No one needed to hear this, but it's always a nice reminder: Matt LaFleur is a good head coach. In fact, Matt LaFleur is a great NFL coach. And just to complete the rule of threes here, I'd argue that Matt LaFleur is maybe the league's best coach right now.
At every turn over the last few seasons, LaFleur has answered the call. Questionable field goal decisions aside, he's consistently proven that he knows what he's doing. Whether it was the Aaron Rodgers exit, developing Jordan Love, or moving away from his core philosophies when the personnel doesn't work, LaFleur has done well to earn his reputation as one of the few NFL head coaches that truly gives his team an advantage every week.
Sunday's win over the Titans in Tennessee provided the latest example of The Matt LaFleur Factor. Somehow the Packers – who were once again playing on the road without Jordan Love – put together their most convincing win of the season, thanks in large part to Malik Willis. I'm not joking.
Matt LaFleur turned Malik Willis into a serviceable NFL quarterback
Willis ended the game going 13-19 with 202 yards and a touchdown. 202 yards! For context, Caleb Williams, who's been QB1 in Chicago since the day he was drafted in late April, just went over 200 passing yards for the first time on Sunday; Willis wasn't even on the Packers' roster a month ago.
Willis is also 2-0 in Love's absence, which will definitely not be used as the most ridiculously over-analyzed talking point this week. Matt LaFleur is so good that he's creating his own QB controversies just to stay entertained. Willis deserves all the credit in the world for making the most of his opportunity, but LaFlaeur's ability to put him in positions to succeed so quickly has been so, so impressive.
With the Vikings, Texans, and a run through the NFC West coming up over the next month, things figure to get a little tougher for Willis. But it sounds like Jordan Love may not be that far away from returning, so that may not even be an issue in the first place. And even that doesn't matter all that much because Willis can't lose! LaFleur is so good that he's single-handedly destroying future free agent QB's market value. (This is sort of a joke, but way less of one than you'd think.)
