Covid-19, many injuries, the saga around Aaron Rodgers: the Green Bay Packers have to deal with many problems in 2021. Still, head coach Matt LaFleur has molded the team into a Super Bowl favorite.

Munich – Actually, Matt LaFleur and the players of the Green Bay Packers could sit back and relax on the last NFL game day of the regular season.

The away game against the Detroit Lions in Week 18 is about nothing at all. The hosts have already been eliminated from the play-off race, while “The Pack” has already secured the top spot in the NFC and thus a bye week in the first play-off round.

And yet: The head coach will send his team onto the field in its best line-up. He accepts a possible risk of injury to key players such as quarterback Aaron Rodgers and wide receiver Davante Adams. And not just because both have previously expressed a desire to play.

Rodgers and Adams want to play

So LaFleur told a news conference, staff members of his franchise had studied how other teams that had already clinched the top seed before the last game of the season had fared. The results were clear: if the top players were spared, it had a negative impact on the upcoming playoffs.

“We want to keep the momentum on our side,” LaFleur said, agreeing with playmaker Rodgers, who had made similar comments earlier.

The “Cheeseheads” from Wisconsin are experiencing a very special season with the 2021 season. The team has become the first franchise ever to record 13 wins in three consecutive seasons.

And Head Coach LaFleur has also achieved something unique. He is the first NFL coach in history to achieve 39 wins in his first three seasons; the previous record holder was ex-49ers coach George Seifert, who had 38 wins from 1989 to 1991. With a win against the Lions, LaFleur could even reach victory number 40.

Unvaccinated Rodgers caused trouble

Few would have guessed that the Packers would finish the regular season as the best team in the NFC, just like last season. Too many quarrels determined the daily routine, too many injuries had to be mourned, too often Covid-19 struck. But this did not slow down the success.

In the summer, the epic change saga surrounding quarterback Aaron Rodgers kept the entire league on tenterhooks. For a long time, fans and officials could not be sure whether A-Rod would return to Wisconsin at all.

He did, but a few weeks later the 38-year-old contracted Corona and caused a stir with more than just questionable statements. The fact that the unvaccinated Rodgers had also claimed in the summer that he was “immunised” only made the whole affair worse.

In general, the team was struggling with health issues. Numerous players were absent because of Covid-19, and there were also a number of injuries. Tight end Robert Tonyan tore his cruciate ligament and receiver Randall Cobb had to have surgery. Other players, including key left tackle David Bakhtiari, have yet to play a single game this season.

Injured players return for Green Bay

But now things are getting better. Back in early December, NFL insider Ian Rapoport declared on the “Pat McAfee Show”, “The Packers may be the only team in the NFL healthier in late December than they are in October and November.” It’s an analysis that certainly proved true.

Not only will rookie centre Josh Myers return to action in the game against the Lions, Bakhtiari is also expected to be back on the field for the first time. Cornerback Jaire Alexander and outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith are also expected to return for the playoffs. Pass receiver Cobb should also be available again then.

For Green Bay, the season has been brilliant. After the bitter 3:38 loss in week one against the New Orleans Saints, fans had already expected the worst. However, all the negative fears did not come true.

Aaron Rodgers not only broke more touchdown records, he is once again among the hottest candidates for election this season after his MVP title last year.

LaFleur “Coach of the Year”?

In the shadow of his quarterback superstar, the so successful Head Coach LaFleur almost gets lost next to it. Completely unjustly. The once so shaky defence is much better this season, especially when it comes to forcing turnovers, the 42-year-old seems to have made the right adjustments.

And he has also shown a good eye for solving personnel problems. For example, cornerback Rasul Douglas was signed from the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad in week five – a real stroke of luck. He has already made five interceptions, two of which he carried into the end zone for touchdowns.

All the positive signs do not mean anything, of course. Last season, the Packers had a bye week in the first playoff round and then home field until the Conference Championship Game. There, after a controversial field goal call, they suffered a bitter and narrow defeat against Tom Brady and the eventual Super Bowl winners Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

An experience from which the franchise should have learned, however.