Getty Packers head coach Matt LaFleur (left) and quarterback Aaron Rodgers (right).
Randy Mueller, the 2000 NFL Executive of the Year, brings over 30 years of experience in the football business, including stints as the general manager of Seattle Seahawks, New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolphins. With Heavy, Mueller breaks down the NFL from a front office perspective. You can follow Randy on Twitter @RandyMueller_
The Packers’ Body Language Is Disappointing
Whether you’re the MVP or the PPL (p*** poor loser) on any given Sunday, how you act and the vibe you give off matters when talking about leadership in the NFL. As we have all seen, Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers talks the talk, but when it comes to walking the walk, he has let down his teammates in my opinion.
It took me a whole three plays of tape review of the Packers-Lions game from Week 9 to see that this was a different Green Bay team than we have seen in the last two years under head coach Matt LaFleur. On play two, Packers WR Allen Lazard had something to say to somebody in a demonstrative way after not completing a catch on a crossing route that would have been a first down. On play three, Rodgers let his frustration show when a Lions defender reached around his preferred target and knocked the ball away.
Three plays in, the Lions knew this was already a team that was pressing and on the ropes. This is new soil for a Green Bay club that has gone 13-3 in both 2020 and 2021. Welcome to how the rest of the league lives. I really think it’s important for them as a team to put all the negative body language behind them, be professional and handle their business. Both good and bad. Like pros, not babies.
The pushback from some will be, “It’s an emotional sport” and “It’s okay to let it out.” I just am a believer that negativity shows a sign of weakness to your opponent and it also can drain your tank if it’s constant.
At any rate, the Packers need to up their body language game. I remember Mike Holmgren’s message to our 1999 Seattle Seahawks team on more than one occasion: Do not let your opponent see that you’re doubting yourself!
Bills’ Offense Showed Signs of Wild Carnival Ride Last 2 Weeks
We thought we had seen the end of the wild and unpredictable actions of Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen after the progress he made during last season and his miraculous playoff game versus the Kansas City Chiefs, but we saw a glimpse of his past with a couple of very bad red zone interceptions that reared their heads over the last couple of weeks.
“It’s tough to win when your quarterback plays like s***,” Allen told reporters after Sunday’s Week 9 loss in New York. “Made some bad decisions tonight. Really cost our team. A lot to learn from. A lot to grow from. That’s not the standard we hold ourselves to. That’s not the ball that we play.”
These are the careless plays that made us all shake our heads during Allen’s first couple of years in the league. I still struggle to shake the memory of that 2020 AFC Wild Card playoff game in Houston when he was running backward, spinning out of control like a drunken carnival worker and I was saying W-T-F. I am surely not seeing regression in his game, but the enormous success that has put him on the edge of his first MVP can take a hit with those crazy, unexplainable interceptions that give away points.
Overconfident? Maybe. Overzealous? Maybe. But not turning the ball over, especially in the red zone is what can make or break a season and a player’s reputation.
My guess is that this message may have come up from the mouth of head coach Sean McDermott in Orchard Park this week, just as a reminder.
I’ve been in those Wednesday morning defensive meetings when your defensive coordinator says “He’s gonna throw us one or two this week so we have to be ready.” If and when you develop this reputation, it’s not a good thing.
Colts’ Chaos Is Hard for Current Staff
I’ve known new Indianapolis Colts head coach Jeff Saturday since he was in college, I was one of the guys who worked him out at his 1998 Pro Day trying to figure out what position was best for him to play in the NFL. None of what I am about to write is a reflection on him, I just feel bad for the many guys who have labored, paid their dues and deserve an opportunity like this. Just my opinion.
The Colts assistant coaches who Saturday will now walk by every day on his way to the big office have got to find a way to set their pride and ego aside to now help educate a guy — in a new and very unfamiliar role — who is the boss and has never spent a day in any of their shoes.
I felt that by naming Saturday his new head coach, Colts owner Jim Irsay sent a bad message to his own building, and really to the game as a whole. It was disrespectful to the people, not to mention those of color, who deserve this opportunity. By naming a person with zero coaching experience above high school, Irsay is suggesting you don’t need the knowledge, perspective or experience with this part of the game/business to be successful. I really struggle with that assessment.
I also thought his reasoning and explanation were poor, to say the least. The introductory press conference that he and GM Chris Ballard (another who I know and respect) was awkward, at best, and was a wandering thought process that had me just shaking my head.
If I could pass out some truth serum, I just wonder what the NFL bosses on Park Avenue in NYC think of this move.