LISTEN: Packers coach Matt LaFleur discusses a tough division and Jordan Love’s growth as a leader

Various NFL Players: Hey, this is Russell Wilson. This is Joe Montana. This is Dak Prescott. Hey, this is Jason Kelce, and you’re listening to Rob Maaddi. Rob Maaddi. Rob Maaddi. Rob Maaddi.

MAADDI: Welcome to the AP’s On Football, I’m Rob Maaddi. Week 3 has some interesting matchups across the NFL. There’s a playoff rematch between the L.A. Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles. That’s in Philly. That’ll be at the Linc. There’s a big Monday night game: the Baltimore Ravens host the Detroit Lions. Our guest this week — Packers coach Matt LaFleur, Green Bay’s off to a 2-0 start. And next week, Micah Parsons returns to Dallas to face the Cowboys. But this week, they can’t look ahead because they’ve got a road trip against the Cleveland Browns.

We’ll start this off with Pro Picks. It’s a tough slate of games. There’s several quarterback injuries. There’s a lot of uncertainty, a lot things that are up in the air. The four pack was 2-2 straight up and 2-2 against the spread last week. On the season overall, we’re 25 and 7 straight up. We’re 18 and 14 against the spread. My best bet, I’m looking at “Sunday Night Football,” Kansas City Chiefs at the New York Giants. Chiefs are a six and a half point favorite. I’m not counting the Chiefs out at 0 and 2. They need to get some key players healthy. Patrick Mahomes, he’s leading the team in rushing. They need somebody else to step up there. Giants offense was impressive last week. Russell Wilson threw for 450 against the Dallas Cowboys. Who said he can’t play football anymore? Giants also have a ferocious front four that can give Mahomes and that Chiefs offensive line some trouble. Dak picked apart their secondary last week. I think Mahomes can get a little bit back on track. I’ve got Kansas City winning this game going away 30-17. Upset specials are 2-0 so far, and this week I’m looking at 0-2 Houston on the road against Jacksonville. They’re a 1-point underdog. Hey, that makes it an upset. The Texans started 0-2 two years ago when coach DeMeco Ryans and QB CJ Stroud were both in their first season together and they ended up winning the division and won the division the next year. So it’s a must-win for them. Liam Coen has the Jaguars playing much better. The Texans just have to be more disciplined. Way too many penalties Monday night against the Buccaneers. I’ve got Houston winning this one, 23-20. All right, let’s go to the Rams at Eagles. It’s a playoff rematch. Philly is a three-and-a-half point favorite. Saquon Barkley ran all over the Rams last year; 460 yards rushing in two games, four touchdowns, three from 70-plus yards and the one that wasn’t — 62 yards. Rams had a shot to eliminate the Eagles though still despite all that in the playoffs, 13 yards away, they could have won that game down 28-22. Eagles keep winning ugly but I think this week it’s time for Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown to get back on track with the Rams maybe focusing a little bit too much on Saquon Barkley. Philly, 27-23. We’ll finish the four pack with “Monday Night Football.” Lions at Ravens. Baltimore’s a five-point favorite. And I think the oddsmakers are disrespecting the Lions just a little bit here. Lions won 15 games last year. Yeah, they lost Week 1 against Green Bay. They bounced back, scored 52 points and wrapped up 500-plus yards. And here’s Baltimore. They started out as a five-and-a-half-point favorite and the injuries knocked it down to five. I thought this would be a little 3, 3.5. And this is one of those games. You’ll hear me say that throughout the season. The line is telling me something here and it’s telling me to take the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson, 33-26.

MAADDI: Packers coach Matt LaFleur has Green Bay off to a 2-0 start. He’s got a 69 and 33 career record in Green Bay. They haven’t had the success that they want in the playoffs. It’s all about winning the Lombardi Trophy in Green Bay, but Micah Parsons has made them a Super Bowl contender.

MAADDI: Hey Matt, thank you for your time. You’ve had a ton of success in Green Bay, three 13-win seasons, playoffs five times, but obviously you know, you know what it’s like in Green Bay, ultimate goal is to hoist the Lombardi. How far are you guys from that?

LAFLEUR: Um, well, that’s a hell of a question. Um, no, I think our guys, you know, we feel like we got a really competitive team, but as you know a lot of things, there’s a lot variables, a lot of factors that got to go your way in order to reach that goal. So my mindset, just like our team is, you know, you got to take it one day at a time and focus on the things that are within your control and, um, you know, just put your best foot forward and try to get a little bit better each and every day.

