Exactly right. We thought Parsons would make a top 8 dline into the best. Turns out, he is the top 8 dline all by himself.

Gary's had ONE season of double digit sacks. He got paid for that outlier, but my expectation for him has always been tempered by the reality he's a good, not great pass rusher. Hell, Kyler Fackrell cracked off 10 sacks once, but apparently his PR team wasn't quite as good as Gary's.

My hope is Brenton Cox can regain last season's form and be the yang to Parson's yin in the last 3-4 regular season games.

And who knows? Van Less might even make an appearance.

Parsons is a one-man wrecking crew (12.5 sacks, 6 in the last 3), But its time to unleash Cooper and Walker more on the blitz. Cooper’s speed and Walker’s aggression are perfect for the A-gap heat and twists we occasionally run – they’re already rotating Gary/Enagbare at EDGE, so we need to let the LBs be the chaos element. And A gap blitzes are disruptive to the run game as well. Hafley’s already blitzing more than we have in the past but I think we need to dial it up even further against a rookie LT and a QB who holds the ball too long. If we can get consistent pressure, a couple TFL's, and 3 sacks, at least one from the LB duo, the Packers roll.

Expect with Walker back and McDuffie playing so well, especially in run defense...Hafley plays a lot of base 4-3 with all 3 LBs getting some run blitzes.

Get stops on early down make Williams throw...and have one of the backers spying him on 3rd down.

When I see that both DEs with the most snaps not named Parsons have been playing more run defence snaps than pass rush snaps then it partially answers the implied question here.

Instead the question becomes why? Clearly the IDL isn’t getting the between the tackles run D done. Looking back, before his first injury, Wyatt was. Since then, Wooden is too easily moved and has struggled though he’s better when not run at directly,

Brinson doesn’t have a background as a run down player and is learning but not there yet. Brooks has never been consistently good in run play. Gary and Enagbare (in the absence of LVN) have been major factors in our run stopping. If that’s been their focus, they aren’t all out rushing in the majority of snaps unless we have a big lead, which has been a rarity.

Perhaps this is why we just signed not only two DTs, but 2 bigger ones. Maybe the team is realizing that the incredibly light IDL can only be covered over at a cost of pass rush and perhaps not reliably even at that as the weather imposes and we play some run heavy offenses?

I don’t know the true answer, but I think it’s fairly clear that the DEs other than Parsons have been refocused on the run lately. I think the Panthers game may have triggered some changes of heart watching our IDL simply pushed backward right up the be middle over and over. Perhaps it was Stackhouse’x red zone stop on 4th down showing that even inexperienced beef can be the difference maker.

Whatever it was, we’ve now added two larger (one huge) DTs after essentially showing no interest in that type for years. So mud against the wall or a realization that the light IDL claims were not holding up (and aside from Wyatt, not penetrating either)? Such a change may go a long way make our rush resemble its early season self by freeing the DEs to rush more often and without hesitation.

Has anyone fully investigated why Gary only plays 50% of snaps? He is only 27. Is there an unaddressed conditioning issue? Technique issue? MLF made it sound like his 50% Snap count was the norm.
TJ Watt=88%
Herbig=78%
Zach Allen=80-97%
And, many more...

All well and good but we need to stop the Bears running game to win. They will try to beat us the same way they beat Philadelphia where they rushed for over 200 yards and dominated the time of possession. We win if we have no turnovers and stop their run. It ain't rocket science.

Parsons=80% SNAP count

If you think that Cox is going to be an upgrade over Gary, you're hallucinating.

If anything, Parsons, at season's end, will prove correct about Gary and LVN. They're jags, with one being paid way above his ability due to false hype. Although, it does appear the truth is being accepted more each week.

It seems the Packers are getting some luck, not having to play the better teams when those teams actually want to play good. A very strange season of play has allowed many to misconstrue what is being seen on the field of play this season, and not just with the Packers. Keep the fingers crossed in hope that luck continues. When real push comes to shove, this Packer team needs much more to be desired, and acclaimed.

Gary after all these years IS A BULL RUSH ONLY!!! Pass rusher. He ducks in like Z used to and gets burned in the run game also...just not as often. Bull rushing takes more energy to do....and if unsuccessful and not accomplishing a 3-n-out he gets tired quickly and needs a breather. Gary, is not lazy....he has not developed the skill set of other elite pass rushers. He's good....not great. When we had the Smiths at either end we were a better pass rush machine. Having #1 on the DL and someone else at the DE seems to be a pretty good medicine.
This should be Garys last season as it is and either #55 or Hurtcules will end up being about the same as what we are getting now from that side. Not using the Offense to get and stay ahead is also limiting other teams to catch up through the air and mitigates some pass rush win rates. Gary overall is pretty solid run or pass with effort...but his ceiling is met and GB could use another high energy guy who actually has more moves they can bring to the table. Either a STUD DL or another better DE with more ways to get to the QB would be better. DL/DE need to up the talent level.

I've expressed my disappointment with Gary several times. He is, at best, JAG. He's undersized. He does't set the edge well. He's not very effective against the run. In fairness he gets some sacks, as you noted. But most of these now are direct results of pressure applied by Parsons. But we gave Gary the fat contract. Now we have to hope for the best v. da Bears.
Brutal weather Sunday will hurt passing game; put rushing offense in spotlight.
It's simple ---- if we run the football better than they do and avoid turnovers, we win.
Vegas say Pack by 6 1/2. I got Packers by 10.
GPG
the Szotman

As a Wolverine fan I can attest to the fact that Gary has always been like he is now. A guy with huge potential who frequently goes quiet. Since his days at Michigan I've spent a lot of time hoping something will light a fire under his ass, but nothing ever does. It has to come from someplace inside him. If he would play up to his potential every snap this D will be the driving force taking the Pack to the Super Bowl.