Joe Barry’s Packers Defense Played ‘Very Well’ for 53 Minutes; Really?

After hanging on for dear life to escape Carolina with a victory, Joe Barry's Packers defense must contend with Justin Jefferson and the Vikings on Sunday night.

GREEN BAY Wis. – Even on Christmas Eve, it’s fair to wonder if defensive coordinator Joe Barry would have been allowed on the team plane had his beleaguered unit surrendered a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter at the Carolina Panthers.

OK, so that’s an embellishment of reality. No different than Barry embellished the reality of the defense’s performance in the 33-30 victory over the punchless Panthers.

“We found a way to win the game, thankfully, Barry said.

Found?

When the players returned to the stadium on Wednesday to turn the page for Sunday’s do-or-die showdown at the Minnesota Vikings, this was Barry’s message:

“I thought for 53 minutes, we played very well,” Barry said. “But the last 7 minutes of the game, we give up two crucial third downs, have a couple penalties that hurt us. But I thought up until then, right about that 7-minute mark when it was 30-16, I thought we flew around and played pretty well.”

Indeed, following a three-and-out by Green Bay’s offense, the Packers led 30-16 with 11:38 to play.

Here was the tale of the tape through 48 minutes compared to Carolina’s season averages entering the game.

Points allowed: 16. Season: 14.7.

Total yards: 222. Season: 270.9.

Passing yards (minus sacks): 157. Season: 164.9.

Passer rating: 77.3. Season: 74.1.

That Green Bay allowed more points through three quarters than Carolina had averaged all season isn’t quite the same as playing “very well.” That the Panthers had scored on three of their seven possessions before catching fire in the fourth quarter isn’t quite the definition of playing “very well,” either.

From there, all hell broke loose, with rookie quarterback Young throwing for 155 yards and two touchdowns during the final 11:38.

Barry’s defense looked a lot like that aging, overweight heavyweight fighter, hanging on for dear life on the ropes and hoping he’d be saved by the bell before being knocked out by some tomato can.

And they were. Had the Panthers had 1 more second, they would have had a 49-yard attempt at a field goal to force overtime. Had the game gone to overtime, Green Bay’s hopes for avoiding another upset loss might have rested in the hands of the coin-flip gods.

“(We) talked about consistency last week,” Barry said. “We’ve got to play a 60-minute, complete football game.”

It should have been a glorious and triumphant Christmas Eve for Barry’s defense. Of 30 qualifying quarterbacks entering the game, Young was last in passer rating and yards per attempt and No. 29 in completion and touchdown-to-interception ratio. Young hadn’t reached even the meager total of 200 passing yards since October. The Panthers hadn’t scored a touchdown in two games.

Instead, Young threw for 312 yards and led the Panthers to four touchdowns.

On Sunday against the Vikings, rookie Jaren Hall will be making his second NFL start. A fifth-round pick selected after the Packers drafted Sean Clifford, Hall doesn’t have Young’s arm talent. But he does have the premier receiver tandem of Justin Jefferson and, presumably, Jordan Addison, who returned to practice on Thursday.

The Packers won’t have their premier cornerback, Jaire Alexander. What they will have is an embattled defensive coordinator who, after beating Justin Herbert, Jared Goff and Patrick Mahomes in a phenomenal three-game span, has been trounced by Tommy DeVito, Baker Mayfield and Young.

Having morphed from a conservative zone approach to an attacking, blitzing style and getting the same results, there’s little reason to believe the Packers will truly play “very well” against the Vikings.

“You wish you could put your thumb on it and say ‘God dang it, this is why. Let’s fix it,’” Barry said.

“If you have that magic button, I’ll pay you for it. I’ll give you good money for it.”

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