The biggest news from Green Bay this off-season has had to do with the team’s offense — particularly the lengthy holdout of quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Finally, Rodgers decided to come to training camp, although the team let him out of his contract a year early. In the off-season, though, the team also made some improvements on defense, in the hope that, finally, the team can get some key stops in the playoffs.
For those who plan to include Green Bay in their online NFL betting this fall, let’s take a closer look at their defense.
NFL News: Green Bay Packers Defense In-Depth Analysis
In 2020, the Packers’ season came to an end in the NFC Championship for the second consecutive year. The team had been humiliated in San Francisco in the previous NFC Championship, as they simply had no answer for the 49ers’ ground game and got run out of Levi’s Stadium. Last season, though, their loss to Tampa Bay was much closer. In fact, a coaching decision to kick a field goal late in a game when the team was inside the 10-yard line and would have taken a lead with a touchdown may have kept the Packers out of the Super Bowl more than their defense. However, their defense could not get a stop on the Buccaneers’ last drive and got called for a pass interference penalty that kept Tom Brady on the field.
In the off-season, the Packers made an interesting decision to get rid of defensive coordinator Mike Pettine. His replacement is Joe Barry, who has never had a defense ranked over #28 in a 32-team league. The D-line has some issues; even though nose tackle Kenny Clark is elite, he suffered injuries in 2020. Kingsley Keke is an interesting talent up front, but other than those two, the line is average at best.
The edge rushers saw their statistics tumble in 2020. Preston Smith had 12 sacks in 2019 but just four last year, and his quarterback pressures dropped from 55 in 2019 to 26 in 2020. Za’Darius Smith’s pressures dropped from 93 in 2019 to 51 in 2020. Both of those players need to get back to 2019 form for the Packers to contend. The team added De’Vondre Campbell via free agency and hope that Rashan Gary, coming into his second season, can make a difference here as well.
At linebacker, the Packers added Kamal Martin and Krys Barnes via free agency and drafted Isaiah McDuffie; the hope is that the additions will bring more speed to the second level of the Packers’ defense. In the secondary, cornerback Jaire Alexander went to a Pro Bowl for the first time. Kevin King is back from injury and signed a one-year deal, and Eric Stokes, a first-round draft choice out of Georgia, should also be in the mix for playing time from the opener.
At best, the Packers still have a lot of questions on defense. There is a considerable amount of potential, and we will see how Green Bay settles in once the season starts. The question of chemistry is an extremely important one; will Rodgers do what it takes to get the locker room into some sort of harmony, or will he be disgruntled all season long? Winning tends to produce its own momentum, and there are players in this locker room who have what it takes for the Packers to make this a golden season. It’s hard to see that, given the tensions that still exist in the organization and given the challenges the Packers still have on the defensive side of the ball, that they would make an even deeper run in the playoffs this season.
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