The Green Bay Packers pulled off a close, 24-21 victory over the Cardinals on Thursday Night Football, after a boneheaded play by Arizona's AJ Green.
The veteran wide receiver had his back turned on a pass from QB Kyler Murray, leaving Packers cornerback Rasul Douglass an easy opportunity to make a game-sealing interception.
With the win, Packers coach Matt LaFleur improved to 33-7 through his first 40 regular-season games — the best mark for any head coach in the Super Bowl era, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. The 41-year-old is currently boasting a regular-season winning percentage of .825.
It would be dumb not to think Aaron Rodgers playing at a superstar level late into his career didn’t contribute to a lot of those wins, but before LaFleur was hired as head coach, the Packers were the definition of mediocrity -- going 6-9-1 the year before his arrival.
The Packers had only won more than 12 games in a season once before LaFleur.
The former Titans and Rams offensive coordinator still has yet to show much success in the playoffs, going 2-2 while reaching the NFC title game in each of his first two seasons.
If LaFleur wants to cement his name as one of the best coaches in the league, he needs to get the Packers to the Super Bowl. Despite his playoff wobbles so far, he is arguably one of the best young, offensive-minded coaches in the league.
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