Packers - 35, Steelers - 25
MATT LAFLEUR: Well, that was the tale of two halves right there. A lot of credit to Pittsburgh for the first half. And I thought our guys, the greatest thing I saw from our guys was I didn't see any panic, they stayed together, and we cleaned up some things that we didn't do in the first half, and just made plays. So I'm really excited for our guys. Now we've got to take it, learn from it, and move on.
Q. How do you, in a nutshell, how do you account for the difference between the first half and the second half?
MATT LAFLEUR: I think when you look at it, there were some penalties on defense in the first half on third down, namely, offensively, it was the same thing, we had three drops on third down. I couldn't tell if the first one was a low ball or not. But all in all, we really played three pretty good quarters. The second quarter was the one that we didn't do a very good job of.
Q. What did you think of -- Love just seemed really hot in the second...
MATT LAFLEUR: He was on fire. That's why I wanted him to keep throwing the football. And our run game has been -- been some good moments, some not so good moments. It's a credit to them. I really thought going into it that's a really tough defense, especially when you look at their front.
So they did some good things. But ultimately, I think there's a lot of things we've got to do a lot better.
Q. Do you feel like you're starting to figure out some things as far as identity or what you do well on offense? Do you feel okay about building the passing game where your tight end is a really, really big part of it?
MATT LAFLEUR: We'd be crazy not to. He was a beast. He was a man possessed. Like you just gotta find ways to get him the ball. And the first touchdown was a called run, where we spit the ball out on the run alert.
The guys, the receivers, I can't say enough about those guys, just the effort that they bring in regards to not only the pass game, which is to be expected, but in the run game, blocking for the backs or blocking for Tuck in that situation. So those guys really stepped up, did a great job.
Q. Watson, he had a lot of juice?
MATT LAFLEUR: He did. Just to get him back in the fold, you could see just -- it's just his ability to do so many different things. He's such an intelligent football player. He's obviously a specimen. It was great to see him get back out there. I know that the journey he's been on, it's been a long road. It was a pretty devastating time when you think back to that game versus Chicago last year, and to lose him, he was such a great team-first oriented guy. Just always goes out there, competes, does his job, and I'm really excited for him.
Q. With the way that (indiscernible) are flying, it was a little a little surprising to see that kick come up short. In retrospect. Is he still a week or two away?
MATT LAFLEUR: We'll reassess, reevaluate, I thought in the second half he certainly went in and did exactly what we needed him to do. He felt good about going into it. He had a good warm-up.
So I think you've got to trust the guy that's had so much proven success over the course of his career. We see him in practice too; he had a good week of practice. Just came up short.
Q. The play before the fourth and one, I think it was third and three, did you know you were probably going to go for it no matter what?
MATT LAFLEUR: Yes.
Q. That's why you --
MATT LAFLEUR: Yes.
Q. Did you feel good about that call, because it was wide open, got the first down?
MATT LAFLEUR: Yes.
Q. What had you seen on film?
MATT LAFLEUR: Part of the game planning process, and I think we're in that bunch set quite a bit. And it's great job by our guys executing.
Q. Seven games with Micah as a Packer, -- seven games with Micah as a Packer. Obviously everybody knows the plays, but is there anything with the extended look at him now that has surprised you about him as a teammate, as a person?
MATT LAFLEUR: I think he's been incredible since the day we've gotten him. It doesn't take long. You sit down with him, he's a really intelligent person, first and foremost.
But then you go out there, watch how he practices, he gives great effort in practice and I think that's why -- he's a freak of nature anyway. But I think guys that do that that are built like that and then they have those habits that they form in practice, you know, it's not surprising to me that he can go out there and have a lot of success in the games.
Q. What's your feeling, the quarterback who replaced the previous guy, to have him go out there and play so well with that guy under center the other way, what does that say about the organization?
MATT LAFLEUR: I think it's great for Jordan. Jordan has worked his butt off to get here. He was patient throughout the process, throughout the journey. And he just took advantage of the opportunity. He really did. And I thought it's been cool -- I've said this many times -- just to watch how he's matured as a young guy coming in here at 21 years old and he's a grown man now. And you see what he does, how he carries himself, he's just so confident. He's a great teammate. He encourages the other guys. He's a hell of a leader and really grown as a football player.
I think that I'm sure going into this game, I'm sure he put a lot on himself. I thought he went out there and he's just so consistent in who he is through the good times and the bad times, and I've seen him -- there's moments where you can sense a frustration from him, but he just keeps going. To be honest with you, I kinda like it when he gets a little pissed off because you don't see it too often.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports