Packers’ Defense Has to Finally Live Up to Hype

For too many years, the Green Bay Packers’ defense has failed to live up to expectations. With Jeff Hafley, will this finally be the year?

Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley / Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin /

Stop me if you’ve heard this before.

There’s a buzz in the air surrounding the Green Bay Packers’ defense.

In fact, there hasn’t been this much buzz since … this time last season.

And the season before that.

And the season before that.

You get the point.

The defense has been one of the biggest reasons the team has not been able to raise the Lombardi Trophy since February 2011.

For the last two seasons, the prevailing thought was the defense would be able to shoulder a heavier burden as the offense tried to find its way without Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

That was not the case. Green Bay’s offense did stumble, but the defense was far from dominant. Their points-per-game totals, specifically early in 2023, were largely fraudulent or buoyed by playing bad offenses.

By the end of the 2023 season, the roles had flipped. The offense was scoring points as well as any team in the NFL, while the defense was downright dreadful at times.

Baker Mayfield, Tommy DeVito and Bryce Young enjoyed career days against Joe Barry’s crew.

Cornerback Jaire Alexander’s insubordination late last season, coupled with some bizarre behavior, led to a suspension. After being released, linebacker De’Vondre Campbell posted his criticism of Barry’s scheme on X.

Couple issues in the locker room with some historically poor performances, such as Mayfield’s perfect passer rating at Lambeau Field, and Barry was dismissed at the end of the season.

As is usually the case after a breakup, the new boss, Jeff Hafley has been received with rave reviews.

The prevailing thought from optimists is that Hafley will be able to get the most out of some talented players that Barry and other defensive coordinators before him failed to accomplish.

Famously, the Packers have used a vast majority of their first-round picks since 2010 on defense.

That investment has not been met with the necessary results on the field.

Despite past failures, each offseason is met with a newfound optimism that this is the year that Green Bay’s defense will be able to complement a championship-level quarterback.

For years, that was Rodgers. Now, it’s Jordan Love.

Love and his offense proved their mettle after a clunky start to his initial campaign as the team’s starting quarterback.

After Barry’s dismissal, the Packers believe the talent is there to build a championship-worthy defense around an ascending offense.

“You see it across the board, we’ve got a bunch of athletes on the field who like to make plays and can make plays,” Alexander said at the team’s OTA in May. “I think this is going to work really well.”

That sentiment was echoed by fellow cornerback, Eric Stokes.

"It’s always a work in progress, but I love Hafley’s scheme and everything he has going on," Stokes said. "It’s pretty much how I used to play at UGA. It’s a lot of press-man. It’s a lot of opening it up. It’s a lot of small little things but similar to how we ran things at UGA. So, I love it."

Perhaps that style will be more fitting to the Packers’ defensive backs than Barry’s scheme, which largely consisted of zone coverage designed to limit big plays.

The reality is that whether it’s been scheme, players or some combination of the two, the only thing that has been great out of the Packers’ defensive room has been its words.

That side of the ball often has talked about how it was ready to help shoulder the load for the offense, but that rarely has been the case.

There are a few exceptions over the years but usually, if the team has been eliminated, it’s been the defense carrying a majority of the blame for the team’s early exit.

The one time the Packers did have a top-tier defense with Rodgers at the helm, they won the Super Bowl.

They may not need their defense to finish at the top of the NFL, but coach Matt LaFleur wants more from that side of the ball.

That is, more results on the field, and less words stating what they could be. 

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