There’s a sense of hope flying around in Green Bay Packers with their offseason moves but analysts don’t really feel the same.
ESPN has released its annual NFL coaching staff rankings and it puts the Packers crew at no. 10, a slide of two spots from last year. Writer Ben Solak has two main reasons with such placement.
First is the heavy turnovers that he thought led to their collapse at the end of the season.
“It ended the season dead last in defensive success rate against dropbacks but second in EPA per dropback faced. How? Tons of interceptions,” Solak wrote.
“The Packers ripped off 17 picks, tied for third most in football, and recovered 14 fumbles. They finished third in defensive EPA on takeaways (behind Denver and Buffalo), and though I don’t think their defense was poorly coached by any stretch, it probably punched above its weight last season.”
Head coach Matt LaFleur previously got the same evaluation. He is not Top 10 among NFL coaches according to CBS Sports.
Green Bay Packers poor against elite teams
The Packers has coaches who came straight from college football. They are headed by offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich and defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley who is only in his second year at Lambeau Field.
The team haven’t won their division since 2021. Against elite teams, they are also lacking.
This is another reason why Solak are not sold on the coaching staff.
It ended the season 1-5 in its division (beating only Chicago on a game-ending field goal block) and lost to the Eagles twice, including in the playoffs. The best defensive coordinators — Vic Fangio, Brian Flores and Aaron Glenn — were able to flummox Love and expose that opportunistic defense. Green Bay’s staff never found a solution as the season went on.
