Kyler Murray, Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson. In consecutive weeks, the Green Bay Packers defense held the trio of elite quarterbacks to just one touchdown pass and 34 combined points.
This impressive run of play from Joe Barry’s group has given the Packers defense the look of a championship outfit.
After intercepting Murray in the end zone to secure a win in Arizona and holding Mahomes to just 13 points at Arrowhead Stadium, the Packers pitched a shutout against Wilson and the Seahawks on Sunday at Lambeau Field.
Field Yates of ESPN has the numbers for the Packers defense against the three quarterbacks:
The @Packers defense faced Kyler Murray, Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson over the past three weeks.
Their *combined* stats: 62-of-110 (56.3%), 601 yards, 1 total TD, 4 INT.
That's championship level play.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) November 15, 2021
Sunday’s shutout was the first of the Matt LaFleur era and the Packers’ first since 2018. Green Bay held the Seahawks to 208 total yards and delivered a pair of takeaways, including two interceptions of Wilson in the end zone.
Before the season, most everyone in Green Bay circled this three-game stretch as the ultimate test of Barry’s new defense. The majority of NFL defenses can stand tall against the league’s average quarterbacks, but the Packers playing their best against the best says a lot about this latest version of the defense.
It’s possible a similar stretch of games against top quarterbacks awaits in January. Only the team that can survive against the elite passers in the league over consecutive games in a one-and-done tournament gets to the Super Bowl, and the Packers just proved they have what it takes on defense to run the gauntlet.
The offense still has some things to work out down the stretch. The Packers had only three points deep into the second half on Sunday, even with Aaron Rodgers back under center. But there should be a level of trust in Rodgers, LaFleur and Davante Adams to get things figured out, especially once David Bakhtiari returns and stabilizes the offensive line.
The Packers defense has officially arrived. And guess what? This group doesn’t even have Za’Darius Smith and Jaire Alexander, two All-Pros who could return later in the season.
By the end of Week 10, the Packers will have a top-five scoring defense in the NFL. And they’ve earned it. This might be the best Packers defense since the Super Bowl season of 2010.
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