...
.The ice beneath Joe Barry’s feet seemed to crack after the Philadelphia Eagles steamrolled the Packers for 363 rushing yards, and Green Bay won four straight. He’ll need to bottle up whatever worked and make it stick for a full season.
As Barry said himself this week, “We don’t have time to waste 10 weeks.”
Especially with Iowa edge rusher Lukas Van Ness now entering the equation. It’s true the expectations wouldn’t change in Green Bay if the starting lineup was full of seventh-rounders but the Packers defense is loaded with premium draft capital.
“It starts with me,” Barry said at his press conference. “I have to do better. In order for this group to play better, I have to do better.”
....
Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers boldly (and correctly) made the switch at quarterback. The Jordan Love Era is here. Yet, we cannot forget the expectations bestowed upon this Packers defense one year ago. With this healthy mix of vets and youth, it was fair to expect the defense to join the NFL’s elite. The fact that Green Bay boasted stars at each level — Kenny Clark, De’Vondre Campbell, Jaire Alexander — is why I picked them to win the NFC. Whoops. Instead, it took until December for Barry’s crew to complete the Rubik’s Cube.
The best way to make Love’s life easier as the starter is to get more stops. That makes Barry just as important in Green Bay as Dorsey is in Buffalo. GM Brian Gutekunst made a point to note the team’s heavy investment in the defense after the draft, punctuating with “there are expectations there.”
Barry plainly stated that the Packers were too inconsistent last season.
Week to week, it was hard to tell which Green Bay defense would show up.
The team’s DC didn’t want to say the team “simplified” its scheme down the stretch, choosing the words “always evolving.” Either way, players did seem to play faster in wins over Chicago (28-19), the Los Angeles Rams (24-12), Miami Dolphins (26-20) and Minnesota Vikings (41-17). The less thinking players need to do on the field is often for the best — it’s a fast game played by fast people. Maybe the coordinator did hit his groove. Holding Detroit to 20 points should’ve been enough to win in Week 18, too.
“We evolved last year into what worked for us,” Barry said. “But the key thing is you’ve got to do that early. You’ve got to do that now.”
Barry is right to point out that most games in the NFL are close, that four or five plays typically decide games. After reviewing every play from 2022 with a “fine-toothed comb,” he saw that the Packers struggled in situational football. Miss a tackle on a crucial third and long and, chances are, you’re losing that game.
Dom Capers did plenty of good through his run as Green Bay’s coordinator. His group finished No. 1 in total defense in Year 1 (2009) and won a Super Bowl in Year 2 (2010), yet the Packers never got back to this level his next seven seasons. While it’s unfair to pin the blame on Capers alone — he probably would’ve loved a free-agent signing or two — his scheme obviously didn’t evolve enough to get the Packers over the hump in January.
Thus, Barry’s charge now. To evolve.
Gutekunst drafted him the horses to win and, unlike his mentor, this GM is active in free agency. On paper, it’s another enticing group. Linebacker Quay Walker, last year’s 22nd overall pick, has All-Pro potential. Defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, the 28th pick, improved down the stretch. December was far from murderer’s row but linebacker Isaiah McDuffie was also encouraged by the unit’s surge. He also pointed out the reality that three or four plays are always the difference.
A late bye week helped the Packers refresh.
“No one just wrote the season off,” said McDuffie in our chat earlier this offseason. “Especially our leaders. We rallied together and believed we still had a chance in this thing. It's not over until it's absolutely over.
“We have leaders in every position group. We have leaders who are the voice of the defense. We have leaders who are the voice of the offense. There are so many great personalities. That’s another reason why I feel like we are able to do something late in the season because everyone was able to buy in. Everyone was able to be like, ‘We're not out of this thing. We can get better. We want to get better. We want to make the playoffs.’ Again, we fell short. But I felt like there was a lot of positivity that did come out of the season.”
It doesn’t take many unreasonable if’s to talk yourself into the Packers contending within a wide-open NFC. The young nucleus on offense has been growing together behind the scenes. This quarterback will be executing Matt LaFleur’s offense verbatim — receivers and backs are thrilled to all finally speak the same language. Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon remain one of the best 1-2 punches at running back.
And, hey, how easily we forget the Minnesota Vikings won the division last season.
They’d love to enter this conversation.
...
© 2023 Tyler Dunne
548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104