Packers have “worst tackling performance” in Matt LaFleur era vs. Eagles
By Paul Bretl
The Green Bay Packers were one of the cleanest tackling teams in the NFL last season. This year, however, tackling has been one of many issues on the defensive side of the ball, and it culminated against Philadelphia with the worst tackling performance of Matt LaFleur’s tenure.
Green Bay entered Week 12 as a below-average tackling team, having the ninth most missed tackles in football, according to PFF ($$). And for what it’s worth, their tackling grade wasn’t much better, ranking 19th overall.
But unfortunately, against the run-heavy Eagles, it got worse and resulted in numerous big plays, along with Philadelphia being able to extend several drives as a result of missed tackles. On both designed and off-script plays, Jalen Hurts rushed for 157 yards. Running back Miles Sanders, meanwhile, totaled 143 of his own as the Eagles rushed for a whopping 363 yards as a team at 7.4 yards per attempt.
Following the game, LaFleur told reporters that his staff had counted 15 missed tackles. PFF would credit the Packers with 16. And then, on Monday, LaFleur said after rewatch that over 20 missed tackles were charted.
When asked how his team has gone from one of the most sound tackling teams to one of the worst while having the same defensive coordinator and largely the same personnel, LaFleur kept the answer short and sweet.
"“That’s a hell of a question,” said LaFleur. “This was by far our worst tackling performance that I’ve seen.”"
The linebacking core, in particular, made up of Quay Walker, Krys Barnes, and Isaiah McDuffie, had the most issues with tackling by PFF’s calculations, which explains the high number of explosive run plays. With the Eagles’ ball carriers getting to the second level with ease, when the linebackers missed, there wasn’t much help remaining.
When poor tackling rears its ugly head, there are a few potential culprits. One is the scheme, which has the players out of position, or the defenders simply aren’t making the plays. In the Packers’ case against Philadelphia, LaFleur said that it was the latter, with the Green Bay defenders in the correct position in “most instances.”
"“When you have that many number of missed tackles, you’re putting yourself in a bad situation regardless of what the call is,” said LaFleur. “Obviously, there were some big-time critical plays where we had them in third and long situations. On the first drive of the game, it was third and ten, we had a spy on the quarterback, and he makes us miss and rumbles for a 24-yards. And that happened too many times.”"
Missed tackles were certainly a factor in the Eagles’ ability to put up so many rushing yards, but there were some wide-open running lanes as well. Hurts was rarely contained to the pocket, while Sanders totaled 117 of his 143 yards between the tackles, often getting several yards upfield before being touched. Philadelphia was 8/15 on third downs, which assisted them in running 80 plays to the Packers’ 49 while holding the ball for 11 more minutes.
From Joe Barry, who was slow to deviate from his nickel defense, to the defensive position coaches who haven’t been able correct the same issues that have plagued this team all season, and to the players who were simply bullied by Philadelphia, this was a top to bottom failure by the Packers.