Here’s Big Takeaway on Packers’ Surprising Defensive Troubles

That’s it.

One of the primary goals of Green Bay’s defense this year was to lead the league in forced fumbles. Through five games, it hasn’t forced any. As logic would dictate, that means it has not recovered a fumble, either.

After Sunday’s game, when Flacco and Ja’Marr Chase helped ring up 18 points on their final four possessions, LaFleur seemed perplexed.

“Yeah, that would be nice, to get a takeaway. There was opportunities out there,” LaFleur said. “I thought that was the difference from really allowing us to put the game out of reach and, credit to them, they did a good job of holding onto the ball and not putting it in harm’s way.”

Regardless of who deserves the credit (or blame), the Packers’ defense is not going to be able to live against some of the better teams in the league without taking the ball away.

When Jeff Hafley was named defensive coordinator last year, cranking up the turnover production was his primary emphasis. The team met on Thursdays to discuss takeaways. It worked, with Green Bay finishing fourth with 31.

Hafley, with the help of former linebackers coach Anthony Campanile, would tell the players that the ball was their lifeline. He’s right. Big plays win games on both sides of the ball. They haven’t come this year – only the winless Jets have forced fewer – but Hafley thinks they have had chances to make those game-changing plays.

“There’s been opportunities. We show them all the opportunities after every game,” Hafley said last week. “There’s been opportunities to have more in each game. Absolutely. And they'll be continuing to have those and we'll continue to work at them, and I'm confident that we will get them.

“Every game, we look at each play. We have a guy get up and he shows this is how many opportunities we had, this is how many we took, this is how many we left on the table, and we're all just very honest with each other.”

One theory is that with the reputation of Green Bay’s pass rush, the cornerbacks need to play closer to the opposing receivers in order to get more opportunities in the quick passing game. Against Chase and Tee Higgins, specifically, last week, that would make sense.

Cornerback Keisean Nixon wasn’t buying it.

“I wasn’t playing them deep,” Nixon said. “We pressed man the whole game. I think we handled it very, very well. I done see him go for 200 (yards) on people. So, that wasn’t the case. We got the win at the end of the day and, s***, that’s what’s the most important part.”

Obviously, there are other ways to make splash plays on the ball.

Green Bay’s pass rush has been affecting the quarterback and offensive game plans, in general. While society has moved beyond seeing sacks as the only way to measure a good pass rusher, there is a line when it comes to that.

Pressure is great. Making the quarterback move off his spot is great.

The reality is that the great players in the NFL are paid big bucks to put the quarterback on his back with the ball in his hand. Through the last two games as the defense has struggled in the second half, the Packers have 35 pressures against Dallas’ Dak Prescott and Cincinnati’s Flacco, according to PFF. They converted those pressures into just two sacks in those games, and one of them was for 0 yards by Parsons against the Cowboys.

It’s not as if Hafley is simply sitting back and playing soft coverage and relying on his front four to win against opposing offensive lines.

Linebackers Quay Walker (nine) and Edgerrin Cooper (eight) blitzed frequently on Sunday, so he’s willing to send pressure. They just have not been getting home enough. In their 17 combined pass-rushing opportunities, they didn’t have so much as a pressure.

The results of the past two games notwithstanding, Green Bay’s defense is still really good. Some of the problems it’s had in the last two second halves likely will work themselves out.

The easiest way to do that? They need some of their players to start finishing on big plays on defense. If they do that, they can be one of the last teams standing at the end of the year.

“You know, I just think we’ve got to continue to work on trying to get a little bit better each and every day,” LaFleur said after Sunday’s game.

“To say that we’re close, who knows? I mean, what is close? So, I know that we can play better, certainly. I think the guys know that there’s a lot of things that we need to clean up, but the bottom line in this league is you’ve got to find a way to win each and every game, and you do it one day at a time, one game at a time, and if you’re focused on anything other than that, you’re focused on the wrong stuff.”