Post-Rodgers, Packers' Matt LaFleur thrives with Jordan Love - ESPN

GREEN BAY, Wis. — At his core, Matt LaFleur is a quarterback.

Maybe not one who many people saw play, unless they were paying attention to NCAA Division II football in the early 2000s or were fans of the Omaha Beef or Billings Outlaws in the early years of the National Indoor Football League.

But that's how the Green Bay Packers coach sees football — through the eyes of a quarterback.

Perhaps that's why LaFleur, as he oversaw the transition from four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers to first-year starter Jordan Love this season, began the only way he knew how.

«It's the same approach we do, I would say, every year,» the fifth-year coach explained as he prepared Love and the Packers for Saturday's NFC divisional round playoff game at the San Francisco 49ers (8:15 p.m. ET, Fox).

Eight months later, that approach not only has Love playing as well as — if not better than — any quarterback in the NFL, but it has also fueled the Packers' late-season run that has them on the verge of doing the once unimaginable: hitting on and developing a third straight franchise quarterback, continuing a run of excellence that dates to Hall of Famer Brett Favre's emergence in 1992.

If anyone thought LaFleur's success in his first three years — which included back-to-back-to-back 13-win seasons and two NFC Championship Game appearances — was simply a ride on Rodgers' coattails, then what he has done with Love this season should dispel that notion.

«That's foolish,» said former NFL MVP quarterback Rich Gannon, who calls games for CBS Sports and SiriusXM NFL Radio. «I just think Matt's done a great job with this kid.»

A vice president of player personnel for another playoff team agreed.

«I mean, the proof is in the work,» he said.

Another longtime NFL