This past weekend brought Green Bay Packers fans two major positive pieces of news. The first is that the waiting to find out about head coach Matt LaFleur’s future is over, as he signed his new contract
extension on Saturday. The second, of course, is that the Chicago Bears lost on Sunday night, as the Los Angeles Rams earned a 20-17 overtime win at Soldier Field.
Let’s address that second point first. Bears quarterback Caleb Williams was his usual Jekyll and Hyde self on Sunday, barely completing 50 percent of his passes. He threw two touchdowns, including yet another bizarre and improbable one to tie the game with less than a minute left, but he also threw three interceptions — including a devastating pick in overtime that led directly to the Rams’ game-winning score.
For Packers fans, the nightmare scenario of the Bears potentially making a Super Bowl run is finally ended, albeit a week later than we would have liked.
A day earlier, Packers president/CEO Ed Policy finished up LaFleur’s contract to keep him in Green Bay for the foreseeable future. It’s a decision that comes in stark relief against news on Monday morning that the Buffalo Bills — who have won at least one playoff game every year since the 2019 season — have fired head coach Sean McDermott. Buffalo got knocked out of the postseason on Saturday in a 33-30 overtime loss in Denver, but the move comes as at least a moderate surprise.
That makes ten teams that have made a change at head coach this offseason, nearly a third of the entire NFL. But notably, the Packers aren’t one of them — they’ll just likely be looking for a new defensive coordinator, with Jeff Hafley appearing to be the front-runner for the Miami Dolphins job.
Here’s what’s going on in and around Green Bay to start the week.
Instant analysis of Matt LaFleur receiving contract extension from Packers | Packers Wire
This is a great breakdown of what this contract extension means, and one of the biggest remaining questions is what changes are coming in terms of the Packers’ assistant coaches.
Instant reaction to Matt LaFleur’s contract extension as Packers coach | Packersnews.com
Meanwhile, here’s a look at how the rest of the NFL world reacted to the news.
Bills fire coach Sean McDermott after 9 seasons | ESPN
I have to admit, I didn’t see this one coming. McDermott has had more sustained and consistent playoff success than LaFleur, and Saturday’s loss in Denver did not seem like a major coaching failure that would lead to a knee-jerk firing. Perhaps there’s something brewing in that organization, though GM Brandon Beane apparently is getting a promotion.
Bears QB Caleb Williams on coming up shy in OT vs. Rams: ‘It’s a frustration’ | NFL.com
He didn’t just come up short — he threw a back-breaking interception with the Bears approaching field goal range with an opportunity to win the game. D.J. Moore could have done more on the play, but it was a bad throw and a bad decision that ultimately cost Chicago a chance at an NFC Championship Game appearance.
Devonte Wyatt has ‘a lot more in the tank’ entering Year 5 | Packers.com
Wyatt will return on his 5th-year option next year after rehabbing his broken ankle, and he feels like he’ll be ready to make a big impact in the fall.
A company allegedly sold cake batter as protein powder | Calf Kicker
This feels like that scene in Mean Girls, but taken to a bigger extent.
