28 Days Until Training Camp: At Least They’re Consistent
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Say one thing about Joe Barry’s Green Bay Packers defense last season: It was consistent.
By the official league rankings, the Packers finished 17th in total defense, a woeful 26th against the run and a sterling sixth against the pass.
A more precise look at the rankings paints a different picture. A picture of consistency. Of consistent underperformance.
In terms of yards per play, the Packers ranked 28th. In yards allowed per rushing attempt, they ranked 28th. In yards allowed per passing attempt – wait for it! – they ranked 28th.
That’s right. A defense that included two first-round picks on the defensive line plus a veteran addition, a first-round pick at outside linebacker plus a proven veteran, a first-round pick at inside linebacker plus a returning All-Pro, two first-round picks at cornerback plus one of the top ballhawks in the league, and a first-round pick at safety plus a reliable veteran, formed the fifth-worst defense in the NFL on a per-play basis vs. the run and pass.
Ultimately, what matters is the scoreboard. Green Bay finished the season ranked 17th in points allowed. It kept that number at a manageable level because it was excellent on third down (eighth) – on those occasions it could get the opponent into third down – and goal-to-go situations (fifth) and intercepted a bunch of passes (fourth).
Unless Jordan Love is Aaron Rodgers 2.0 from the start, the Packers are going to need to be much stronger on defense to avoid getting knocked out of the playoff race early.
Fixing the chronically terrible run defense has to be the starting point. In coach Matt LaFleur’s four seasons, the Packers rank 31st in yards allowed per rushing attempt.
Fixing it starts with a “violent” mentality, defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery said.
“Being violent is a mindset, and the thing about it is guys have to have that mindset they want to be violent,” he said. “When you line up at the line of scrimmage, you have to want to hit the person across from you. You have to want to dominate them. You have to have that will to want to dominate them. I think that’s the mindset we instill in our room. A lot of guys have that mindset already, and it’s just about rolling it over to the field and showing it.”
The Packers couldn't stop Jalen Hurts (Bill Streicher/USA Today Sports Images)
The porous numbers vs. the pass are surprising considering Jaire Alexander is a two-time second-team All-Pro cornerback and Rasul Douglas ranks third in the NFL with nine interceptions in two seasons.
Last season, to get his best players on the field, Barry went with Alexander and Eric Stokes at cornerback and Douglas in the slot. Douglas, with almost no slot experience, predictably struggled.
When training camp opens in 28 days and with Stokes coming back from a season-ending foot injury, Barry will go with Alexander and Douglas at cornerback and Keisean Nixon in the slot. That might be a better fit.
Over the last five games of last season, when Green Bay rallied into the playoff race, the defense ranked 10th in points, 25th in yards per carry and 24th in completion percentage. The saving grace was turnovers, in general (second with 12), and interceptions, in particular (tied for first with nine).
Counting on turnovers is a sure way to playoff disappointment. The Packers simply have to perform better on a play-to-play basis.
“Consistency. I think that was probably the most disappointing thing,” Barry said at the start of OTAs. “You guys have been around me for three years now. I’m not a big rear-view-mirror guy. I want to look forward. I want to look through the windshield at what’s ahead.
“But I think if you do go back and really critique last year, the inconsistencies were the things that really got us. We played well at times. We didn’t play well at times. And that’s what you can’t do in this league.”
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