Cheesehead
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- Mar 19, 2019
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GREEN BAY – It's not only impressive on its face, it also stands out in the long and storied history of the Green Bay Packers.
As Head Coach Matt LaFleur heads into his 24th game (including playoffs) at the helm, he has yet to post a losing streak. It's a trend he obviously hopes to continue as the Packers travel to Houston coming off their first loss of 2020, a week ago at Tampa Bay.
The absence of consecutive losses might be the most notable thing about LaFleur's tenure thus far, and that's saying something for a coach who came one win from a Super Bowl his first year.
In case anyone thinks this isn't all that remarkable, consider: None of the Packers' successful coaches in the modern era, even Vince Lombardi, went this long at the start of their tenures without a losing streak. In fact, none of them even came close.
Mike McCarthy lost his first two games in 2006. Same for Mike Sherman in 2000 and Mike Holmgren in 1992. They all had losing streaks immediately, and they all also had an additional losing streak before their inaugural seasons ended.
Lombardi? He lost five straight his first year in 1959 after beginning his head coaching career with three consecutive wins.
It's tough not to lose two in a row at some point, and it will happen to LaFleur eventually, maybe as soon as Sunday. Houston's talent belies its 1-5 record. He can't hold off the inevitable in an ultra-competitive, parity-filled league forever.
But he'll keep trying, of course, and the consistency in his approach has produced a track record with a talented team that gives him a chance to keep this going for a while.
LaFleur admits he often sounds like a broken record when he talks about "hitting the reset button" every week, whether his team is coming off a win or a loss. If he's uttered the phrase once, he's uttered it a hundred times to the media through two dozen weeks of game prep as a head coach.
"Definitely consistent," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said of LaFleur's leadership style. "That's what you want. You don't want to ride a rollercoaster of emotions. It doesn't matter who's in front of the room. You want consistent messaging, trusting the process. Obviously, it's worked."