Something has to change when it comes to the Green Bay Packers’ recent performance on defense. As Matt LaFleur said on Sunday, he’s in search of solutions. However, despite the repeated issues experienced by the unit, there won’t be wholesale changes made to the defensive game plan either–that’s just not realistic.
“I think that’s where people do make a lot of mistakes at times,” said Joe Barry on Thursday. “In my opinion, the worst thing you can do is, ‘Oh my god, we’re going to throw everything out and become this.’ There’s been games, there’s been periods where we’ve played very well with all the stuff we’ve been doing. Last week, it was a bad day, and hopefully, we learn from it.
“There’s some things I would love to have back. I’m sure some individual players would say there’s some plays they’d like to have back. There’s definitely some calls I’d like to have back. Some situations that I would maybe approach differently. That’s not the way I’m built. Let’s throw this playbook out and put a new playbook in. That’s just not the way I’m wired.”
Following a performance against New York where Giants’ quarterback Tommy DeVito wasn’t sacked once, threw just four incompletions, and led a game-winning field goal drive with 1:33 left in the game, Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield posted a perfect passer rating. Both players ended up as the NFC Players of the Week following their respective games.
Mayfield and his pass catchers were playing pitch-and-catch all day. If the Packers’ pass rush was unable to get home, there were a lot of easy completions and chunk plays for the Bucs. Mayfield completed 22 of 28 passes, with only two being contested while throwing for 381 yards and four touchdowns. Six of the Bucs’ eight drives would end in points.
“I’m a firm believer everything starts top-down,” Barry said. “So everything starts with me. So when things aren’t proper it’s my job to get it right. Now it is frustrating, you’d think at this point things would be running smoothly, but there’s a lot of things that take place in an NFL football game. There are so many subtle nuances that have to take place on every single play, with all 11 players.
“But that’s part of my title as the coordinator—to get it coordinated. And when it doesn’t go right, it is on me and it’s my job to get it done.”
At the crux of the Packers’ issues in that game were miscommunications, as LaFleur pointed out on Monday. This resulted in players being out of position and big plays for the Tampa Bay passing game. Ask any defender in the locker room and communication has been at the forefront of just about every conversation this week, and improvement in that area begins with Barry, which he acknowledged.
“There were a couple specific issues,” said Barry of the Packers performance on Sunday. “There’s things in a 60-plus (minute) football game. There’s an insane amount of things that take place from a communication standpoint that take place on every play.
“I think the biggest thing is it starts with me. Just getting these guys better, and they’re able to come in and hopefully correct the things that are correctable. Bounced back. Had a great week of practice these last two days. But it always starts with me.”
With only three games left in the season and only days before the Packers take the field against Carolina, from a pure time and implementation perspective, it’s not as if this defense can change its identity overnight and become a Wink Martindale or Brian Flores-style defense.
Come Sunday, this is still going to be the same style of defense we’ve seen for nearly three seasons. Hopefully, situationally, Barry has the players in better positions to be successful and where they can challenge the pass catcher. Hopefully, when there are three receivers to one side of the field there are three defenders to that side as well–something that didn’t always happen against Tampa Bay.
Hopefully, the little things that end up carrying a lot of weight, like communication, for example, are more buttoned up. However, by and large, improved play from this unit begins with simple consistency, according to Barry, rather than massive changes to his philosophy.
“The simplest answer is just consistency,” said Barry. “Some weeks it’s been there. Some weeks it hasn’t. Some periods of games it’s been there. Then a period of the game it doesn’t. So that is Ultimately, and the chair I sit in, that’s the ultimate frustration. I think any coach the thing that he’s always striving for is consistency. The consistency to get that play at the level that you want. You don’t want it to be up and down, and there’s been too much of that.”
LaFleur made the decision early in the week to not make any changes at defensive coordinator, saying that if he thought it was the right move, it’s one he would make. But Barry is well aware that his back is against the wall right now.
There are three games remaining on the Packers schedule, and the plan, as LaFleur put it on Monday, was to have Barry remain his defensive play-caller for each of them. The defense has a prime bounce-back opportunity this week against one of the worst offenses in football in Carolina. However, failing to have that bounce-back performance could expedite what already could be inevitable.
“Yeah,” said Barry when asked if he felt his back was against the wall. “I read what you guys write. I hear what you guys say. But again, that’s the great thing about our league. The great thing about the NFL, it is the top of the top, the best of the best. I think that’s not only an every-year thing but an every-week thing.
“But that’s again when we signed up for this, you know that’s what we are getting into. That’s what I love about this league. That’s the thing I love about the sport. It’s the highest level of competition at every level with every position.”