Following the Packers 13-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday evening, Head Coach Matt LaFleur said, “this one falls on me squarely.”
LaFleur could not be more correct in his assessment. What some passed off as a coach simply protecting young quarterback Jordan Love after his first career start, I took as gospel.
The best friend of any quarterback is a strong defense and solid run game. On Sunday, the Packers defense allowed the potent Chiefs offense into the end zone just once while averaging just under 5 yards per carry on the ground.
A job well done.
What is striking to me is the lack of balance.
Love was blitzed on over half of his 40 drop backs with minimal success. Those 40 drop backs are double the 20 combined carries for running backs AJ Dillon (5.8 ypc) and Aaron Jones (4.4 ypc).
LaFleur’s too-little-too-late adjustments to the Chiefs defensive scheme is head-scratching. More criminal is how he backed off the run game.
The most successful component of the Packers offense Sunday afternoon was the least used.
