The Green Bay Packers rattled off four straight wins after suffering their first loss of the 2019 season on Sept. 26, turning a home defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles into the springboard for a perfect October run.
How the Packers respond to their second loss of 2019 will likely define Matt LaFleur’s first season as coach.
Sunday’s 26-11 defeat to the Chargers in Los Angeles was nothing if not a humbling moment for LaFleur’s team. Some in the locker room called it a wake-up call. Aaron Rodgers described it as a slice of humble pie.
The 60 minutes of football at tiny Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson were entirely one-sided, and only a few red-zone stops from the Packers defense prevented the final scoreline from being one of the most lopsided in the Rodgers era.
Winning every week in the NFL is hard. A talented Chargers team brought their best on Sunday, and when the Packers couldn’t match it at kickoff, a blowout ensued. That’s just life in a league where the margins for error are razor thin.
But life in the NFL is also about responding positively to adversity.
LaFleur has already said several times that the Packers need to hit the reset button, re-focus and get back to work. There’s no time to sulk. The 5-3 Carolina Panthers – and star running back Christian McCaffrey – are coming to Lambeau Field on Sunday.
Within that challenge lies an opportunity.
It’s an opportunity to recalibrate an offense that hit cruising altitude without Davante Adams but struggled upon his return. It’s an opportunity to readjust for defense that is giving up way too many explosive plays. It’s an opportunity to use a negative moment and learn from it, not just for players in all three phases, but also for the coaching staff and everyone involved in the process. More than anything, it’s an opportunity to get to 8-2 going into the bye – which would be a terrific spot for LaFleur’s team going into the final six weeks of the season.
The Packers sure looked vulnerable after both losing to the Eagles and losing Adams in Week 4. A daunting trip to Dallas could have dropped the Packers to 3-2 after five games. Instead, LaFleur’s team locked in and produced an early 31-3 lead before holding on for a huge victory at AT&T Stadium.
The Packers can lean on that experience while working through the kinks and preparing for the Panthers this week.
Sometimes, good teams lose that laser focus that’s required to win. It’s unfortunate, but it happens.
Both LaFleur and Rodgers expressed confidence in the Packers having the right kind of players in the locker room to overcome a bad performance. Sunday’s punking in Los Angeles doesn’t have to be a season-defining, confidence-deflating moment, but it takes a well-coached and a well-connected team to do what’s required to rebound in the right way.
The response Sunday will mean everything to LaFleur’s team. This week sure feels like a fork in the road, with one path leading to a defining moment for a playoff-caliber team and the other sending the Packers into a mini-tailspin entering the bye.
Narratives flip every week in the NFL. The Packers, once ascending, flipped theirs in Los Angeles. They can flip it right back on Sunday.
