so we don't go into a bears like qb search for yrs and yrs

All the talk from about a year ago was how 25 was supposed to be the year to make the run. How this team would do in 24, after a surprising 23 season was bonus. Realistically this was a hopefully continue to build and make the playoffs year and whatever might happen will happen.

So has it turned out much differently than that? The safety position was greatly improved from free agency and the draft. The cornerback position still desperately needs help. Alexander needs to go, some people say. Well, it will eventually happen but most likely that will be after next season. He's got about a half dozen games yet to play in Green Bay at the money they have invested in him for 2025. I wouldn't say it couldn't happen but the cap numbers just don't look great for an earlier move on. Who would give up the farm for a 50% player? You might have to beg someone to take him for a low draft pick if they agree to eat some of his cap and that would be a best case scenario.

I would wonder about shopping Gary. There might be a much better fit/team for him out there that would be willing to deal. The defensive front needs help and they aren't getting it done in the current configuration. At times it looks close. The team is saddled with the Clark deal so that and his age makes him less deal-able. A move on from Gary to get better system fits on the defensive front should not be off the table. He's very good but he ain't great and he's getting paid to be great. They will continue to run the LVN experiment in hopes that he develops. We'll see. Trouble is, the college edge rusher group doesn't look promising in 25 so they may want to hang onto Gary. But if you could flip him for a real beast lineman, it is worth a look.

Cooper was the great pick of the draft. Walker has started to "get it" and they'll have hopes with him. That being said, linebackers aren't the biggest needs as much as cornerbacks and defensive line. This is where the next makeover is needed between draft and FA.

Watching that Minnesota game it was just sick how great the hands were on those receivers. It kinda showed how the GB receivers are not that elite. All pretty darn good, at times, but still developing. Which leads to the accuracy and decisions of Jordan Love. He's good. But he ain't top five good. Is he top ten good? Maybe. At times he looks like he can be. At other times he has you wondering if we've already witnessed his ceiling. That can be addressed with game planning and play calling. The season started out with a lot of picks, some hospital balls, plus his own injury/recovery and that got modified to much more run heavy and better pass opportunities.

They made the playoffs with a work in progress. Things can still happen against the odds. They have some identifiable weaknesses and needs to be addressed if they are going to get to that next level because they are not on that level yet.

Packer fans would have to be ready to cope with what it would take to reach the next level.
There would be stricter accountability, many more firings, less excuse-making, letting go of players who don't perform.The Vikings and Lion's organizations are serious from the owner on down.
They are serious about winning.They recognize problems, fix them quickly, they draft well, develop well and don't keep under-performers around.
The Packers FO/coaches do not have that level of organizational excellence as of now.
It will likely take 5 years before the Pack gets serious about what it takes.

So, I would say that fans should be OK with the Packers being a top 8 team.
Then everyone could relax. But the Pack are not going to the SB anytime soon with this group of coaches/GM.

I like Brooks, his numbers are about the same as last year on a per snap basis, but he was more consistent last year. Wyatt and Clark were tearing it up before Wyatt got a concussion, per PFF Wyatt had 4 pressures in 12 snaps(not all passing attempts). On the 2nd drive they started out with Wooden and Brooks at DT and they were getting stonewalled. The Packers had 20 pressures on 43 passing attempts but the snaps where they didn't get pressure was glaring and the Vikings line is no great shakes, especially on the left side.

I think another pass rusher is priority one in the draft in April. Either a big guy that shows more than Slaton on passing downs or a rotational 3T to compete for passing down snaps. I'd say DE as well but the smaller speed rushers will most likely be gone by the time the Packers pick. I seriously doubt it but if the Edge from Tennessee is there grab him, throw him on there on 2nd and 3rd down and longs and don't look back.

Why does anyone mention Alexander as a deficiency, like he’s actually part of the team? He’s given them nothing except pea brain dead ball fouls ( because he’s a tough guy) a stupid embarrassing coin flip fiasco , and a whole lotta injuries.
As for any potential match up with Tampa.. they crushed the Packers last year. The Packers are like the junior league physical team. They bully the 49ers. The big boys , Detroit, Minnesota and Philly force the Packers into mistakes with their physical play.
It’s disappointing to see the regression.
They need two corners, and linebackers and an awful lot of help on the d line.
Lots of $$ tied up in Jordan Love and he’s about the 12th best quarterback in the league. And he’s trending down with the emergence of Daniels and Nix.

The proof is in the pudding. Numbers don't lie. The Packer's are not in the top three because the top three have had better drafts and acquisitions of players. Detroit was gifted with multiple high picks to trade for their current QB from the Rams. One of those taken was Gibbs. With Gibbs the entire offense changed and became dynamic and explosive both on the ground and through the air.
Moreover, their defense is extremely banged up but with their offense they will beat anyone. Gibbs will have a field day against the Vikings both by running and catching short passes.
The Eagles will also be outscored. The eagles dramatically improved their defense by drafting a top CB and a safety (Cooper De-Jean) so If anyone can beat the lions it would be the Eagles. I like the lions in that match up. No one can stop their offense. Period, Against the top teams our secondary has been non existent. Last year it was safeties this year CB's have been the problem. Jaire's loss is an enigma. He needs to look into long term treatment for whatever ails him. His loss has really hurt the Packers. Finally after the Vikings game Love seems a bit over rated. Sorry.

“Green Bay has learned this year how to be more consistent and take care of inferior opponents more easily.”… they have??????