Green Bay Packers: 5 Biggest surprises of 2019 regular season

1. Matt LaFleur posts 13-3 record in debut season

If you asked anyone before the season what the Packers’ regular season record would be after 16 games in 2019, you were likely to hear anywhere between six and 10 wins. If you heard 12 you might’ve smirked, and if you heard 13 you probably gasped.

It’s safe to say first-year coach Matt LaFleur greatly exceeded expectations in Year 1, regardless of what happens in the upcoming playoffs.

For starters, the Packers went 8-1 against teams with a winning record, the best such mark in the entire NFL. Perhaps most impressively, though, the Packers were extremely reliable in close games. Green Bay went 8-1 in one-score games (eight points or fewer). Lastly, LaFleur’s team went 6-0 in the NFC North, sweeping the division for the first time since 2011.

To take a six-win team from the previous year and turn around with a 13-win season — in your head coaching debut, no less — is unarguably the most impressive and surprising development for the Packers this season.

Regardless of which team the Packers play in the Divisional Playoffs, and the result that ensues, 2019 should be considered a great success for LaFleur and fans all around the world.