Matt LaFleur Defends Defensive Game Plan Against Justin Jefferson

In what was Aaron Rodgers and Matt LaFleur's first game in the post Davante Adams era, the Green Bay Packers got smacked on the road against their fiercest rival Minnesota Vikings. The offense looked essentially nonexistent in the 23-7 loss, including two turnovers and four sacks.

Not only was the offense a mess, but Packers fans and insiders questioned the defensive game plan to defend one of the best wide receivers in football, Justin Jefferson.

LaFleur spoke to media on Monday and actually defended his game plan, which prevented lockdown cornerback Jaire Alexander from shadowing Jefferson throughout.

Jaire Alexander Justin Jefferson

It was a zone scheme that kept Alexander from this shadow defense.

Matt LaFleur doubles down on not matching Justin Jefferson with Jaire Alexander: "If you want to change the structure of your defense, you can certainly do that."#Packers are a zone defense. They wanted to play zone. They played zone. They'll probably play zone again.
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) September 12, 2022

Alexander sounded frustrated in his own postgame comments, saying "All week, (I was) asking for that matchup. But it ain't about me. It's about the team. It ain't about me. If it was my way, you know what I would be doing."

Packers News

Either way, the results speak for themselves. Jefferson torched the defense nine catches on 11 targets, tallying 184 yards and two touchdowns.

It doesn't sound like LaFleur will throw out his defensive approach based on one game, but the Packers need to be better prepared when these two sides face off again in Week 17. If it means moving a Pro Bowl cornerback all around the field, then the team should consider whatever it takes.

Even with the loss, the Packers are still primed for a deep postseason run. Green Bay holds +1300 odds (6th) to win Super Bowl LVII on FanDuel Sportsbook.

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Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

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