The Green Bay Packers have been one of the most confusing teams to watch this season. They’re supposed to be Super Bowl contenders, yet have looked surprisingly bad against weaker competition, dropping games to the Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers. That’s why former Packer Clay Matthews called on Jordan Love and Matt LaFleur to take more responsibility ahead of their Monday Night Football showdown.
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Green Bay will be taking on the Philadelphia Eagles tomorrow night. It’s a massive game between two teams atop the NFC. A win for either would push them up or close to the top of the overall standings.
Last week, the Packers slipped up and let the Panthers get the best of them, 16-13. Matthews believes that loss came down to poor coaching and leadership from the quarterback.
“They show up against Pittsburgh, Jordan Love looks like an MVP, and then they drop the ball again to the Panthers. I think that falls on coaching, falls a little bit on Jordan Love, and leadership,” Matthews said on Bussin’ With the Boys.
Love finished the game 26 of 37 for 273 yards, but he threw zero TDs and an INT. He also should’ve thrown a second pick on a play where he wildly chucked the ball across the field, but the Panthers’ defender let the ball slip right through his hands.
Despite all of this, Matthews still thinks that Love and LaFleur can get it done tomorrow night.
“But what have the Packers always done after a letdown? They always get back, and I think this is their get back,” Matthews shared.
Well, after the Packers lost to the Cleveland Browns earlier in the season, they followed that up by tying with the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, 40-40. So, maybe the logic wasn’t as sound as Matthews thought.
“I think LaFleur needs to just hand the keys over to Love and let him do his thing. They wanna run the ball, I understand that. But Josh Jacobs hasn’t run over a hundred years this year. He scored in five consecutive games, that’s something to think about. I just think you gotta let Jordan Love do his thing,” Matthews continued.
That’s some sound advice from Matthews, and one of the show’s hosts, Will Compton, agreed with the former NFL star, saying, “I’m Packers.”
However, his co-host, Taylor Lewan, wasn’t on the same page. “I’m Eagles,” Lewan responded. “They win the bye week, everyone else in the NFC East has lost going into the bye week… I see this team picking up steam.”
The Eagles are also getting AJ Brown back this week, after he missed their last game due to a hamstring injury. Saquon Barkley will also be active after picking up a groin injury late in their win over the New York Giants. So, the offense will be at full strength.
They are all good things to keep in mind heading into the matchup. Love will need to step up if he wants to win this game. The good news is that the Packers have looked more than capable against higher-tier opponents. But they’ve also had a relatively easier schedule up to this point. We’ll see what happens.
