The three positions that matter most to the Packers are stable for championships.
Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy stated in his Murphy Takes 5 blog that “the future is bright.” He is correct; the Packers are well-equipped with Brian Gutekunst, Matt LaFleur, and Jordan Love.
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin: A really good quarterback, a head coach who can call the appropriate plays and push the correct buttons, and a general manager who has the guts to make difficult decisions and an eye for talent are all necessary for winning a Super Bowl.
The Green Bay Packers are poised to begin another lengthy run as title contenders because they have all three in Brian Gutekunst, Matt LaFleur, and Jordan Love.
After a dismal 2-5 start and back-to-back defeats in December, the Packers turned things around and earned an unexpected postseason berth. The Packers weren’t satisfied with just making it to the postseason; they defeated the Cowboys in the wild-card round and nearly upset the 49ers in the divisional round.
In his monthly Murphy Takes 5 piece on Packers.com, Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy stated, “As disappointing as the loss was, I still think the overall season was a success.”
Murphy pointed out that the NFL’s youngest roster included the quarterback in Love’s first-year starting lineup. Love “played at a very high level” to end the season, following an uneven first half. The Packers were the youngest club to win a postseason game since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 thanks to his eighth performance in nine games with a quarterback rating of 100 or above against Dallas.
Echoing Gutekunst’s remarks from his season-ending press conference, Murphy stated, “We feel confident that Jordan is our quarterback of the future.”
And with good cause. Love finished last in interceptions, second-to-last in completion %, and 29th in passer rating throughout the first nine games. Love finished second in rating, first in interceptions, and second in completion % during the final eight games.
What altered?
“I believe that the reps play a part in it,” Gutekunst stated. “Throughout the past few years, we have discussed how much he needed to play. There were obviously a lot of other players who needed to play, and I believe that as they played more, they were more at ease.
“I believe there was a slight change in focus somewhere in the middle there. We just decided to concentrate on improving ourselves rather than on the outcomes as much as we may have previously, and we said, ‘Let’s improve day by day and week by week.'” I could see the outcomes coming as soon as I began to notice that.
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With love, Gutekunst was the one who really got it. With Aaron Rodgers having just guided the team to an NFC Championship Game appearance, the Packers didn’t require a quarterback in 2020. However, Gutekunst was the one who had to make the difficult and controversial choice.
Getting another franchise quarterback seems to have been a perfect projection for him, even though it might have been career suicide.
In response to the question of whether he felt vindicated, Gutekunst replied, “To be honest with you, I don’t put a lot into that.” “You are aware of my past. This is what we used to do. That’s our core conviction. Going through some of those things does not make things any easier, but the Green Bay Packers and the football team’s best interests are always at the forefront. The fulfillment just flows into our team’s advancement and improvement.
LaFleur also did a fantastic job with Love. To put it plainly, Love wasn’t a finished product after graduating from Utah State. Love possessed outstanding arm talent and athleticism, but many quarterback hopefuls have failed miserably despite possessing all the physical attributes. Love’s shortcomings were addressed by LaFleur and quarterbacks coach Tom Clements, who also capitalized on his strengths. Love was virtually as poised and polished as any quarterback in the league by the middle of the season.
Although the quarterback is the obvious place for any squad to start, there are other players as well.
Love is the only thing that could have saved 2020 for Gutekunst after a few terrible drafts. In particular, his 2023 draft class appears excellent with multiple players who can make an immediate impact. In hindsight, it was a mistake to give Rodgers a contract extension, but he skillfully turned things around by dealing Rodgers to the Jets, dominating the draft, and negotiating a cumbersome salary cap.
More quickly than anyone could have predicted, he completely recreated the team on the fly.
And there’s LaFleur, whose success in 2019 and 2020 and 2021 was dependent on Rodgers’s presence. Would he be able to lead a team to a championship without Rodgers at quarterback and Davante Adams at wide receiver?
Indeed. To set up the Love-led passing game, a healthy Aaron Jones made the offense “very dangerous,” in Gutekunst’s words.
Murphy stated, “It was exciting to watch our team come together as the season progressed.” “That we were able to salvage our season is a true credit to our coaches and players. This year, in my opinion, Matt LaFleur’s coaching was at its best. Though nothing is certain, I believe the club gained a lot of knowledge from this year’s playoff experience and that things will get better.
There are, of course, matters to establish. Can Love endure for an entire season? After that, several seasons? Is LaFleur able to defeat the 49ers and Kyle Shanahan in a postseason game? Will Gutekunst be able to complete the roster this time?
Those are valid inquiries. However, now that the quarterback, coach, and general manager are in place, the Packers have the opportunity to accomplish what they were unable to with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.
