GREEN BAY – After Sunday's win in Los Angeles, Head Coach Matt LaFleur used the phrase "feast or famine" to describe the Packers' offense at this stage of the season.
More specifically, if the offense can generate an explosive play, the drive ends in points. If not, it doesn't, and often doesn't go anywhere.
That was regularly the case against the Rams, as on the four different drives the Packers produced a pass play of 16-plus yards, they scored. But on their other six drives, no explosives, no points – though it's worth noting one methodical, scoreless possession in the fourth quarter did take eight minutes off the clock.
Bigger picture, LaFleur suggested Monday that correlation between explosives and points – with the Packers among the league leaders in big plays – could be contributing to more risk-taking on the part of quarterback Jordan Love, which has its own feast-or-famine nature to it.
Certainly one risk Love took early in Sunday's game, on a deep ball to Jayden Reed amidst multiple defenders, worked out for a 53-yard gain and eventual touchdown.
But later in the first half, on the play where Love's attempted throwaway in desperation from the back of his end zone resulted in a pick-six for the Rams, he appeared to be trying to make another big play. Rolling to his right, Love tried to set his feet and looked initially like he wanted to throw deep, back across the field.
That was risky enough in itself. He didn't have the time to try, though, getting hit by a blindside rusher before he could get the ball off. As he was knocked backward, on his way down, he haphazardly flipped the ball trying to avoid the safety and disaster struck.
And therein lies the fine line with always trying to make something happen. Love's first deep ball to Reed was an incredible throw, and an equally amazing catch. But trying to go deep in a tough spot from the back of the end zone led to the stumbling throwaway interception, Love's fifth of the season in three starts.
"The one to J-Reed, I don't recommend that decision, but he threw a hell of a ball and Jayden made a heck of a catch," LaFleur said. "It's one of those things that you're like, 'No, no, no … yes!'
"I just think over time, you've got to be careful with those."
In some ways, the game lent itself to throwing the ball aggressively because the Rams, who came in with the league's worst-ranked run defense and facing the Packers' highly ranked rushing offense, loaded up to stop the run early. LaFleur said they were often bringing a safety up into the box and giving a single-high look, which is an invitation to throw.
So Love did on many early downs, with mixed success. But again, there's a balance between trying to take advantage of what the defense is doing, and pushing the envelope a bit too far.
"We've just got to continue to encourage (him) to take what's there," LaFleur said. "He's always wanted to push the ball down the field, which I respect. One thing we always talk about is sometimes you've got to earn the right to throw it down the field."
With the passing game this week, the hope is the receiving corps will be closer to full strength. There was no update on Christian Watson's ankle injury that forced him to miss the Rams game, but LaFleur said his Monday meeting with suspended receiver Romeo Doubs was "productive" and he expects him back at practice Wednesday.
Doubs was suspended for one game for conduct detrimental to the team after skipping practice on Thursday and Friday last week. LaFleur didn't get into any specifics of the situation, but he called it an "isolated incident" with Doubs and doesn't expect further issues.
One media report indicated Doubs was unhappy with his role in the offense, and while LaFleur didn't address that claim specifically, he spoke generally about the challenges that can arise with deep position groups and how his focus remains on stressing that team success brings about individual success for everyone.
"Everybody has their own goals and aspirations and wants, but you've just got to try to continue to keep it under what's best for our team, and ultimately our job is to win football games," LaFleur said. "We're fortunate we have a lot of players we have a lot of confidence in, specifically on the offensive side of the ball in regards to trying to get everybody involved. It's a good problem to have, but it could potentially be a problem if you let it be.
"I think for the most part our guys have done a really good job of just putting the team first. We're going to continue to stress that, and hopefully they buy into that."
