Fixing Packers' perennially poor special teams taking on a new urgency

GREEN BAY - Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur thinks there’s a way he can fix his special teams. 

History is against him. 

An organization that has given short shrift to paying special teams coaches or valuing veterans whose primary ability is special teams finished 32nd in Rick Gosselin’s annual rankings under first-year coach Maurice Drayton this year and failed miserably on a night when breaking even would have resulted in the Packers moving on to the championship round. 

If two special teams plays had gone differently in their 13-10 divisional round loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Packers wouldn’t have been packing up and completing their exit interviews Monday. 

Of course, if the offense had shown up, they also might have moved on, but the on-going saga with the Packers’ special teams goes on. And the most recent failure has put Drayton on the hot seat. 

LaFleur said in his season-ending news conference Monday that he hadn’t even begun to review his coaching staff’s performance. He said he spent about six hours meeting with players and getting their take on what happened this season and will address any possible coaching changes later. 

"We’ve got to look at everything,” LaFleur said. “And if we feel like we can improve in certain areas, then we'll make tough decisions.” 

The Packers haven’t placed in the top 10 in Gosselin’s rankings since finishing tied for 7th under Mike Stock in 2007. The highest they’ve ranked since then is 12th under Shawn Slocum in 2011. Over the last four years – one under Drayton, two under Shawn Mennenga and one under Ron Zook – they’ve ranked 32nd, 29th, 26th and 32nd.  

The organization had a chance to hire one of the best special teams coaches in the NFL – Darren Rizzi – in 2019, but it offered him less than what he said he needed to take the Packers job, and he decided they weren’t serious. He signed a four-year deal with New Orleans for the $1.5 million per year he was seeking. 

LaFleur has no control over the front office’s process in providing him with experienced special teams players and kick and punt returners, but he said he would look at every possible means to improve the units. 

“That'll be a big-time priority for us moving forward is to not allow something like this to happen again, because it's really disappointing when our defense goes out there and really dominates for four quarters,” LaFleur said. “And our offense, it certainly wasn't up to our standard. 

“But, I mean, there was, what, four minutes and some change left in that game, and we had the lead?  So, you know, we’ve got to look at everything. And that starts with myself, just making sure that it is a main priority for us.” 

Two special teams gaffes doomed the Packers and a third embarrassed them. 

The first was 49ers safety Jimmie Ward blocking Mason Crosby’s 39-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the first half. Nose tackle Tyler Lancaster, who has been playing one of the wing positions on the protection team, went after the outside rusher and let Ward rush inside him for an easy block. 

“That's exactly what happened,” LaFleur said. “Just critical mistakes at inopportune times.” 

That mistake cost the Packers three points and then they gave up another seven when long snapper Steve Wirtel got trucked by 49ers defensive end Jordan Willis, leaving a wide-open path to punter Corey Bojorquez. Willis blocked the punt and 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga recovered it and ran it in for a touchdown to tie the game at 10-10 with 4 minutes, 41 seconds to go. 

If Wirtel had made a better snap, Bojorquez might have been able to punt away from Willis, but he had to reach for it and punt as quickly as possible. 

“Certainly, it slows down the operation just a tad bit,” LaFleur said. “But I think there was a lot that went wrong on that play, to be honest with you. And again, it's never one individual's fault. We had a body for a body, but he should have gotten some help in that situation.” 

Finally, on 49ers kicker Robbie Gould’s game-winning 45-yard field goal, the Packers only had 10 players in the game on their block team. It’s questionable whether it would have made a difference to have 11, but the Packers won’t ever know. 

“We miscounted up in the (coaches) box,” LaFleur said. “That's the bottom line. I think we saw somebody that wasn’t usually out there that wanted to be out there because he's one of our better players. 

“We pulled him off and then realized, ‘Oh, shoot, we only have 10.’” 

LaFleur said at the very least, the optics were terrible. 

“Would it have made a difference? I don't know,” he said. “Maybe. But it sure looks bad. It's embarrassing. That can’t happen under my watch.” 

Among the changes LaFleur said he’ll explore is using starters on special teams. He said the 49ers did exactly that. But he also noted that’s how running back AJ Dillon fractured a rib, blocking on a kickoff return, and that was a devastating loss for the offense. 

“That's going to be something that I want to do, some studies around the league and see how many teams operate that way,” LaFleur said. “Again, does it have some inherent risks? Absolutely.” 

Broken rib sidelined Dillon

Dillon suffered a fractured rib while playing on kickoff return Saturday and had to leave the game in the third quarter. On Monday, while speaking with the media for a season wrap-up, Dillon said someone’s knee came down on his chest while he was in the pile-up. 

Dillon said the injury won’t affect him long term, it just needs time to heal. Still, it hurt physically and emotionally to watch from the sidelines. 

“It's really tough missing time,” Dillon said. “And especially in a game like that, with that magnitude. And in a game where, you know, I feel like I could help make an impact.” 

Dillon had made an impact before his injury, scoring the only offensive touchdown for the Packers. For that matter, by game’s end, Dillon had scored the only offensive touchdown of the night. 

“The rest of my body feels fine,” Dillon said. “So like, my legs are working, my arms are working. And it's just one of those things. Like if I went out there, one, could have hurt myself some more, and two probably wouldn't have positively impacted the team going back out there. So it's just kind of one of those tough things to, you know, sit on the sidelines and watch.” 

Dillon thought he could return to the game after getting hurt. But after a couple of minutes on the sideline, he asked teammates to “bump” into him to see if he could take a hit. 

“That's kind of when I knew, like, I was just hitting them kind of soft and it was pretty painful. And I was like, if I can't do that, there's no way I'm gonna benefit the team by holding the ball and trying to get tackled.” 

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Center Josh Myers was back in the starting lineup for the playoffs after suffering a knee injury against the Chicago Bears. Myers said he tore his MCL and had a tibial plateau fracture. 

“They ended up doing surgery on both; they did a scope on my MCL and then they put a plate and six screws in my tibia,” Myers said. "I was non-weight bearing for six weeks and just rehab and trying to get my motion back in my knee. And then you know, at a certain point, it started to feel good enough to start to walk. And then it kind of flew from there and I was able to come back.” 

Myers wanted to come back for the home game against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 17, but said he put his knee through too much at practice and needed extra time to recover. But while the knee was a known injury at the time, Myers revealed Monday he also developed an infection after breaking a finger.

"I got an infection in my finger that went into my bone so I had to get IV antibiotics to stop that from spreading all over my body and that was a disaster," Myers said. “I learned a lot about myself this season and just how to battle back but I think I can take those experiences and learn from them and and be better in the field.” 

Hackett makes it to next round with Broncos

Two days after the loss to the 49ers, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was in Denver for a second interview with the Broncos, a source said. 

Several reports have said he’s one of three finalists, joining Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell.  

LaFleur said that he would promote from within to fill Hackett’s position if he gets the Denver job. The two highest-ranking members of the offensive staff are passing game coordinator Luke Getsy and running game coordinator Adam Stenavich. 

“We've got a lot of confidence in the guys that we have on our staff,” he said. “We’ve got so many good guys, and it's not going to be an easy decision, let me just tell you that.”