GREEN BAY, Wis. All gas, no brake.A micd up Matt LaFleur famously said that, with an expletive deleted, during a 42-24 rout over the Raiders during the 2019 season. That was LaFleur and Co. doing whatever the hell they wanted in posting a surprise 13-win season.The Packers need to get back to that dominating mind-set. That starts with LaFleur and his coaching staff doing what they want rather than doing what the opponent wants them to do.During Sundays 27-22 lo s in London, Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale took one look at Green Bays running backs, another look at the receivers and decided to put the ball in Aaron Rodgers hands. Thats typically a suicide mi sion. Rodgers is one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history and hes coming off back-to-back MVPs. But life is more difficult without Davante Adams. Rodgers has been inaccurate and mi sing some opportunities, the protection hasnt always been great, and the comfort of knowing Joseph Charlton Jersey that, whatever the situation, No. 17 will get open has disappeared. So, the Giants played single-high something Rodgers practically begged defenses to do a couple weeks ago and focused on stopping Green Bays powerful run game.It worked. The Giants didnt stop Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. Quite the opposite. They combined to average 5.1 yards per carry. Rather, LaFleur and Rodgers stopped Jones and Dillon. It was like a cheesy horror movie in which the victim, fearing for his or her life, decides to hide in the closet. The victim didnt Thomas Fletcher Jersey have to go to the closet; the Packers didnt have to stop running the football.It was a fact LaFleur recognized, albeit after giving away a game that appeared to be won when it was 17-3.When the outcome isnt what you want and Aaron Jones has 13 carries and AJ had six, yeah, its hard to sit up here and justify that to everybody, to our team, LaFleur said on Monday. Weve got to be Im talking to myself more disciplined in our approach in terms of making sure that they get the nece sary touches throughout the course of the game.In a vacuum, its hard to fault LaFleur and Rodgers for their play-calling decisions. Just like water takes the path of least resistance, so does a good play-caller. Extra man in the box? Throw the ball. Extra man in the secondary? Run the football. Its simple stuff. In a game played in the cla sroom, the man with the marker in his hand last wins. But football isnt played in a vacuum or on the markerboard. These arent the Packers of 2020 and 2021, when Rodgers and Adams dominated unlike practically any quarterback-receiver combination in the history of football. These are the 2022 Packers. What they do best is run the football and then dial up play-action off those runs. Thats the bedrock of the LaFleur offense that he brought to Green Bay in 2019. LaFleur needs to step on the gas of his running game, not stomp on the brake.Those chickens came home to roost during the fateful final sequence. Facing (officially) a third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 from the 6, the Packers threw it both times. Were those the right calls? Numerically, yes. But, again, Brandon Zylstra Jersey whats the best path to gain the 2 yards nece sary for a first down? Give it to the running backs, who had gained at least 2 yards on every carry, or throw it?While Martindale dictated the terms against Green Bays offense on Sunday, when was the last time a Packers defensive coordinator did the same?With a sorry history as coordinator in Detroit and Washington in whats the football equivalent of a lifetime ago, Joe Barry was a curious choice by LaFleur to replace Mike Pettine last offseason. Barrys defenses at those previous stops were incredibly short on talent. Thats not the case this year. With Kenny Clark, Rashan Gary, DeVondre Campbell, Jaire Alexander and Adrian Amos, theres a player in every position group whos been a Pro Bowler/All-Pro or has played at that level. There isnt a weak link in the starting lineup, a group that was at full health on Sunday.Scroll to ContinueThere are no excuses to not dominate just about every offense in the NFL, let alone one as poor as the Giants, with their hobbled, below-average quarterback and a receiver depth chart destroyed by injury.But, Barrys defense didnt. It played solid run defense against superstar Saquon Barkley but was terrible in just about every other phase.Player for player, the Packers should be able to line up and beat just about everyone. Now, its a bit more complicated than that but the larger point is accurate. Why not just line up and play and be physical and challenge? Why on earth is Jaire Alexander playing 10 yards off a practice-squad receiver on second-and-19 from just outside of field goal range? Why is Eric Stokes, the fastest guy on the football field most weeks, playing a mile off his man? How are the Packers 21st in the red zone, 22nd in yards allowed per carry, Cameron Erving Jersey 26th in takeaways and 32nd in pa ses defensed?Does Barry need to do more to maximize the units obvious potential?Absolutely, LaFleur said. I think we all have to do more. I have to demand more. I think weve got to coach things better. I think weve got to have better urgency. Quite frankly, we need every guy doing their job on every single play.That starts at the top, with a realization of the teams strengths and the trust and belief that what they do best will be enough to win games. Here is our weekly report card after the Green Bay Packers lost to the New York Giants. Pa sing OffenseAaron Rodgers was 25-of-39 pa sing for 222 yards. His two touchdowns vs. zero interceptions made for an acceptable pa ser rating of 96.3. The reality is the pa sing game is almost entirely dependent on quick flips to the receivers. About two-thirds of his yards came after the catch. Thats nice, but only Randall Cobb broke a tackle. Nine of Rodgers Jermaine Carter Jersey completions were behind the line of scrimmage. On pa ses 10-plus yards downfield, he was 4-of-10. For years, Rodgers has practically begged defensive coordinators to blitz. The Giants blitzed a lot. According to PFF, he was 9-of-17 for 70 yards. At 4.1 yards per attempt, thats just not enough to make a defensive coordinator change his ways.Cobb was the main man with seven receptions for 99 yards on 13 targets. He was the only player to average at least 10 yards per catch. The veteran can still play, to be sure, but is it healthy to have the offense running through a 32-year-old slot receiver? While Romeo Doubs caught only 3-of-5 pa ses for 29 yards, the ball has to go more to the rookie. Hes open. On the bad three-and-out after the Giants tied the score, two receivers collided on first down and Rodgers just mi sed Cobb on second down for what would have moved the chains. There will be other things to focus on this week than the play of right tackle Elgton Jenkins and whether there should be some big switcheroo on the line. Jenk