Matt LaFleur Is Going To Get An Extension After Costing The Packers Another Season

What a past 72 hours for fans of the Green Bay Packers.

All of it started on Saturday morning, when the report from Ian Rapaport surfaced that head coach Matt LaFleur was not coaching for his job on Saturday night in Chicago, as the Packers and Bears were scheduled to face off in the Wild Card round at Soldier Field.

I don't really need to remind you what proceeded to happen later that evening, but let's just say that once the clock hit zero in the fourth quarter, I was ready to put everything back on the table.

A 21-3 halftime lead turned into one of the most embarrassing and pathetic collapses in recent memory for the NFL playoffs. The best part about it all? Anyone who had watched Green Bay play this year knew that it wasn't the most outlandish thing to be nervous that the Packers might blow that lead.

That's right. Five late collapses in games that should have all been easy wins. Most fans would feel very comfortable with that kind of lead after watching their team dominate the first 30 minutes. However, LaFleur has proved time and time again during his tenure that he doesn't know how to coach with a lead.

Poor coaching has yet again failed annuder Green Bay Packers season. And instead of having to pay for the consequences of another pathetic playoff loss, new Packers president Ed Policy is reportedly working on an extension to keep MLF around.

Insanity.

The funny thing about the loss is that while it hurt, I'm not even sure it's in the top three for worst playoff losses of my lifetime. Time and time again, LaFleur's teams have been known for poor effort and for collapsing late in games.

There's certainly a culture issue at 1265 Lombardi that people in the press there have started to point out.

Below is a small excerpt from Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated about the Packers from a recent article he wrote:

"Writing that a coach should be fired is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly. That’s the stuff of hyperbolic hosts and unhappy callers on sports-talk radio and of random writers hungry for some clicks. LaFleur doesn’t necessarily deserve to be fired for his team ending the season with a five-game losing streak. Lining up down the stretch without Parsons, Tom, Devonte Wyatt and Tucker Kraft would be too much to endure for most teams. LaFleur does deserve to be fired – and, ultimately, should be fired – for how the team lost those five games ... After the Bears’ epic comeback, Chicago coach Ben Johnson treated the Packers with complete and total disrespect in the locker room. “F*** the Packers! F*** them!” Sure, that’s a fired-up coach deservedly excited about what his team just accomplished against a longtime rival. But where has that fire been in Green Bay?" – BILL HUBER

Since winning a divisional-round playoff game in 2020, LaFleur’s team is 1-5 in its last six playoff games. I'm not sure how that warrants an extension, but the Packers have always operated as a cheap franchise and are afraid to burn bridges.

LaFleur brings zero fire as a head coach. He gets emotional and looks scared when things start to collapse. Just look at photos of him as the game is unraveling on Saturday night. Of course, this team has been riddled with injuries and special teams yet again found a way to play a big part in the season-ending.

However, I have always felt that blaming injuries is lame. The 49ers are a perfect example of a team that still have a game next weekend and has been decimated with injuries, too. So, I really don't want to hear that losing Micah Parsons, Tucker Kraft, Devonte Wyatt, and Zach Tom for the season is why they blew multiple leads this season.

Fans are always scared that you won't get big-name candidates and that the pool of available coaches right now isn't strong enough. However, when LaFleur was hired, he was, in fact, the last interview the Packers conducted during that search, and he was not seen as a home run hire from the outside.

If that job opens up, it immediately becomes the most coveted job on the market, and you never know who you might find. Coaching hires are about taking a risk.

I will play devil's advocate for one small excerpt here. I think LaFleur is a very creative offensive mind. He knows what he is doing when it comes to calling plays and scheming things for guys. The dude has rejuvenated Malik Willis's career and will land him an outlandish contract this offseason. I think he would be regarded as a top candidate if, for some reason, an extension doesn't work out.

All that being said, for a place that loves to refer to itself as Titletown despite not winning a Super Bowl in the last 15 years and has found themselves sneaking into the playoffs the last three years as the No. 7 seed and getting bounced in the first round in two of those three years, it very much seems like they need to disband that name if they're content with MLF choking away games constantly, not caring about special teams, and not holding players accountable for poor effort.

Shoutout to Hubbs who has put out a couple of good blogs the last few days on his feelings happening inside Lambeau. Those can be found here.

As always, Go Pack Go.