GREEN BAY, Wisconsin: The Green Bay Packers defence under Joe Barry is flawed in every way, and their loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday was the perfect illustration of this. Barry aimed to curb the impact of future Hall of Fame wide receiver Mike Evans and weaken Tampa Bay’s rush defence. Barry said, “You have to make up for the other things when you go into a game plan like that and you have to deploy of that attention to an elite guy like that.” The first two things we discussed before the game were that we had to play the run and that we couldn’t let No. 13 ruin the game.I thought … we did those two things pretty well. Unfortunately, we did nothing else well.”
Evans was only able to gain 57 yards on four receptions, one of which came for a score of 19 yards. The Bucs’ rushing attack was restricted to 3.3 yards per run over the first fifty-eight minutes of play. Everything else was a complete disaster. After two straight games in which he completed 14 of 29 passes, Baker Mayfield—who wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire—thrashed the Packers by completing 22 of 28 passes for 381 yards. His 13.61 yards per attempt this season was second in the NFL, and he completed four touchdown passes against six incomplete passes. Chris Godwin gained 155 yards after catching 10 receptions. David Moore, a reserve receiver, scored a 52-yard touchdown. Rachaad White, a running back, had a touchdown reception of 26 yards and another of 24 yards. Cade Otton, a tight end, has two catches for 22 yards.
The Bucs’ pass catchers appeared to be waiting in queue at the deli, with their numbers in hand, for their turn to be given a pound of gammon and an exciting play. To be fair, this season’s Green Bay defence hasn’t been that bad in every game, but their impressive wins against the Raiders, Broncos, and Chiefs have been the exception. Under Barry, long-term success is simply one turn away—like a gerbil on a wheel. Near but yet so far away. The Giants outperformed their season averages by almost 10 points and 100 yards. The Giants are currently in bottom place in the NFL in terms of scores and yards, and they are headed for their lowest scoring season since 1977.
If White hadn’t passed up a touchdown in the closing seconds, the Bucs would have tied their season high in both yards and points.
Barry often discusses the need to restrict “explosion” plays. The Packers have allowed the second-most “big plays,” as defined by Sport Radar, which counts passes of 20 yards or more and rushes of more than 10.
In several games, the pass defence has been poor while the run defence has performed well. In other instances, the run defence has performed poorly while the pass defence has performed well. There are coverage breakdowns in certain games. In certain games, the tackling is subpar. It’s always something, which makes sense if you’re not talented or experienced, but the Packers are. It’s been frustrating how inconsistent everything has been. It has existed for certain weeks and not for others. It exists during certain game moments, but not during others, according to Barry. “That’s the ultimate frustration, in the chair that I sit in, ultimately.”
Numerous statistics indicate that the defence has underperformed and is in need of a leadership change. – Even head coach LaFleur chastised Green Bay for playing too much soft coverage on third down, as the team has surrendered an eighth-worst conversion % in the league on passing plays on third-and-1 to third-and-4. Last week, Mayfield completed 4 of 5 passes for 80 yards and 4 first downs. – Despite having the third-longest average required distance in the league (6.2 yards), Green Bay’s defence ranks eighth overall in the league when it comes to third-down plays.
– With a 95.1 opponent passer rating, the Packers rank 26th. This includes Mayfield’s flawless 158.3, which came the week after Tommy DeVito’s 113.9. The Packers have given up 48 completions of 20 yards or more after being dominated by Mayfield for nine completions of more than 20 yards. That ranks seventh in the league for most. Nevertheless, they are also unable to halt the run. With 4.55 yards allowed per carry and 138.8 rushing yards allowed per game, Green Bay ranks 28th and 30th, respectively. No other team has allowed more than 200 running yards in four games than the Packers, and they have allowed at least 140 rushing yards in eight games, which is the worst in the NFL. It’s a never-ending cycle of two strides forward and two steps back for terrible teams.
– The last six games have seen them surrender a 31st-ranked 5.2 yards per rush, following their 2.0 yards per carry against the Vikings and 2.6 yards per carry against the Rams. – Even with five sacks, the Packers allowed 12.6 yards per attempt against the Buccaneers, after spending the most of the season flirting with the top 10 in yards allowed per passing play. They hadn’t been that bad since 1998. They gave up the lowest completion percentage in the league (79.6 percent) and passer rating (146.5) in those two games (Commanders, 75.9 percent and 127.2 rating), by wide margins. – The team’s red-zone touchdown percentage has skyrocketed to 62.5 percent over the last four games after it was only 47.1 percent during the first ten games, a statistic that had been its lifeline.
