Can Matt LaFleur And The Green Bay Packers Take Back The NFC North?

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 265 pounds.

Green Bay Packers boss Matt LaFleur is roughly six inches shorter and 100 pounds lighter than Campbell.

If the two were middle school adversaries, it’s safe to say Campbell would have taken LaFleur’s lunch money any time he wanted.

The two are grown men, though, and their battles take place on the hallowed ground of Lambeau Field and the FieldTurf at Ford Field. The problem is Campbell has been taking LaFleur’s lunch money the last 3 ½ years.

And if the Packers hope to deliver on their season of great expectations, that has to change.

Green Bay dominated Detroit for a 16-year window, going 24-8 against Lions between 2005-2021.

In the last seven meetings, though, Campbell’s Lions are 6-1 against LaFleur’s Packers. Detroit has also won three straight games at Lambeau Field while becoming the new bully of the NFC North.

Green Bay hopes to reverse that disturbing trend when it hosts Detroit Sunday at 3:25 p.m.

“They’ve been the standard the last two seasons,” LaFleur said of the Lions, who have won two straight NFC North titles. “And I’ve got a lot of respect for what they’ve been able to accomplish. Got a lot of respect for Dan, what he’s been able to establish, so it’s going to be a great challenge.”

LaFleur, who took over as Green Bay’s coach in 2019, owned the division early in his tenure. The Packers’ dominance of the NFC North is a big reason they reached back-to-back conference championship games in 2019 and 2020 and were the NFC’s No. 1 seed in 2020 and 2021.

LaFleur began his Packer career going 8-0 against the NFC North and was 15-3 in his first three seasons. That helped the Packers win three straight division titles between 2019-2021.

The Packers have lost their grip on the division, though, which is a big reason they have just one playoff win since 2020.

Green Bay is just 8-10 in the NFC North in the last three years. And the Packers’ 1-5 mark in the division last season was their worst since 2005.

Not only have the Lions dominated the Packers in recent years, Minnesota is also 4-2 against Green Bay in the last three seasons.

Thankfully for the Packers, Chicago remains in the division. Even there, though, Green Bay’s 11-game winning streak against the Bears came to an end in Week 18 last season.

“For us, it’s like, just sick. Sick,” Packers right guard Sean Rhyan said after losing to Chicago last season. “Losing to these (expletive) guys … it’s a kick in the gut.”

Losing control of the division was a major reason Green Bay’s last two coaches — Mike Sherman and Mike McCarthy — eventually lost their jobs.

Sherman led the Packers to three straight NFC North titles and went 14-4 in the division from 2002-2004. Green Bay went 1-5 against divisional foes in 2005, though, and Sherman was fired one day after the season ended.

McCarthy’s Packers re-established dominance in the division, winning six NFC North championships during his 12 ¾ seasons as Green Bay’s head coach.

McCarthy’s Packers won the division in 2007, captured four straight NFC North titles from 2011-’14 and won the division again in 2016. But when McCarthy’s teams began slipping in the division, it played a role in his eventual firing.

McCarthy posted an overall record of 53-23-2 against the NFC North (including playoffs), an impressive winning percentage of .692. McCarthy went just 3-6-1 in the division, though, in 2017-’18 and was fired with four games remaining in the 2018 campaign.

LaFleur’s career has followed a similar path, as his teams won 83.3% of their divisional games from 2019-2021 and just 44.4% in the three years since.

“I think it always starts with your division,” LaFleur said. “So it’s not just Detroit.”

Detroit is the gold standard, though. And the Packers would love nothing more than to make an early-season statement by knocking the king from its throne.

“Going against the defending champ is going to be fun,” Green Bay defensive end Rashan Gary said. “It’s a title that we want back. They’ve been dominating in the division the past two years, so it’s a wonderful home opener to set the tone.”

Right tackle Zach Tim agreed.

“It’s huge. To open up against a divisional opponent, especially the one that’s won the division the past couple years, it’s time to make a statement,” Tom said. “If we want to be who we want to be, then these are the games we’ve got to win, so it’s an opportunity for us to make a statement, make a big statement, because they’re obviously a really good team. So yeah, I mean, it’s huge for us.”

And huge for LaFleur, who for the first time in a long time, needs to take some of his lunch money back.