As the Green Bay Packers head into their bye week following a 40-40 tie with the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, questions abound after a disappointing effort from their defense. Despite entering the matchup with the league's best defense, having allowed 18 points or less in its first three games, a 40-point outburst from the Cowboys was certainly not expected.
One of the reasons for the poor defensive showing was linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, who continues to underwhelm in his second season in the NFL. According to Brandon Carwile of The Packers Wire (h/t Pro Football Focus), Cooper has missed 10 tackles in the four games so far after missing a combined 13 tackles in 14 games during his rookie season. Peter Bukowski, Co-Founder of The Leap, took it a step further by suggesting Sunday night was Cooper's worst game as a Packer in his eyes, pointing to him being out of control, missing blocks, and his inability to locate the ball.
Edgerrin Cooper Has Not Lived up to Expectations This Season
Cooper had an impressive rookie campaign, in which he proved he can be counted on to make key plays and leave an impact when he is on the field. In 14 games, Cooper recorded 87 total tackles, which was good for sixth on the team, in addition to 3.5 sacks, a team-high 13 tackles for loss, four passes defended, one interception, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. Other than linebacker Quay Walker, who only appeared in 13 games, Cooper put up those numbers in fewer games than most of those ahead of him, so his talent was undeniable coming into the season.
According to PFF, Cooper has taken the sixth-most snaps (270) of 131 qualified LBs this season, and his 28 tackles rank seventh. However, a 73.8 overall grade lands him 34th among qualifying linebackers, which leaves room for improvement considering what he accomplished last season. With that said, free agency acquisition Nate Hobbs, who missed the majority of training camp after having knee surgery, is coming off his worst game after allowing a pair of TDs in coverage against the Cowboys, showing the issue did not entirely fall on Cooper in what was a poor defensive performance all around.
Thanks to continued special teams blunders and the defense's inability to stop QB Dak Prescott and the Dallas offense, the Packers find themselves at 2-1-1 and facing potential playoff implications down the road instead of entering the bye week undefeated, like they should have. With a week off and a favorable matchup against a struggling Cincinnati Bengals team that has only topped 200 yards once this season in Week 6, perhaps that will allow Cooper and this defense to right some wrongs and return to their dominance from the first three weeks of the season.