Packers Were Good Without Micah Parsons; Here’s Why They Will Be Again

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On Saturday night, the Green Bay Packers will kick off their closing stretch of games without their closer.

While Micah Parsons suffered a torn ACL last week, the show will go on for the Packers’ defense. That unit was really good last season. It plans on being really good again.

“I think y’all hone in on the Micah sh** more than us,” cornerback Keisean Nixon said on Thursday, two games before a showdown at the Chicago Bears that could determine who wins the NFC North.

The Packers’ defense was exceptional following the blockbuster trade for Parsons. However, it was just as good in 2024. In some regards, it was even better last year. Here’s the tale of the tape:

Packers Defense in 2024 vs. 2025

Points allowed: 2025 – 20.1 (eighth). 2024 – 19.9 (sixth).

Yards allowed per game: 2025 – 294.6 (fifth). 2024 – 314.5 (fifth).

Yards allowed per play: 2025 – 4.78 (fifth). 2024 – 5.16 (fifth).

Third down: 2025 – 39.3 percent (17th). 2024 – 37.5 percent (12th).

Sacks percentage: 2025 – 7.11 (17th). 2024 – 7.96 (10th).

Takeaways per game: 2025 – 0.93 (25th). 2024 – 1.82 (fourth).

The things the Packers did well last season, and continued to do this year, are transferable as it enters the most important games of the season without its most important player.

“I liked the play style,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said. “I liked the fundamentals and technique. I liked how we tackled. I liked how we got off blocks. I liked how we competed. I liked how we ran to the ball. We have good players that made plays.

“Every year’s different, right? We evolved last year and found out who we were. We thought we were going to be something different coming into the season, and we evolved and played really good defense this year, and we’ll continue to do that.”

Party Like It’s 2024

Because of his dominant pass-rushing skill, Parsons was a “game-changer” for the Packers, defensive back Javon Bullard said. But, as he pointed out, the Packers went 11-6 without him last year.

“There really ain’t no replacing that, to be honest with you. You can’t really replace that,” Bullard said. “But what we can do is our job. We not asking anybody to go out there and try to be Micah. What we going to do is we going to go out there, we’re going to do our job and we’re going to do it to the best of our abilities. And we’ve proven that that’s good enough to win a game. So, that’s what we got to do.”

The biggest difference from last year is on the defensive line. Last year’s top three defensive tackles are gone. TJ Slaton signed with the Bengals in free agency, Kenny Clark was traded to Dallas in the Parsons deal and Devonte Wyatt suffered a season-ending ankle injury on Thanksgiving.

Otherwise, the Packers will roll with mostly the same cast of characters that led last year’s powerful defense.

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff is hit by Green Bay Packers linebacker Isaiah McDuffie (58) and safety Xavier McKinney. | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

“Same players, the majority the same,” safety Xavier McKinney said. “We might have lost a couple guys, but it’s really the same group of guys, like the core guys. If you think about it, it’s the same group of guys. So, that’s how I think it carries over. It’s the same people. It’s not like it’s a whole different personnel or different people. It’s all the same people.”

No one player can replace Parsons, so the Packers will need everyone to step up their game. That starts with the defensive ends. Rashan Gary has no sacks in his last eight games and Lukas Van Ness returned last week after missing seven of the previous eight games.

“Obviously, the loss of Micah is devastating and he was a leader on our defensive unit,” Van Ness said. “But, unfortunately, that’s the way this league and it’s next man up. We had a top defense in the NFL last year without Micah, so while we’re missing him and wishing he was out there with us, we got some things planned and feel like we’re going to find a way to operate at a high level without him.

“So, yeah, dusting off the old playbook and getting back into some of the things we worked on throughout training camp and I’m excited to see how it plays out.”

What’s Old Is New

It’s not just dusting off the 2024 playbook. It’s dusting off what would have been the 2025 playbook that Hafley had assembled before Parsons’ arrival.

“You definitely have some inventory and stuff that we’ve worked throughout the course of the offseason into training camp,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “We didn’t get him until right before Week 1, so you’ve got to kind of dust off some stuff and take a look and formulate the best play as you know how. Fortunately, we feel like we have a lot of other very good players that can out there and execute.”

Talented and experienced players. McKinney said the players were smart enough and had enough chemistry to adjust on the fly.

Hafley, for obvious reasons, wasn’t going to spill the beans about those adjustments. What he did say is he’ll build around his remaining talent.

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) throws an incomplete pass as he is tackled by Edgerrin Cooper. | Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“I don’t have a playbook where I say, ‘This is the playbook, this is what we’re running,’ because we have the people in this room. Here’s what I believe my job is to do: Figure out who’s in the room and how to put those players in the best position to succeed and each week figure out the best way to win the game. That’s what I believe is my job to do as the defensive coordinator.

“So, if we had a certain player with a skill-set, I need to figure out how to use it to take advantage of what we need to do to win. Different players, whatever we need to do to win. If that’s new scheme, it’s new scheme. If it’s putting guys in new positions, it’s putting them in new positions. If it’s putting certain guys in position to make more plays, that’s my job and it doesn’t matter how long I have I need to figure it out, and that’s what we’re looking to do.”

That probably will mean expanded roles for McKinney and linebackers Edgerrin Cooper and Quay Walker.

“I think wherever I’m at on the field,” McKinney said, “whether that’s blitzing, whether that’s playing the deep part of the field, whether that’s playing in the box, whether that’s playing man-to-man, I think over my career I’ve shown that I can do all of these things exceptionally well.

“I think any way where I can get involved in the game and be that game-wrecker that I know myself to be, then it makes me happy and it’s fun.”

Before this season, Hafley said replicating last year’s play style would be his biggest challenge. Scheme and talent matters, obviously, but so does running hard to the ball and getting as many tacklers in position as possible. The trade for Parsons only amplified that strength.

“I think our play style’s the same,” Nixon said. “I don’t think we’re playing different. We still play hard, running to the ball, physical. We’ve just got to keep going. … You’ve just got to take what come with this sh** and keep playing ball.”

Gary said the “swagger” built last year will be taken onto the field for Saturday night’s showdown. The Packers had Super Bowl aspirations before the Parsons trade. Nothing has changed.

As Gary said, “Just understanding what’s in front of us, understanding that we’ve still got the pen in our hand. We can still write our story.”

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It takes a village to raise a child.

It will take this village to replace Micah Parsons' impact for the Packers. ⬇️https://t.co/xzKBW85jU2
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) December 17, 2025

Packers Defense in 2024 vs. 2025

Party Like It’s 2024

What’s Old Is New

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