The Green Bay Packers bend and occasionally break version of defensive football is getting a little old and will probably eventually be the reason the team ends up losing.
That fact isn’t lost on the players, either.
Cornerback Charles Woodson says the defense is playing bad football.
“A lot of bad football,” a somber Woodson said. “I don’t know what it was. Just chalk it up to bad football.”
The Packers are now 31st in the NFL in pass defense. They’re giving up an average of 299 yards a game. Only New England is worse. The Patriots are giving up 314 per game.
On Sunday, the Packers let Philip Rivers throw for 385 yards. Realistically, the only reason Green Bay won the game is because Rivers also threw three interceptions. It’s been a trademark of this year’s team — give up a lot of yards, but come up with timely turnovers.
“We’ve always been a turnover team, and it helps us out. But for guys to consistently put up yards on us like that, we’ve got to go soul searching and get it together,” cornerback Tramon Williams said. “Whether it’s players or coaches, we’ve got to get together and do this. We’re 8-0, but we’re fortunate to be that.”
Unfortunately, the biggest problem doesn’t seem to be something that’s correctable. There’s constantly miscommunication in the secondary and that can be traced directly to Nick Collins’ absence.
The Packers are going to need the defense to win a game at some point this season and right now it doesn’t look like they have a unit capable of doing that.