In Addressing Fatal Flaw, Packers Must ‘Prove It’ Against Bears

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have had a fatal flaw all season, a ticking time bomb that loomed in the background from the moment they traded Kenny Clark to the Cowboys for Micah Parsons.

How would the Packers stop a good rushing attack from running it down their throat at the worst possible time?

Saturday’s wild-card game at the Chicago Bears could be that time. The Bears finished third in the NFL in rushing yards per game and per carry. The Packers played solid run defense for most of the season but rather quietly gave up 150 rushing yards at Chicago in Week 16 before getting destroyed by the Ravens to the tune of 307 yards in Week 17.

Run defense was the obvious choice as NFL.com’s Kevin Patra picked a “fatal flaw” for all 14 playoff teams.

Injuries to Parsons and Devonte Wyatt “have magnified what’s been Green Bay’s biggest weakness for much of the season,” he wrote. “The run defense, particularly up the gut, is soft and able to be exploited. It’s not just Derrick Henry plowing them over for 216 yards in Week 17. It’s been an issue all season. Green Bay has allowed 100-plus rushing yards in eight of its past 10 games. It hasn’t held a team below 89 rush yards since Week 6.”

Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley knows the time for talking is over. Either the Packers will stop the run or they’ll get run out of the playoffs.

“Like most people, I see better than I hear,” he said on Wednesday. “I think we’re going to have to go out and prove it. I thought our young guys did a really good job against the Vikings starters. I think that’s one thing we should kind of acknowledge and give them credit. As a coach this season, we’ve had a lot of good things happen. …

“I think we played the run pretty well for a majority of the year. Obviously, we talked about the Baltimore game. It starts with lining up and doing our jobs consistently, which we failed to do that night, but I’m excited to get another shot at Chicago and do it.”

Run Game Is Strength for Bears

The Bears rushed for 138 yards with a 4.3-yard average at Lambeau Field and 150 yards and a 5.8-yard average in the rematch at Soldier Field.

The Bears have rushed for at least 110 yards in 12 of 17 games. That includes 222 yards against New Orleans, 283 yards against Cincinnati and 281 yards against Philadelphia.

“They have a very explosive run group with (Kyle) Monangai and (D’Andre) Swift, and the quarterback (Caleb Williams), obviously, can run the ball,” Hafley said. “I think their O-line’s really good and they’re one of the best run offenses in the NFL. So, we’re going to have to show it. But I don’t want to talk about it, I want to go do it. And that’s been our whole mentality for the week.”

The Packers, who finished 12th in rushing yards allowed per game and 18th per carry, played solid run defense last week against the Vikings. That was with a bunch of backups playing against Minnesota’s starters and limiting them to 137 yards on 31 carries.

Green Bay Packers defensive end Barryn Sorrell (99) and linebacker Jamon Johnson (48) tackle Vikings running back Jordan Mason. | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

The snaps played by defensive tackles Nazir Stackhouse, an undrafted rookie who had fallen out of the rotation, and Jonathan Ford, a former seventh-round pick by the Packers who was claimed off waivers by the Bears last week, could put them in position to play critical snaps with the season on the line. Both players would add some heft to Green Bay’s slim-and-trim starting duo of Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks.

“One of my most proud moments was watching those young guys get their opportunity against a really good Vikings offense with very talented players and their starters and watching how hard they played and holding those guys to 16 points,” Hafley said.

“Now, we didn’t win, I get it, so it’s not good enough, but to see those players sit in the locker room after the game, we had some guys in tears knowing that they just had an opportunity to play in an NFL game, that was a proud moment – like really cool – moment as a coach. That’s one of the reasons you do this, so I just want to acknowledge and give those guys credit, how hard they worked, how hard our leaders worked to help get them in those positions, and then the way they went out and put it all out there, just a really cool moment and I’m proud of those guys on defense.”

On the other side of the coin, the return of Jordan Love and a healthy Josh Jacobs could put the Packers in position to exploit the Bears’ biggest weakness, so long as they can take care of the football.

Love threw three interceptions in the playoff loss to the Eagles last season and Jacobs had one of two turnovers for the Packers at Chicago in Week 16.

“You look at the Eagles game, I had a couple turnovers in that game,” Love said on Wednesday. “So, I think it just always comes down to taking care of the ball, playing your best as a quarterback and then putting the team in the best position.”

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Run Game Is Strength for Bears

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