On Wednesday, Matt LaFleur had an exit interview. Besides the discussion about Mike Pettine, the talk about the Packers ‘lacking energy’ against San Francisco 49ers drew some eyeballs. Now, that can be coach speak and things that aren’t exactly accurate. But from a casual observer, it appeared that the Packers seemed down in the dumps after trailing by double-digits. Why did that happen? Let’s try to figure out some reasons why that was the case.

1. Green Bay played scared
You hate to use that term because it sounds bad, but it’s true. Green Bay did not look like they belonged on the same field as the San Francisco 49ers. Green Bay felt like they didn’t belong after the Raheem Mostert touchdown. The J.K. Scott shank, the short snap by Corey Linsley, Tyler Ervin mishandling a ball are all direct correlation of a team that is nervous and unsure what they’re doing here. LaFleur and the coaching staff plus team leaders need to do a better job of getting guys ready for that moment.

2. The “Here we go again” mentality
To this same point, Packers players were much like the fans in thinking this is a repeat of November. They let the ball roll downhill and it could not be saved. It would be too harsh to say that Green Bay gave up but any sort of emotion that the Packers had going into this game was deflated after the scoring from San Francisco. Packers have to do a better job of blocking out that noise and focus on the game at hand.

3. Rookie head coach looks like a rookie
All of this shit is brand new to Matt LaFleur. To expect him to navigate everything perfectly is unrealistic. That’s hard to do as a young coach. If anything, this is a learning for him. This will make LaFleur better as a coach. For whatever it’s worth, Mike Holmgren and Mike McCarthy both had championship game losses before they won the Super Bowl.

4. Aaron Rodgers not wanting to fire his guys up
While it is not Aaron Rodgers’ job to lit a fire under anyone’s ass, that might have helped things on Sunday. Look at Patrick Mahomes on Kansas City’s sideline on Sunday or last week against Houston. Chiefs trailed by double digits in both games, but Mahomes gassed up everyone on the sideline. It is the difference between a young and old quarterback. If Rodgers isn’t going to be that guy, that’s fine, but it needs to be someone else on the roster.

Green Bay will grow from this game and let’s hope the results aren’t the same when they return.

Charlie.