WHERE’S THE RUN DEFENSE? Loss to Eagles reveals most concerning issue for Pack

The Green Bay Packers have dealt with a lot of problems holding the team back from its full potential this year, but none may be more damaging than the run defense.

Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts just set the single-game rushing record in Eagles history from a quarterback, with 157 rushing yards, while running back Miles Sanders added another 143 on the ground, in route to a 363-yard rushing game from the Eagles.

That should not seem out of the ordinary though, as Green Bay now ranks 31st in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game, giving up 154.8 rushing yards per game. Only the Houston Texans have a worse rushing defense at 168.6 yards.

Over just the last three games, Green Bay is giving up 203.3 yards per game on the ground, which is 32nd in the league and 14 more yards than the Atlanta Falcons.

“To come up short is really disappointing but bottom line is, you can’t allow someone to run for (363) yards against you,” said Packers head coach Matt LaFleur. “I think we were in some situations where we were capable of making some tackles that we didn’t make.”

LaFleur is right. Although it may not seem likely, the Packers are still in the playoff picture. If the team wants to reach the postseason, it can not give up 363 rushing yards.

This was a winnable game for the Packers, but missed tackles may just be the reason that they lost. LaFleur noted that Green Bay missed 15 tackles on Sunday, a number that Pro Football Focus bumped up to 16. Rookie linebacker Quay Walker, who has taken over the play-calling duties on defense, missed four alone. Two other linebackers Isaiah McDuffie and Krys Barnes added another two each, to bring a total of eight missed tackles from the linebacker position.

Reading that, it makes sense why Philadelphia rushed for 363 yards.

“It’s tough to stop anything if you have 15 missed tackles,” said LaFleur. “We have to be better. We have to have a better plan. We have to go out there and execute better. We have to tackle better, because that can’t happen in this league.”

LaFleur’s answer to his impression of the rush defense against Philadelphia makes sense, but should be concerning for Packers fans. Whether it has been the rushing defense, the poor play of the receivers to start the year, or the usage of running back Aaron Jones, LaFleur has answered criticism by saying that the team has to do better. That has not necessarily been the case, as the high point of the season came early, when the team started 3-1.

When the Packers win, it is much easier to mask those deficiencies, but after winning just one out of the team’s past eight games, there shouldn’t be any more “we have to be better.” Whether it be the defensive gameplan, the players, or the coaches, the Packers have not been better this year — the team gave up just 106 yards on the ground per game last year — it has become glaringly obvious that a below-average offense cannot succeed if the defense is giving up 363 rushing yards in a game.

Playing devil’s advocate, the Packers have played a lot of good runners this years: Dalvin Cook (Minnesota), Leonard Fournette (Tampa Bay), Saquon Barkley (New York Giants), Breece Hall (New York Jets), Jamaal Williams (Detroit), Derrick Henry (Tennessee) and the potent rushing attacks of Chicago and Philadelphia. That’s no excuse though, as every team in the NFL plays Pro Bowl running backs on a weekly basis and each team comes up with a different gameplan to stop them.

The gameplan for Green Bay has succeeded in some instances, like against Fournette, but has totally failed in other instances, like against Hall. With Cook, Williams and Chicago still yet to play their second game against Green Bay, there is not much time for LaFleur’s thought of “we have to be better.” It is now time to be better.

It sounds like De’Vondre Campbell is very close to returning, which will undoubtedly improve the rushing defense, but depending on when and how much he plays, it might be too late.

Green Bay has dug itself a major hole, which tends to happen when a team loses five games in a row in the middle of the season. Yes, Rodgers has been playing hurt this year and rookies have had to step up into unfamiliar roles all around the team, but as the old cliche goes, a football game is won in the trenches.

If Green Bay has any last-ditch effort to continue playing after the regular season, the run defense needs to be the strength of this team. Cleaning up missed tackles and Campbell returning will provide positive results and should take pressure off of Walker. It is not too late for the Packers to run the table and sneak into the playoffs with a 9-8 record, but that has to start up front by stopping the run.

lreimer@newmedia-wi.com