Green Bay Packers Offense can give Defense the Biggest Boost
By Paul Bretl
There was a three-game stretch earlier this season against Kyler Murray, Patrick Mahomes, and Russell Wilson, where this Green Bay Packers defense looked downright dominant. During these three games, the Packers would allow just 34 total points, 601 passing yards, and they came away with four interceptions.
However, even at their best, the underlying metrics, such as DVOA, were never very high on this Green Bay defense—they currently rank 22nd, which much feels more in line with where this defense is currently at, rather than using total yards as the metric, in which case the Packers rank ninth.
Really since Green Bay played Minnesota back in Week 11, it has felt like this unit has been trending downward. Although the Packers have still been very good at generating pressure and forcing turnovers, they’re allowing 27.2 points per game over their last seven, including four games with 30 or more.
Look no further than the Green Bay Packers offense to provide some help to the defense.
Now with the playoffs right around the corner, many fans are left wondering, how can this Packers defense turn things around? What’s needed to improve the run defense? Why have there been more instances of soft coverage from the secondary? And so on, and so on.
These are all valid questions and areas to certainly improve upon, but when it comes to what can provide the Green Bay defense with the biggest boost in the playoffs, well, it’s actually the offense.
There’s certainly plenty of talent on the defensive end side of the ball and it looks like reinforcements in the form of Za’Darius Smith and Jaire Alexander are on the way. But even when this defense was playing at their best, I don’t believe the expectations were that this group was ever going to be dominant—or at least they shouldn’t have been.
This defense was built to play with a lead. When Green Bay is up by two scores, it limits the opposing offense’s ability to run the football, which is a good thing for the Packer run defense. It also allows this stout pass rush to pin their ears back and if opponents are going to eat up the clock and take 13-plus plays to score with time they don’t have — which is what Joe Barry wants the opposing team to do — then so be it.
With the Green Bay Packers offense consistently starting slowly this season — ranking 25th in average first-quarter points scored — opposing offenses have been able to find an early rhythm, control the clock in that first quarter, and often put the Packers in an early deficit.
Then against Cleveland and Baltimore, we also saw the Green Bay offense get a bit too conservative and they were unable to put both those games away in the second-half when they had the chance. This put all of the pressure on the defense, which again, isn’t how this team is designed to play, but fortunately, they were able to make the crucial stops when needed.
Now, I understand that everything I said sounds great, but it’s obviously much easier said than done—especially against playoff-caliber teams. But as we search for ways that this defensive unit can improve, it’s the offense that can provide them with the most help by finding early success, controlling the clock, and putting teams away when they have the opportunity to.
Over the last seven games, Aaron Rodgers has been on an absolute tear, completing 72 percent of his passes with 20 touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 124.4. The offensive line is also getting healthy, it looks like Randall Cobb is going to be back, and we’ve seen the emergence of Allen Lazard as well. Not to mention that the Packers also have Davante Adams and one of the league’s best running back duos.
Obviously, it helps, but this defense shouldn’t have to be dominant, or even a top-10 unit in order for the Green Bay Packers to win games—that’s the offense’s job and it’s not who this defense is. Although the defense does need to be better than what they have been as of late — I’m not suggesting that we should just accept their recent play — the play of this offense can go a long way in helping them.