MAADDI: Most coaches are telling their teams you got to take care of your division, you got to try and get the best seed you can. You guys are obviously in a very difficult, tough division. It’s a tough NFC. How much do you try and emphasize? I know you say it to us all the time, one day at a time, one game at a time, week to week, but that really has to be the mindset, doesn’t it Matt?

LAFLEUR: Yeah, I think because when you look at the totality, especially our schedule, then you got the AFC North that we have to play and the NFC East. If you look at the totality of the schedule, it’s like, holy cow, this is, this is a gauntlet. But when you break it down, you try to live in the moment and truly take it that one day at a time, it looks a lot less daunting, Although we know it’s going to be a grind. But basically, I mean, we’re all, our whole division’s playing those other teams as well. And we know we got a, a tough competitive division. I mean, you mentioned all, all three of those teams have, have certainly gotten, I feel like better every year, I think just, you know, Chicago and Ben Johnson. And then they’ve done a really good job with their roster. And then obviously everybody’s chasing Detroit, what they’ve been able to do the last couple of years. And I mean Minnesota was right there with them right at the end. So, yeah, it’s a competitive schedule, but that’s kind of what you want because if you can get through it and get out on the other side of that you will be battle-tested and it’ll set you up I think hopefully for better success in the postseason.

MAADDI: All the talk always comes down to all the credit or all the blame, the coach and the quarterback. And sometimes it’s unfair. It’s, it’s a team sport. It’s the ultimate team sport, what have you seen from Jordan? And I feel like his health last year was kind of a little bit of a hindrance throughout the season, but what have you seen from him?

LAFLEUR: I think the biggest jump that I’ve seen from him is just, I think he’s definitely just to see the growth from a leadership perspective, which is imperative to, I think, our success. If your quarterback is the guy that is the leader, he’s got, he’s definitely earned the respect of everybody in the locker room by his action and how he treats his teammates. And so he, I, think he has taken that jump as a leader, which should serve us as well.

MAADDI: Different quarterbacks lead in different ways, different coaches lead in different ways. To you, what makes an effective, a great leader?

LAFLEUR: Well, you got to be authentic. You got to be true to yourself. And then I think just your actions obviously have to back up what you’re saying. And then just how consistent you can be. I think there’s the communication. All that is imperative to be a great leader.

MAADDI: You’re all football all the time. Do you have a hobby, like, something that you love to do outside, outside of football?

LAFLEUR: Rob, I’ve kind of gotten into golf a little bit. Now I stink, but it allows me to live by the motto, show me a coach that can golf, I’ll show you a bad coach. But no, I like to hang out with friends, drink some wine, listen to music. I love going down to my lake house in Green Lake and getting on the boat and relaxing. That’s usually where you’ll find the best version of me in the summertime when we get about four weeks off just relaxing in the lake.

MAADDI: Back for some final thoughts. We’re two weeks into the season. There’s 10 teams that are 0-2, and each one of those teams faces a tough road to the playoffs. Not many surprises among the 10, except for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans. Two division winners. In Kansas City, divisions really don’t matter. Division titles, that’s not what it’s about. It’s about winning that fourth Super Bowl ring. It’s Super Bowl or bust and only three teams have ever started 0 and 2 and went on to win the Super Bowl. Since 2020 when playoffs were expanded, only 11.5% of the teams that started 0 and 2 made the playoffs. So I’m hearing a lot of people say this is the end of the Chiefs dynasty. Some of those same people may have said the same thing when the Patriots got destroyed by Kansas City. I believe it was a Monday night game. It was 2014, the Patriots fell to two and two. Remember, that was the on to Cincinnati game? Well, what did the Patriots do? Bill Belichick, Tom Brady got everything back on track. They went on and won the Super Bowl that year. They went on and won a fifth Super Bowl. They went and won a sixth Super Bowl. I’m not saying the Chiefs are gonna do that and win three more Super Bowls, but I’m not ready to proclaim that this dynasty is over or this run of dominance is over. It’s a tough division. Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes have a lot to figure out. They’d be one-and-one if Travis Kelce would have caught that ball in the end zone last week or near the end zone and not dropped it and turned it into an interception. They could have beat the Super Bowl champion Eagles in the rematch. So I believe the Chiefs are far from finished. I’ve got some confidence in Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes.

MAADDI: That’s it for this week. Thank you to coach Matt LaFleur. Thank you for listening to On Football and thanks to Haya Panjwani for producing this episode. Please check out apnews.com for the full Pro Picks, On Football analysis and much more NFL news.

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