The Good, Bad and Okay from the Packers first four games

The Bad from the Packers first four games

The run defense

The Packers run defense through four games is giving up 5.0 yards per rush this season, with New England and Chicago, in particular, having big games against Green Bay on the ground. In a moment I’ll touch on how Joe Barry can help this, but the players have to improve as well. Green Bay hasn’t been the best at setting the edge, Rashan Gary mentioned how technique and gap responsibilities have to improve, along with the Packers being better at tackling and shedding blocks. With Barry’s style of defense, this may never be a dominant group, but with their personnel, they can be better.

A lack of defensive adjustments

Joe Barry’s defense, is Joe Barry’s defense. The Packers run a lot of zone in their cover-2 shell and don’t seem too interested in deviating from that. Against Minnesota, Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson picked apart the Packers’ soft zone coverage. Against New England, the Packers continued to play with lighter boxes despite the Patriots often using a sixth offensive lineman and playing with a third string quarterback. Matt LaFleur said recently that he wants this defense to be more physical as well as flexible. 

Turnovers

The Packers have been uncharacteristically sloppy on offense with the ball. After throwing four interceptions all of last season, Rodgers already has three this year. The Packers have also lost four fumbles, and their seven giveaways are the sixth most in the NFL. Fortunately, these miscues haven’t impacted their record, but against better teams they won’t be able to overcome these issues.

Opening drive defense 

Green Bay has allowed an opening drive score each game this season—20 points in total. Now, they have typically settled in after that, but the offense is often playing from behind right away, which is not a recipe for success for a unit that has been wildly inconsistent. The formula for this Packers team is to take an early lead, force the opponent to become one-dimensional, so that their stout pass-rush can get after the quarterback.

Consistency on offense

There are flashes from this group that showcase what could be a good NFL offense. Rodgers is Rodgers, Jones and the run game have been nearly unstoppable, the offensive line is getting healthy, and as I discussed in the “good” category, the receivers are making plays. However, in the midst of those promising moments, the offense can go quite quiet as well. They scored just seven points in Week 1. Green Bay put up only three points in the second half against Chicago, and then were shut out in the second half against Tampa Bay. Most recently, they went into halftime against New England with only seven points. As the competition ramps up, not being able to score for two-plus quarters will result in losses.

Missed tackles

The good news is that the Packers have been better in this area as of late, but missed tackles have been an issue early on this season. Their 20 missed tackles through two games were among the most in the NFL, and those issues have impacted their effectiveness against the run game. Surprisingly, De’Vondre Campbell leads the team with six missed tackles after missing only four all of last season.

Miscommunications in the secondary

For whatever reason, there have been a few too many miscommunications in the Packers secondary, which has led to some big plays. This was particularly obvious against Minnesota and New England. With largely the same group of players back at cornerback and safety, along with this being the second year in Barry’s system, the why behind his is a bit head-scratching. It’s not something I expect to be an issue throughout the season, but it’s been prevalent early on.