Green Bay Packers: Matt LaFleur must stick with running game

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur got away from his roots against the Los Angeles Chargers. To sustain offensive success, the Packers must rely on the running game going forward.

Much like the abrupt change from fall to winter in northern Wisconsin, the Green Bay Packers experienced a sudden fall from grace this past Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers.

For much of the 2019 season, head coach Matt LaFleur, the primary play-caller for the Packers offense, has leaned on the running game to supplement everything else, especially during the prolonged absence of Pro Bowl receiver Davante Adams (turf toe). Running backs Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams had become the focal point of the offense in both the running and passing game, and Green Bay rolled their way to a 7-1 record.

With Adams’ return to the lineup in Week 9 came a stark change, however. Perhaps because of the return of their star receiver, LaFleur got away from his roots as a play-caller.

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Entering Week 9, the Packers had averaged 25.6 rushing attempts per game. On Sunday in Los Angeles, Green Bay tallied just 11 total rushing attempts, one of which was on an Aaron Rodgers‘ scramble.

Over the entire month of October (four games), the Packers averaged a whopping 32.5 points per game and 409.3 total yards per game. Against the Chargers, the offense tallied just 11 points and 184 total yards. Jones, a budding star, only logged eight carries for 30 yards, while Williams carried the ball twice for 10 yards.

Of course, the Packers are obviously better off with Adams on the field. But the mis-utilization of the running backs against the Chargers cannot go without criticism. Without Adams for those four games in October, Jones racked up 551 scrimmage yards, while Williams managed 203 yards. Something was clearly missing this past Sunday.

"“I think all of us coaches and players have to look inward and make sure we were doing the right things, and really learn from that experience so we don’t have another one of those moving forward.” LaFleur said on Monday, via Green Bay Packers on Twitter. “There’s no doubt I was not patient enough with the game plan.”"

Rodgers didn’t hold back on his thoughts regarding the play calling, either, echoing the following at his recent locker room interview (via Packers.com):

"“Yeah, we’d love to get Davante (Adams) going, but we can’t get away from what’s got us to this point, especially the last three, four games before last Sunday. … We’ve got to get Aaron (Jones) 15-20 touches and Jamaal (Williams) 10-15 touches. I think that’s when we’re playing at our best, and Matt (LaFleur) knows that.”"

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One thing is clear, if the Packers want to sustain any sort of offensive success over the second half of the season, they must rely on the running game. If that means 30 combined touches per game for both running backs, then so be it. LaFleur is in the midst of trying to overcome his first true bout of adversity as a head coach. How he rebounds as a play-caller will tell us a lot.

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