Matt LaFleur passed the post-Aaron Rodgers test

The 2023 season could have become a referendum on Matt LaFleur. Instead, it showcased his skills as a coach.

For four years, the narrative remained in place.

Aaron Rodgers, the multi-time MVP and Super Bowl winner with a gold jacket awaiting him in Canton, owned the Green Bay Packers' success. Matt LaFleur, the head coach chosen to lead the franchise in 2019, owned their failures.

Few questioned this division of credit and blame, and why should they? Rodgers had put together one of the greatest careers in NFL history before LaFleur called his first play, and quarterbacks drive team success more than any other individual. Even the league's most celebrated coaches have only rarely reached the top of the mountain without the assistance of a top signal-caller. After all, Tom Brady won a championship without Bill Belichick. Belichick delivered just one winning season without Brady, losing his job four years after the separation.

Accordingly, when Rodgers left Green Bay last offseason to join the New York Jets, many assumed the Packers and LaFleur would struggle to recreate the magic of their partnership, and understandably so. The first three years of the Rodgers-LaFleur partnership each resulted in 13 regular-season wins. Two of those years saw the Packers reach the NFC Championship Game. Rodgers in particular enjoyed arguably the finest two-year stretch of his career, winning back-to-back MVPs in 2020 and '21.

Without Rodgers, many reasoned the Packers would have a hard time qualifying for the playoffs.

LaFleur factored into that perspective as well. While generally considered a quality head coach and offensive play-caller, he had never received his due. Most believed that he simply rode Rodgers' coattails to wins, ignoring that the future Hall of Famer hadn't performed close to his capabilities during the final years of the Mike McCarthy era. For LaFleur to get ses fleurs, he would need to prove his mettle without Rodgers' help.