Packers quarterback Jordan Love was pressured relentlessly by the Vikingsâ defense in SundayâÂÂs 39-22 loss, and Matt LaFleur said after watching the film that the pass protection needed to be a lot better.
âÂÂI saw some of the things we have to clean up,â LaFleur said. âÂÂWhatâÂÂs disappointing is, we had a few protection busts that should not and cannot happen. We knew that was the challenge going in. They were gonna give some tough looks. ThatâÂÂs the toughest test youâÂÂre going to face Week 1, to play that defense in that environment. I thought there was some really good stuff, but when your quarterback gets hit 15 times, thatâÂÂs too many times. There are some things we could do schematically that weâÂÂve got to do a better job with and there are some things we have to go out and execute. But we have to have everybody on the same page if we want to give ourselves a chance.âÂÂ
LaFleur also noted that the Packersâ passing game had several explosive plays when they took advantage of the Vikingsâ blitzing. Love finished with 387 passing yards and an impressive average of 18.4 yards per completion, but ultimately the Vikingsâ defense got to Love too often.
âÂÂWe had some great moments when we feasted on it, certainly, but at the end of the game when we needed to make plays, they did what they do,â LaFleur said.
What the Vikings do under defensive coordinator Brian Flores is relentlessly pressure the quarterback, and that happened a lot on Sunday.