The Green Bay Packers’ pass defense is the weakest link on a team full of weak links.
Just how bad are they? Quite possibly the worst unit in the entire NFL.
Amazingly, the Packers are somehow ranked 23rd in pass defense. Not that that’s a good ranking, but we actually expected them to be much worse. The individual play is more of what stands out, though.
Over the past two games, all of the Packers’ defensive backs have been exposed badly in coverage.
Packers' coverage has been ugly as of late. These numbers (via Next Gen Stats) are, somehow, uglier. pic.twitter.com/xpouJy2g8G
— Nick Shook (@TheNickShook) November 22, 2016
And here’s where it gets even uglier.
#Packers pass defense… Allowing worst yds per attempt (8.61), yards per completion (13.28), TD % (6.7%).. And 31st in QB rating (105.5)
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) November 22, 2016
So what’s the deal here?
The Packers are playing a lot of man coverage. Their corners are getting beat because they’re either not fast enough or they’re looking in the backfield and losing track of their man. The safeties are at times doing the one thing a safety is never supposed to do — let someone get behind them.
The linebackers aren’t without blame here either, but the back end of the Packers’ defense is primarily to blame for this fiasco.
Of the Packers’ cornerbacks, the only one who Pro Football Focus has graded above poor, which is their worst category, is LaDarius Gunter, with a 72.4. Quinten Rollins is graded at 58.0, Micah Hyde at 57.6 and Damarious Randall at 38.3. The injured Demetri Goodson got a 43.2 and even Sam Shields gets only a 38.3. Of course, Shields’ sample size is tiny.
When your supposed best cornerback is doing crap like this, you know you’re in trouble.
Packers' defensive problems include leaving wide open spaces in coverage in multiple games. This ended in a sack, but really, what is this? pic.twitter.com/k0L4I3cNNS
— Nick Shook (@TheNickShook) November 22, 2016
The Packers have been mixing in zone coverage, but they’re getting beat there too, usually because of a stupid mistake or a miscommunication.
We keep hearing people talk about execution. This is one area where there has been little to none.