We Need to Talk More About Matt LaFleur

Aaron Rodgers is having a renaissance season, but that's not breaking news. He's squarely in the MVP conversation, though still behind Patrick Mahomes in the race. What hasn't been talked about enough is the fantastic job Matt LaFleur has done in two years as head coach of the Packers. He inherited a team that went 6-9-1 -- where Rodgers started all 16 games -- and they have since gone 23-6 in the regular season and won the NFC North twice.

I'm old enough to remember the NFL Draft when everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs that the Packers had not selected a wide receiver. They thought Aaron Rodgers was bereft of weapons. That was not true. Davante Adams is, for my money, the best wide receiver in the NFL. Depending on the day, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Allen Lazard have emerged as strong options. Robert Tonyan is tied with Travis Kelce for the most receiving touchdowns in the league by a tight end with nine. Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams provide a stout running game.

Now, if you had argued that the Packers needed a middle linebacker or perhaps another pass rusher, then that would have been valid. After all, they instead picked Jordan Love as Rodgers' possible successor in the first round and running back AJ Dillon, who has barely seen the field, in the second round. But that wasn't what people griped about. The Packers clearly have an explosive arsenal of weapons.

I'm also old enough to remember what the chatter was like when Matt LaFleur was hired. He was coming off a mediocre season running the Titans offense with Marcus Mariota. People joked that anyone who had been so much as a pen pal with Sean McVay qualified for an NFL head coaching job.

Then, after that, there was an endless narrative cycle that LaFleur could not gel with Aaron Rodgers. For example, here is former Rodgers teammate Greg Jennings prognosticating that the partnership would not work:

I don't want to put LaFleur in Canton just yet. He and Rodgers and the rest of the Packers still need to prove they can play well enough in January to reach the Super Bowl, much less win it. But we have reached a point where everyone who thought LaFleur could never coexist with Rodgers should admit they were wrong.