At least on paper, the Green Bay Packers’ defense looked like it could be a top unit in the NFL this season.
The secondary, in particular, boasted arguably the best cornerback trio in the game, with Jaire Alexander returning to join Eric Stokes, who had an impressive rookie season, and Rasul Douglas, who has made plays since coming to Green Bay. At safety is the uber-reliable Adrian Amos alongside the high-upside Darnell Savage.
Against the New York Giants, however, the secondary was picked apart by a banged-up Daniel Jones and an underwhelming receiving corps that was battling injuries of its own. The Giants were without Kenny Golladay, Wan’Dale Robinson and Kadarius Toney on Sunday.
While much of the attention was on Saquon Barkley and the run game, and deservedly so, the Packers’ front seven held up well for the most part. Barkley never truly dominated the game out of the backfield, and outside of Barkley’s 40-yard run, he averaged fewer than 3.0 yards per rush on his other 12 attempts.
Credit, however, needs to be given to Jones, offensive coordinator and play-caller Mike Kafka, and the New York receivers. Kafka did a good job of utilizing Jones’ mobility by moving the pocket and utilizing bootlegs as well as play-action, which Jones has been very efficient off of this season.
Jones finished the game with 21 completions on 27 targets for 217 yards at 8.0 yards per attempt – not egregious by any means, but the defense’s inability to come up with a stop led to their demise. Receiver Darius Slayton was Jones’ favorite target, hauling in six receptions on seven targets for 79 yards, including a 26-yard catch and run. Barkley was also left wide open and had a 41-yard reception of his own.
Eric Stokes didn’t have his best game, while as a unit, the Packers’ secondary really struggled with crossing routes, and once again, miscommunication appeared to be an issue, with several pass-catchers running free. New York’s offense finished the game 6-for-10 on third down attempts, excluding their final possession where they took a knee, and had several conversions through the passing game where they were behind the sticks on early downs.
Perhaps switching to more man coverage concepts would help Green Bay with these breakdowns, but I wouldn’t expect anything different based on Barry’s comments following their Week 1 performance against Minnesota. As Barry said, this is a zone coverage team. Not playing so far off as often as the cornerbacks do could be a possible solution as well.
In addition to the poor play, penalties were also an issue for the Packers’ secondary. Rasul Douglas was called for two holding penalties and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as well, with Darnell Savage being called for a holding penalty of his own.
Two of those aforementioned holding penalties – one by Savage and one by Douglas – wiped out sacks by the Packers’ defensive front, with the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty giving the Giants first and goal rather than third and four. Any sort of momentum that the defense was trying to build was wiped out in those instances.
Following a pair of three-and-outs to begin the game, the Packers’ defense allowed five straight scoring drives by New York, which included three touchdowns and two field goals.
On paper, this Green Bay pass defense does look stout, coming into Sunday’s game ranked third in passing yards per game allowed and ninth by DVOA. However, as we can all attest to, the data doesn’t match the eye test, and the numbers are likely buoyed by poor quarterback play.
For a group that was expected to be dominant this season, they need to be better, especially with an offense battling inconsistencies of their own.