FINISHING MOVE: Matt LaFleur HAS to find a passing game to help the Packers close out games
Locked On Packers - Daily Podcast On The Green Bay Packers
September 16, 2026
The Green Bay Packers couldn't run the ball in 2025 and can't so far in 2026, a major factor in their inability to close out games of late. Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love have to find a passing game that can make it work.
Speakers Peter Bukowski, Lily Zhao, Brian Peacock
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Views may not be representative. Check out the app store and Google Play reviews. Learn more at betterment.com/ambassadors. One of the reasons the Green Bay Packers can't close these games is they haven't found a consistent alternative to running the ball, and they can't run it.
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One of the things, and I mentioned at the end of yesterday's show, as I was trying to think about what was going on with the Packers' inability to close these games, because when I think back on the Bears, one of the things that we heard was Matt LaFleur was too conservative. And I never believed that was true.
But what is true is if you go back and look at the plays that worked or almost worked for Green Bay at the end of that game, think of what they were. It's a slot fade to Romeo Dobbs for an explosive that nearly ended the game. If he stays in bounds, it might actually just end the game. You've got a wheel route to Luke Musgrave that I will always contend if that was Tucker Craft, it's a touchdown and none of the shenanigans ever happens and we're not worried about it and the Packers don't blow that game and all that stuff. It's a deep over to Jaden Reed. It's a post to Christian Watson that doesn't get completed, the Jaden Reed drop. Now at that point, you gotta hurry up and you gotta go and you gotta create those explosive plays.
But what the Packers don't have right now, and this is true not just in the fourth quarter and that's part of the problem, is they can't consistently create five to eight yards with their passing game. And one thing that I felt like they could have done more of against the Vikings was actually something that worked a little bit against the Bears, and that was that RPO that scored the touchdown with Matthew Golden. Did we see them run one of those against the Vikings? I don't think we did. We never saw them get Tucker Craft in the screen game, which was something we talked about coming in. We didn't see them manufacture touches for Jaden Reed, that little push pass, some of the orbit motion stuff. We didn't see them get that exotic in the run game. It's outside zone, it's these stretch plays, it's power. It wasn't really anything to write home about. Now the run game struggled. We got this conversation with Adam Senevich. Doesn't seem to be on the same page with Matt LaFleur. Not sure what's going on there. He's contradicted LaFleur a couple of times just in the last week. But apparently they were going to make some potential changes now that they feel like Zach Baccabolele is settled at right tackle. They might give Anthony Belton another shot at right guard, which in that case, like, what the hell? Why did we waste all this time in training camp with that? Just for Anthony Belton to be in insurance policy and you play an inferior player.
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