As Usual, Packers’ Defense Gets Run Over In Loss to Falcons

So much for that new and improved Green Bay Packers run defense. That unit, as has been the case for years, was a mere speedbump in the loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – So much for the new wrinkles and new mentality from the Green Bay Packers’ defense.

The Packers lost 25-24 to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Last week’s sharp defensive debut at the Chicago Bears? Fool’s gold by a unit that almost never is the sum of its parts.

While the Packers allowed a manageable number of points thanks to strong play in the red zone, the rest of the numbers were hideous. The Falcons finished with:

- 211 rushing yards, their second-most is more than four years.

- 446 total yards, their most in almost two years.

- 27 first downs, their most in almost three years.

- 36 minutes and 15 seconds of possession time, their most in a non-overtime game in almost three years.

The Falcons’ game plan was no secret. They were going to dial up one zone run after another, with Tyler Allgeier thundering up the middle and Bijan Robinson sprinting around the outside. While Green Bay’s defensive tackles played with power against Allgeier, who averaged 3.0 yards on 16 carries, Joe Barry’s defense had no answers for Robinson’s perimeter runs.

The eighth pick of this year’s draft finished with 124 yards on 19 carries, a robust 6.5-yard average that continually kept young quarterback Desmond Ridder out of must-throw situations. Just about every inch of Robinson’s tally came around the tackles. On some plays, the outside linebackers failed to set an edge. On others, the outside linebackers bounced inside, either expecting another defender to fill the outside gap or blowing the assignment.

However it shook out, Robinson had such a head of steam built up on most of those runs that the first defender, at best, managed a diving tackle attempt.

What happened?

“You guys saw it. They shredded us – consistently,” coach Matt LaFleur, an eight-word sentence perfectly summarizing what had transpired over the previous 3 hours and 13 minutes.

Falcons RB Bijan Robinson had plenty of daylight against the Packers :: Photo by Brett Davis/USA Today Sports Images

The Falcons ran a bunch of outside zone, which is part of Green Bay’s run game, as well, so certainly not unfamiliar to a defense that saw it throughout training camp. There also was a steady diet of read-option runs and pitches. All of that kept the Packers on their heels and allowed Robinson to explode through running lanes and through would-be tackle attempts.

By our live tracking, Robinson gained 85 yards after contact and forced eight missed tackles.

“You’ve got to tackle him,” cornerback Rasul Douglas said. “I think we missed a lot of tackles today. We gave him opportunities to keep running.”

Almost unbelievably, the Packers’ defense was on the field for 78 plays are recorded only one tackle for loss.

The Packers have a veteran defense led by a veteran coordinator. To give up four consecutive scores with the game on the line is inexcusable. Where they are young is at defensive tackle. Rookies Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks, who are the only backups, played a combined 59 snaps. Because the defense couldn’t get off the field and because the offense couldn’t stay on the field, the team’s lone veteran lineman, Kenny Clark, had to play 61.

Douglas didn’t want to hear about the team’s overall youth.

“Hell no,” Douglas said. “Don’t care if you’re 18. This is the standard. You’ve got to play by it. Just got to find a way to win games like that. Those games right there show who you are. It’s one of those games and as a defense we expected to be on us, we’ve got to find a way to get off the grass. They made a few fourth-down conversions and one of them was for a touchdown. Those just can’t happen. We’ve got to find a way to get off the field.”

That starts with stopping the run. The Packers allowed 150-plus rushing yards in eight games last season, third-most in the NFL. During the first four seasons of LaFleur’s tenure, the Packers were 31st in yards allowed per carry.

Improvement – major improvement – was required entering this season.

Through two games, the Packers are 30th against the run (166.5 per game) and 22nd in yards allowed per carry (4.50). Barry must find answers, a dubious proposition considering Green Bay was bad against the run in 2021 and 2022 under Barry and bad under Mike Pettine in 2019 and 2020. Then again, it wasn’t the coordinator who was missing tackles and dropping interceptions.

“What week is this? This is Week 2,” outside linebacker Rashan Gary said. “We got so much football to be played. At the end of the day, we’ve got to be critical of ourselves – all three phases – and come back next week home and show out. That’s it. We’ve just got to put together what we know and play good. That’s it.”

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