Defensive Letdowns Have the Packers on Life Support

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Photo by Evan Siegle - packers.com

Packers Lukas Van Ness vs. the Buccaneers - 12/17/23

The Packers' Lukas Van Ness vs. the Buccaneers, December 17, 2023

It is long past time that the Packers moved on from defensive coordinator Joe Barry, who never should have been hired in the first place. Barry, the son-in-law of former NFL coach Rod Marinelli, gained his first defensive coordinator job working for his wife’s father on the 0-16 Lions, one of the worst teams in NFL history sporting one of the worst defenses in NFL history. If not for that ill-gotten promotion, it’s unlikely that anyone would have ever considered Barry for a DC role. He has served as defensive coordinator over the years for the Packers, Commanders, and Lions, never having once coordinated an above-average defense, and embarrassing himself out of town. 

Barry’s defense is a shadow of the famous Vic Fangio scheme, which utilizes a two-safety base look in conjunction with quick, post snap adjustments designed to keep offenses guessing who is rushing and who is in coverage. It is safe to say that the Fangio defense has been figured out at this point, as nearly all branches of the Fangio tree have struggled this year. The defense requires extraordinary versatility from the players themselves as almost anyone can find themselves in pass coverage on any given play.  To run the defense properly, the defense as a whole tends to be lighter, which is why Barry’s teams are often destroyed by power running. 

The other big issue is the trade-off presented in gaining pressure production from a disguised pass rush at the expense of, for example, having Preston Smith or De’Vondre Campbell in coverage on players they are not capable of covering. If the rush gets home, that’s great. If it does not, it is a disaster, as the Packers know very well. They are 1-4 in games where they record one sack or fewer, and that one victory was against a Brett Rypien-led Rams team. 

Most Sacked Quarterback

The Barry defense has been exploited to the fullest extent possible over the past two weeks, with no adjustment from Barry. The Giants were forced to start third string quarterback Tommy DeVito, one of the most sacked quarterbacks in the NFL, and the second most sacked quarterback in college football in his final year at Illinois. DeVito has been sacked at least five times in every game he has started this year, save one, against Green Bay, where he was sacked zero times. The instructions given to DeVito by the Giants coaching staff were clear and simple. He was charged with identifying the obvious mismatch in on the play and throwing immediately to that player. If that read was covered by a late safety shift, he was to check to the running back, or step up and run. DeVito never got to a second read, and so never held the ball long enough to take a sack. 

A smarter defensive coordinator would have realized this and started to press every Giants receiver, forcing DeVito to hold the ball. It’s not as if the Giants’ receivers are particularly threatening, or skilled against man coverage, and the Packers’ best zone corner, Jaire Alexander, hasn’t even played for six weeks. Instead, Barry sat back in a soft zone the entire game, and Devito, using one of the simplest college offensive systems, tore up an NFL defense. 

Against Tampa on Sunday, Barry once again stuck to his defensive guns despite the fact that Bucs’ offensive coordinator Dave Canales clearly had him figured out. The quick read scheme that Devito ran probably would have worked again, but the Bucs did the Giants one better by flexing their running backs out wide. They clearly noticed a tendency of the Packer defense to stay in their base zone and not matchup personnel to those running backs when they moveout of the backfield. The absurd result was Packer cornerbacks routinely covering running back Rachaad White and H-back Ko Kieft while linebacker De’Vondre Campbell was matched up on slot receiver Chris Godwin. 

Four Touchdown Passes

Godwin is, when healthy, one of the best slot receivers in the NFL. Godwin will likely finish 2023 with his fourth 1000-yard season in seven total seasons in the league. He boasts 4.42 speed and elite agility, and routinely wins against the league’s best slot corners. Getting Godwin matched up on a linebacker once during a game would count as a huge schematic victory for an offense. In this game, it happened so frequently that the Bucs had to do little else. Godwin finished with 10 catches for 155 yards, though Baker Mayfield spread his four touchdown passes around to the other Tampa pass-catchers. 

Mayfield finished the game as the first opposing quarterback to post a perfect passer rating in Lambeau Field, an amazing accomplishment given the time scale involved. Mayfield is a perfectly serviceable quarterback, but he has obvious weaknesses that can be exploited, and the rest of the league seems to have no issues exploiting them. He and Devito were named NFC Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks, but both owe a debt of gratitude to Barry for the honor. 

Barry has his excuses of course. He always has his excuses. Rasul Douglas was traded away, Jaire Alexander has been active and injured for six weeks for reasons known only to the team and Jaire Alexander. However, injuries are a fact of NFL life, and they are not an excuse for a veteran linebacker routinely lining up on an elite slot receiver with no matchup checks. They are not an excuse for your well above average pass-rushers not once sacking the NFL’s most sacked quarterback. Moreover, unheralded corners Carrington Valentine and Corey Ballentine have played quite well as individuals stepping in for Alexander and Douglas. Would that they ever started in the correct position. 

The defensive scheme has been an issue for Green Bay since Barry took over, and despite a constant infusion of first round talent, and three years installing the system, it has, if anything, gotten worse. This is not a surprise. Barry has been a failure many times over when charged with running a defense, saved only by the old-boys club all too common on NFL coaching staffs. Matt LaFleur stated in his Monday press conference that Barry will remain the defensive coordinator for the duration of the season. Let us hope the higher draft pick we gain as a result of this decision can help the next DC right some of these wrongs.