Matt LaFleur is staring down a record no Green Bay coach wants, especially after eight seasons at the helm. He’s now tied with Bart Starr as the longest-tenured Packers coach since Vince Lombardi to not win a title, and that’s a tough pill to swallow when you consider Starr actually brought home five NFL championships as a player. The guy literally built the dynasty from the field!
Eight Seasons and No Rings? Ouch.
Let’s be real: coaching tenures in Green Bay after Lombardi have usually gone south, and only two coaches have managed to snag titles since then. So when we look at LaFleur’s current situation, it’s not exactly shocking to hear his time might be winding down. But how does he actually stack up against the nine other post-Lombardi coaches who eventually got the boot? Pro Football Reference crunched the numbers, comparing LaFleur’s first three games of this season to the first three games of those other coaches’ final seasons. It’s a snapshot, sure, but a telling one.
The Ugly Truth: Points, Rushing, Penalties
PFR looked at 14 different categories, everything from wins to passing yards allowed. You might think some of these aren’t directly on the head coach, but ultimately, the buck stops there, right? You hire the coordinators, you set the tone. And here’s where it gets brutal for LaFleur: he ranks worst among all nine coaches in three critical areas: points allowed, rushing yards, and penalties. Points allowed is a killer. The offense turning it over deep in their own territory, or just not staying on the field, absolutely gasses the defense. We saw it in Week 1 against the Vikings. Two touchdowns for Minnesota came off drives of just one and 14 yards after Packers turnovers. Must be nice for the Vikes! They even got a 28-yard TD drive after a special teams blunder.
The picture isn’t great, especially when you’re looking at stats from what could be the beginning of the end. LaFleur’s eight seasons without a title already tie him for a dubious record, and these early season struggles in such fundamental categories just underscore the pressure. It’s a “get hired to get fired” league, and right now, the numbers are screaming.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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