Packers Coach Matt LaFleur Explains Decision on Embattled Joe Barry

The Green Bay Packers’ defense was trounced by Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. How will the Packers proceed with defensive coordinator Joe Barry?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Despite giving up the most points and yards in a home game during his three seasons on the job, Joe Barry will remain the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator, coach Matt LaFleur announced on Monday.

“Yeah, that is the plan,” LaFleur said a day after an embarrassing 34-20 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which Baker Mayfield fashioned a perfect 158.3 passer rating.

Why?

“If I thought that [firing Barry] was the best solution today, then we’d make that decision,” he said. “But when you’re having basic communication problems and you’re supposed to be in a certain coverage or a certain rotation and we’re not getting that communication, that’s what’s so disappointing to me is the fact that it was poor communication. And it always starts with us [as coaches].”

It’s the coaches’ job to get the players in the right position and to have them prepared. From that perspective, the problems that plagued the defense on Sunday were viewed as more of an outlier than a regular theme.

“I’ve seen us execute this stuff before,” LaFleur said.

During the five-game stretch in which the Packers went 4-1 by beating the Rams, Chargers, Lions and Chiefs but lost to the Steelers, Green Bay allowed just 17.4 points per game. However, on the heels of having no answers for dual-threat Giants rookie Tommy DeVito, the Packers were “shredded” by Mayfield.

LaFleur didn’t let Barry totally off the hook. As he’s done on more than a few occasions, LaFleur questioned Barry playing too much soft coverage on third-and-short.

“Hopefully, we can learn from that and not make that same mistake twice,” LaFleur said.

LaFleur “absolutely” said he’d take a bigger role in making sure the communication is on point for the final three games as the Packers (6-8) cling to playoff hopes following back-to-back upset losses.

“I’ve got to be more present with those guys in making sure that we’re all on the same page,” LaFleur said. “It obviously starts with our staff making sure all our coaches are in lock step but, if you don’t have all 11 on the same page, it takes one guy and then everything goes to crap after that and you get exposed. Unfortunately, we got exposed in a really bad way yesterday.”

Barry was named defensive coordinator in 2021. During his tenure, the 34 points allowed vs. the Buccaneers is tied for the most in a game at Lambeau Field. The 452 total yards, 353 net passing yards and four touchdown passes were the most.

After back-to-back games of 14-of-29 passing, Mayfield trounced Barry’s defense for 22-of-28 passing for 381 yards. He had almost as many touchdown passes (four) as incompletions (six).

Mayfield had nine completions of 20-plus yards. His 13.61 yards per attempt was the second-highest in the NFL this season, behind only Brock Purdy’s 13.63 vs. Seattle last week.

LaFleur watched the game by himself on Sunday evening and Monday morning and with the staff later on Monday.

“Same thing showed up every time I watched it,” LaFleur said. “What’s disappointing is when you go out there and it’s basic concepts, doesn't matter what phase, but basic install – like Day 1 install – and we have self-inflicted communication errors and guys quite frankly not in the right spot. That’s tough to watch.”

The Buccaneers had nine possessions. They scored on six, fumbled once, punted once and ran out the final 4-plus minutes.

For what it’s worth, the players had Barry’s back.

“There’s a lot of trust in the game plan,” cornerback Eric Stokes said on Monday. “There’s a lot of things we as a defense that we messed up. There’s a lot of little things where we go back on film and a lot of people ain’t lined up right, a lot of people ain’t doing what they’re supposed to be doing.

“There’s a lot of little things that we can blame for ourselves before we blame anything else. You’ve got to look in the mirror at yourself and know you did everything right. If you didn’t do everything right, then you can’t blame anyone else for it.”

The performance by Green Bay’s defense, which entered the game on a league-high streak of nine consecutive games of 24 points or less allowed, was stupefyingly horrendous.

Green Bay hasn’t given up more points in a home game since a 43-37 victory over Atlanta in 2014. It hasn’t allowed more touchdown passes in a home game since the Lions’ Matthew Stafford threw five in a shootout with Matt Flynn in the 2011 finale.

Mayfield’s perfect passer rating was the first by a visiting quarterback at Lambeau Field. Chicago’s Vince Evans was the only other quarterback to post a perfect rating against the Packers, doing it in a 61-7 win at Soldier Field in 1980.

Ultimately, if the problems boil down to communication, why is that a problem after 14 games?

“I’m as dumbfounded as you are right now,” LaFleur said.

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