Matt LaFleur Shows Coaching Greatness By Winning With Malik Willis

Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur hasn’t won The Big One but he’s won big during his five-plus seasons. His work the last two weeks with Malik Willis might be his crowning achievement.

Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur is shown during Sunday's win against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With Sunday’s win over the Tennessee Titans, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur improved his career winning percentage to .674.

That is the 11th-best in NFL history, sandwiched between a pair of legends, Don Shula and Paul Brown. Seven coaches ahead of him on the list are in the Pro Football Hall Fame, including Vince Lombardi, who is third at .738.

Of course, that’s all fluff until LaFleur wins a Lombardi Trophy. That’s the only thing that matters, especially in a city called Titletown. The Packers haven’t won one since 2010, a stretch as eternal as a Green Bay winter.

Nonetheless, let there be no doubt about LaFleur’s ability to coach. After losing Jordan Love to a knee injury in the opener, the Packers were staring at an 0-3 start. Even with the scheduling good fortune of winnable games against the Titans and the Colts, what reason was there to believe that Malik Willis would be capable off coming to the rescue?

After all, when he lined up against the Colts last week, he had been in Green Bay for 18 days. And beyond the lack of familiarity with the scheme and his teammates, Willis hadn’t done anything to show he could be a winning quarterback.

A third-round pick by the Titans in 2022, he lost all three starts as a rookie. He didn’t throw for 100 yards in any game. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass. He didn’t even get over the low bar of a 50.0 passer rating. Most importantly, his team never scored more than 17 points.

Sure, Willis was asked to start games as a rookie – a tall task for any quarterback, let alone one who played his college ball at Liberty. But that one season was enough for the Titans to wash their hands of him. They drafted Will Levis at the top of the second round in 2023, effectively closing the door on Willis’ quarterback-of-the-future opportunity. For good measure, they signed veteran Mason Rudolph in free agency this offseason.

So, the Titans shipped him to Green Bay for a seventh-round pick and a bottle of water to be named later.

Instead of 0-3, the Packers are 2-1 following a 16-10 victory over the Colts and a 30-14 blowout of the Titans in Nashville on Sunday.

LaFleur put together a masterful game plan to beat Indianapolis. Everyone at Lambeau Field knew the Packers were going to run the ball, but it didn’t matter. The Packers did enough in the first half to win the game.

Given the Packers’ success against the Colts, everyone in Nashville knew what was coming, too. However, while the Titans were zigging, LaFleur was zagging.

The first pass was a fake toss to the right and a short pass to the left to Jayden Reed for a gain of 30. Two plays later, Willis went deep to Christian Watson for 30 more. Knowing all eyes would be on Josh Jacobs, LaFleur called for a zone read, with Willis taking the keeper for the touchdown.

On the next drive, Willis took another zone-read keeper for 29 yards to the 2 to set up a field goal.

The Packers essentially wrapped up the game on their first drive of the second half, with LaFleur calling an exquisitely designed screen that Emanuel Wilson took 30 yards for a touchdown.

Willis finished the day 13-of-19 for 202 yards and one touchdown. His passer rating was 120.9.

Here’s what’s stunning. In 2022, of the 49 quarterbacks to start at least three games, Willis’ passer rating was 42.8. That was almost 22 points worse than any other quarterback in the NFL. He was last in completion percentage and yards per attempt, too, and the only player without a touchdown pass.

In 2024, Willis is one of 32 quarterbacks to start at least two games. His 122.7 passer rating trails only Buffalo’s Josh Allen (124.2). He is sixth in completion percentage and touchdown percentage and first in yards per attempt.

Credit Willis, obviously, for putting in the work to get himself incredibly prepared during some incredibly challenging circumstances. Credit LaFleur – and his assistant coaches – for putting Willis in position to succeed.

“I just cannot articulate the job that he’s done in this short period of time,” LaFleur said after Sunday’s win. “People can’t fathom it. I promise you, you guys don’t get it. I know you think you got it, but you don’t get it. What he’s been able to do, I’ve never seen something like this. Hats off to him, hats off to everybody around him, guys rallying, having his back.”

LaFleur hasn’t won The Big One but he’s won big in his five-plus seasons on the job. It’s early, but it appears he made the right moves this offseason by hiring Jeff Hafley to run the defense and Aaron Hill to lead the strength and conditioning staff.

But his work with Willis – with Willis saving the season and resurrecting his career – might be his greatest coaching achievement.

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From Nashville, @JoeyVZ_ has the story on Malik Willis - not the passing and rushing yards from the win at the Titans but the intangibles. ⬇️https://t.co/zbdDi63eUb

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 23, 2024

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