Jeff Hafley’s Halftime: Sprint, Pee, Coach, Then Dominate

Over the last four games, the Green Bay Packers have allowed just 15 points in the second half. Is it Jeff Hafley’s halftime adjustments? And what exactly happens at halftime?

Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley is shown before their game against the Houston Texans at Lambeau Field. / Mark Hoffman/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers defense coordinated by Jeff Hafley ranks fifth in the NFL in second-half scoring. During their three-game winning streak, they’re second in points allowed after halftime. Since Week 1, only one team has given up fewer touchdowns after halftime.

Those must be some incredible adjustments being made by Hafley.

Actually, not really.

A coach coming into the locker room and making a bunch of game-changing adjustments is more fiction than fact.

There just isn’t time, as Hafley learned quickly.

“It’s crazy,” Hafley said after Thursday’s practice. “The first preseason game, I was getting really detailed with the staff, and then coach, like, we got to go back up(stairs to the coaches’ box). I didn’t even see the players yet. It’s fast. Like, really fast.”

In college, halftime lasts 20 minutes. In the NFL, it lasts 13. 

Not that Hafley spends 13 minutes talking to his players. During home games, he runs the defense from the seventh floor of Lambeau Field, so getting to the locker room requires an elevator and a rather lengthy ride in a golf cart.

“The golf cart drops us off at the elevator,” Hafley said. “We sprint more than I sprint all week, because then I have to sprint into the locker room. You might have to use the bathroom because it’s been a long half, so there goes another period of time. I hate to get this descriptive.”

Yes, before any schematic magic can happen in the locker room, there’s a much-needed pit stop at the urinal.

“Then,” Hafley continued. “you’re sitting in a room talking to the coaches who you’ve been on the headsets talking to the whole game, and then I go up, I draw some stuff on the board, give them one message and, bang, you’re up. It’s the fastest thing in the world.”

Hafley figures he spends a “maximum” of 2 or 3 minutes with the players at halftime.

Hafley’s defense is emerging as one of the better units in the NFL. That’s especially true during the second halves of games.

Through Week 7, the Packers are fifth with 7.0 points allowed per game during the second half. That includes a third-ranked 3.1 points allowed per game in the fourth quarter.

In Week 1, the Eagles scored 17 points in the second half – 14 in the third quarter and three in the fourth quarter.

The past six weeks, the Packers have allowed just three touchdowns in the second half, one by Indianapolis with 1:47 to play in Week 2, one by Tennessee in the third quarter in Week 3 and one by the Rams with 3:30 to go in Week 5.

In their Week 4 loss to the Vikings, the Packers allowed one second-half field goal. During their three-game winning streak, they’re allowing just 4.0 points per game after halftime – the six-point touchdown against the Rams, a field goal against the Cardinals and a field goal against the Texans.

“It’s usually not” dramatic adjustments, safety Xavier McKinney said. “It’s usually a couple small things and we kind of clean it up from there and we talk amongst ourselves, just making sure that we’re ready to go for the second half. But there’s not like a million adjustments. It’s always a few things that we didn’t do right in the first half, we get them corrected and then we’re right back out there.”

Generally, the players talk as the coaches huddle at the start of halftime. Only toward the end – after his mad dash from the coaches’ box and a trip to the bathroom – does Hafley join them to make a few tweaks before making the return trip back upstairs to call the second half.

“Haf will come in there and draw up whatever he needs to draw up, whatever corrections he feels like we need, and then he might adjust a call,” McKinney said. “We might have a call in but then he might adjust it based off of what the defense is doing. And then that’s when we’ll break it down and go back out there.”

Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney (29) intercepts a pass during the third quarter against the Rams. / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

Defensive tackle Kenny Clark also downplayed the notion that coaches come in and make sweeping adjustments that determine the outcome of the game.

“Coach comes in and lets us know what they’re doing and what we need to stop. Guys lock back in and motivate each other and get back on the field and do our thing,” Clark said.

Major adjustments might be needed “if they’re killing us on something crazy (or) there’s a lot of big plays,” Clark said. Otherwise, it’s a matter of fixing an alignment or adjusting personnel.

“We’re still running our game plan and what we’re supposed to do,” he said.

Green Bay’s strong second-half defense was needed last week against the Texans. Green Bay trailed 19-14 at halftime. With Houston getting the ball to start the third quarter, there was a sense of urgency.

“I think the mentality was we needed to get a stop,” McKinney said. “Coming out of halftime, we were down. We just knew we needed to get a stop. Any time we’re down and we know that the other team’s getting the ball back, we’re like, ‘All right, this is a crucial possession.’

“Even beforehand, that last drive [of the first half] that we’re on the field defensively and we know that they’re getting the ball back after halftime, it’s going to be a crucial moment. Obviously, you don’t want them to score and then get the ball back right after half, as well. For us, mentality-wise, knowing that we needed to get a stop, trying to get the ball out however we can, trying to get a pick, trying to make a play, get a turnover on downs, and get off the field.”

The Packers got that stop last week and the offense drove down the field and scored the go-ahead touchdown.

The pressure wasn’t off the defense’s shoulders, though. The game turned into a stalemate for most of the second half, meaning the defense had no room for error. Houston’s first four possessions of the second half ended in punts. Green Bay allowed a total of 35 yards.

That’s the sign of a good defense, especially against a high-quality quarterback such as C.J. Stroud, McKinney said.

“Anytime when you have to get a stop and you can get a stop, no matter the score, you’ve got a good defense,” he said. “Whenever you for sure need a stop in any game and you can get that stop, then you have a good defense.

“Especially in this league, now where we know it’s hard as hell to f***ing get stops and it’s hard as hell to keep teams from scoring the ball. Whenever you can do that when you need it the most, you’ve got a good defense.”

So, why has Green Bay’s defense been so good in the second half? Last year, for instance, it allowed 11.7 points per game in the second half, eighth-most in the league.

Against Houston, the Packers allowed 76 yards after halftime and a late field goal.

Since losing in Week 1 to the Eagles, the Packers during the second half are first in interceptions (five), first in fumbles (six) and second in sacks (14).

“We’re figuring out how guys are attacking us and we’re just making plays,” Clark said. “Whether it’s getting pressure on the quarterback with the blitzes or all the disguises and all that kind of stuff, we’ve just been getting into the flow.

“A lot of times, they come out in their first 15 (plays) and the unscouted looks and they make some plays on that, but once we get to the bread and butter and they hunker in on their scheme and we do, too, we lock in on that and we do what we’ve prepared to do.”

While halftime adjustments are overrated, in-game adjustments are critical. On Sunday in Jacksonville, Hafley will adjust to the plays called by Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor, and Taylor will adjust to the schemes devised by Hafley. It’s an ongoing tug-of-war for schematic supremacy.

“There is no halftime in the NFL,” Hafley said. “You’re adjusting after every single series, and you’re just going and adjusting and you’re going and adjusting. I think it’s one of the benefits that I’m actually in the booth because, in between each series, I’m on the iPad, I’m taking notes.

“How can we set them up on the next third down? What do we need to do different on first or second down? How are they going to attack us? What’s coming up? It’s just constant communication and, all of a sudden, you’re up again.”

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