Matt LaFleur must put Packers DC Joe Barry on hot seat after 'TNF' failure

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur seems like a nice guy. He seems like a "player's coach" and he's obviously got a pretty good head on his shoulders. You don't boast a 49-21 record as an NFL head coach by luck alone.

With that said, it's time for LaFleur to realize that he made a massive mistake retaining defensive coordinator Joe Barry for this 2023 season. 

Barry — who once infamously was the defensive coordinator for the 0-16 Detroit Lions — underachieved in his position last season by basically all metrics.

With a defense chock-full of first-round talent, he's already seen his unit come out and lay some stinkers this season.

Sure, the defense was integral in Green Bay's comeback win over the New Orleans Saints in Week 3, but they got ran over by the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2 to the tune of 211 rushing yards, and against the Detroit Lions on "Thursday Night Football," they had already given up 185 total yards at the end of the first quarter.

In total, the Packers gave up 401 total yards and 34 points to Detroit. Once again, Barry's run defense was Swiss cheese. Detroit rushed for 211 yards as a team.

For those keeping track, that's now twice in four games that Barry's defensive unit has given up 211 rushing yards to the opponent. This is despite having seven first-round picks playing. Sure, Jaire Alexander didn't suit up against Detroit due to injury, but there's still no excuse for this type of consistent defensive failure.

Ultimately, LaFleur has to look in the mirror, because his job may eventually be on the line as well.

Barry needs to be on the hot seat, Friday morning. As in, he has maybe one or two more games to figure this out. 

History would suggest he won't be able to do it, though.