Matt LaFleur’s Motivational Quote Underscores Packers’ Big Concerns Without Jordan Love

Against all odds, with Jordan Love sidelined with an injury, the Green Bay Packers found a way to pick up their first win of the 2024 NFL season, improving to 1-1 through the first two weeks.

For the Packers to win this game without Love, two things would have to happen. Their defense would have to come out on top, and their running game would have to be incredibly high. Well, their defense allowed just 10 points, and Green Bay dominated the ground game.

This quote from LaFleur after the game shows how much Green Bay relied on its quarterbacks, especially its offensive linemen, to carry the load.

It’s great that Green Bay’s offensive line played so well, and it’s even better that LaFleur was as confident as he was. They wouldn’t have much of a chance on that side of the court without them. The problem is that LaFleur relying on them as much as he did underscores a serious problem without his star quarterback. He doesn’t trust his backup, Malik Willis.

Coming into the game, it was easy to expect Green Bay to try to run the ball a ton, but did anyone really expect that? Josh Jacobs carried the ball 32 (!) times for 151 yards, which was more yards on the ground than Willis did through the air. Even Willis ran the ball six times for 41 yards. On the other hand, Willis only attempted 14 passes.

In his favor, Willis threw the ball well. He completed 12 of those attempts for 122 yards and a touchdown, catching several key third downs. When he was called upon, he was good. He just wasn’t called upon very often. Only 14 pass attempts in 2024? Really?

It was safe to assume LaFleur was desperate to get Love back into the game if he could, keeping himself open for the week after a very serious injury, but watching the overreliance on the running game was fascinating.

It will be interesting to see what happens if Green Bay is losing in a game that Willis starts. They had the advantage of playing forward all the time, so Willis didn’t have to throw the ball at all. If Green Bay was losing late in Week 3 to the Tennessee Titans, would LaFleur have his quarterback throw the ball? The odds are against him.