“FOR WHAT REASON?’ NFL sent statement to Matt LaFleur as announce leaving Packers…see more

“There’s going to be times where you’re not going to throw the perfect ball,” LaFleur said at the time. “You’ve got to trust it and let it rip.”

At some point that week, though, LaFleur had a revelation about himself as he prepared for a road game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 12. A former quarterbacks coach, he was trying so hard to do right by his young QB and the first- and second-year wide receivers and tight ends Love was throwing to — trying to keep thing simple so they could play fast without overthinking — that he was dumbing down the offense to the point of being a detriment.

LaFleur had proclaimed after an Oct. 29 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, in which the offense had looked downright inept (270 net yards, a 72.1 passer rating for Love) he was no longer “even talking that ‘young guys’ game” anymore, but his actions as an offensive play-caller hadn’t matched his words against the Rams.

And so, LaFleur decided that he needed to take his own advice. If he was going to tell Love to “let it rip,” then he had to do the same thing as the play-caller.

“There was a point in time where you realize if we’re going to generate explosives, you’d better call the plays that can generate explosives,” LaFleur said, referring to the big plays the offense had been sorely lacking. “We were having some success with that, and certainly I think when you do that, you start trusting everybody a little bit more, so it makes it a lot easier to call.”

The decision proved transformative — and is in large part responsible for where the Packers find themselves today: On the precipice of the NFC playoffs, knowing a victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon at Lambeau Field will send them into the postseason with a 9-8 record as one of the conference’s final two seeds and one of the NFL’s feel-good stories of the year.

Love, after three years as four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers’ understudy, has led the way. Over the past seven games, he’s completed 68.4% of his passes for 1,834 yards with 16 touchdowns and only one interception (109.9 passer rating). More importantly, he’s looked every bit like a quarterback who can confidently claim his place in the Packers’ royal line of succession.

This is how Love, LaFleur and the Packers got there, in their own words.

LaFleur: “I think there’s a lot of good communication throughout the course of the week, understanding why we’re calling certain things and what we’re trying to get to. But what I think has been the biggest difference is just the trust — in terms of the trust that I have in him for when it’s not the right look to go out there and not make a bad play worse or get us out of a bad play.”

Backup quarterback Sean Clifford: “That was the word I was about to use — trust. We talk about it all the time, just how much more is on 10’s plate because of the trust that Matt has in him. Rightfully so. I mean, he’s earned every single bit of it.

“But, I like that. ‘Let it rip.’ Because Jordan has let it rip — definitely. For sure. But I would also say Matt has also let it rip. The way he calls the plays, the way he game plans, everyone sees it. He’s a lot more confident in our offense now than when we played the Rams or the other games early in the season.”

Love: “It happened without me saying anything. I definitely didn’t say anything to Matt. But, I think it’s just a credit to him. He went back, broke down our offense, saw what we were doing good, what we weren’t doing as good and just really honed into what we could do. I think it was all him.”

LaFleur: “I really think that the turning point was in the Pittsburgh game.”

(A week after the win over the Rams, the Packers lost to the Steelers 23-19 with Love throwing interceptions to end the final two possessions. But LaFleur’s play-calling shift, to a more aggressive, down-the-field game plan, was undeniable.)

LaFleur: “I know we didn’t win that game, but I was cautiously optimistic when we came out of that game from an offensive standpoint that we were executing some things and he was making some plays. I know the ending didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but I think there was a little bit of a shift in terms of some of the things we were doing and allowing him to go out there and be obviously the playmaker that he is definitely capable of being.”

Love: “Obviously, we weren’t having a whole lot of success earlier on in the season, and I think it was just trying to figure out what our offense was going to be about this year — what we do best. It’s been a process. Matt and I have been able to sit down and figure out what we like together. He’s been able to understand me and what I like, and we’ve just learned each other, found out what we’re good at. For him, play calling-wise, going from Aaron to me, understanding what I like and what I do best, it’s a credit to him. He’s been able to do a great job structuring the offense and getting us in the best positions to be successful.”

(While the Steelers game was the start of the turnaround, and a home victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Nov. 19 showcased further progress, it was the Packers’ 29-22 win at Detroit on Thanksgiving Day that was the pièce de résistance. Love was nearly flawless, going 22 of 32 for 268 yards and three touchdowns against the eventual NFC North champions, with his young receivers no longer looking like kids.)

Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich: “It was kind of like, ‘All right, in order to beat these guys, we’ve got to bring it with some stuff.’ Short week, not a lot of time to prepare, we put a lot on their plates — and they handled it, and it’s kind of grown from there, I would say. I mean, there definitely is (risk). When you’ve got a lot of young guys out there, you never really know what’s going to happen until it happens. So fortunately, that day, it worked out well for us.”

Love: “Even though we had a lot of young guys coming into the start of the season, you could just see how many playmakers we had on offense, how deep our skill positions were, and I was excited about it. And now, I think Matt’s been doing an awesome job just mixing up the play calls and putting different guys in position to be successful. I think now we’re in a really good rhythm. I’m excited to see what we can keep doing.”

Clifford: “The cool perspective I have is I get to really sit back and watch everybody and really take everything in. And I can tell that everybody’s confidence is now through the roof. And it’s not a cockiness, it’s not an overwhelming confidence. It’s a confidence in our preparation and the work we’ve put in. Because the plays you see on Sundays, they have to work every day in practice. And some of those are cooler than the ones on Sundays.”

(Going into that Thanksgiving game, LaFleur had decided to be aggressive, taking the ball off the opening coin toss and dialing up a deep shot play on the first offensive snap. That morning, though, LaFleur had second thoughts, and texted Love his reservations. Love’s response? Keep the original play. The result? A tone-setting 53-yard strike to Watson to set up the Packers’ first touchdown.)

LaFleur: “I just think that kind of goes back to the whole trust thing. I said, ‘Hey, I don’t know if I like this play, I’m thinking about this …’ And he goes, ‘Well, I like that play.’ So, it goes both ways. I trust him, he trusts me, and I think that’s why we’re doing some good things.”