Packers’ Run Defense Slammed Back Into Reality by Steelers

The Green Bay Packers were coming off two of the best run-game defending games in memory. On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers ran roughshod.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ suddenly stout run defense turned out to be nothing more than a chunk of fool’s gold in a manure pile.

In a loss to the Minnesota Vikings and a win over the Los Angeles Rams the previous two games, the Packers allowed 130 rushing yards on 57 carries. That 2.28-yard average was literally just inches from being No. 1 in the league during that span.

The Pittsburgh Steelers smacked the Packers right back into reality.

The Steelers rushed 36 times for 205 yards on Sunday, their dominance paving the way for their 23-19 victory.

For Green Bay:

- It has allowed more than 200 rushing yards in a league-worst three games this season. There have been only 15 such games all season.

- The 5.7 yards allowed per rushing attempt was its second-worst performance of the season behind the 5.8-yard average at Denver.

For Pittsburgh:

- It entered the game ranked 24th with 90.5 rushing yards per game and 13th with 3.97 yards per carry but crushed those numbers.

- It had only one 200-yard rushing game since 2016.

- Jaylen Warren rushed for 101 yards; his first career 100-yard game. Najee Harris rushed for a season-high 82 yards. In games with more than six carries, his 5.13-yard average was his best since the 2021 finale.

The Packers trailed 20-19 when the Steelers got the ball at their 34 with 9:24 to play. They needed a stop to get Jordan Love a better chance to win the game. Instead, Warren had runs of 11 and 20 yards as the Steelers drove to a key insurance field goal.

What happened?

“A lot of missed tackles,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “We knew they were going to try to run the football, and they did it better than we did. They went out there and executed better than we did. We had a lot of calls designed to stop the run and they were still gashing us. It certainly wasn’t good enough. You can’t give up almost 200 yards rushing in this league and expect to win football games.”

Steelers RB Najee Harris has plenty of room to rumble against the Packers :: Photo by Philip G. Pavely/USA Today Sports Images

As is the case for most bad teams, this season has been a nonstop process of one step forward and one step backward for Green Bay.

The Packers took that step forward against the Vikings and the Rams. They took a big step backward against the Steelers. So, like a hamster on an exercise wheel, they’re right back to where they began as a team with a lot of high-end talent but lacking high-end performance, consistency and toughness.

Sometimes, Pittsburgh won through the execution of its offensive line creating running lanes. Other times, Pittsburgh won through personnel by running against nickel defenses and light boxes. And other times, the Packers simply lost by missing tackles.

By our count, the Packers missed 10 tackles on running plays. Two of them were on Warren’s 16-yard touchdown in the first half and two more were on Warren’s aforementioned 20-yarder.

“We knew they wanted to run the ball and, at the end of the day, we didn’t do enough,” Clark said. “We got into kind of a flow at the end of the first, second and third quarter but, at the end of the day, we gave up too many yards, quarterback scrambles, letting Najee run around, ‘30’ run away.”

So it’s back to the drawing board for Barry, who laughed last week when asked about the amount of grief he’d taken for his bad run defense – “sometimes well-deserved,” he acknowledged.

On Sunday, the Packers will host do-it-all Chargers running back Austin Ekeler. Then, it’s a Thanksgiving game at the Lions’ David Montgomery, who has topped 100 rushing yards in three of his last four games. After that, it’s a home game against the Chiefs, with Patrick Mahomes’ MVP-level passing balanced by Isiah Pacheco, who ranks 14th in rushing.

Can a unit that ranks 30th in yards allowed per rushing attempt during the LaFleur era play well enough to not allow Sunday’s loss to turn into another four-game losing streak?

“You’ve got to understand,” outside linebacker Rashan Gary said, “every game, we learn, and it’s the steppingstone. So, as long as there’s growth and, like today, we started off slow, but I love how the team fights for four quarters.

“Like I’ve been telling y’all, that’s all everybody is going to get in this league from Green Bay: a 60-minute fight, whatever it takes, and that’s what we showed today. Everything’s not perfect, but everybody’s playing their balls to the wall, and we are going to get everything right eventually.”

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