Five Reasons the Packers Run Defense Continues to Struggle

The Green Bay Packers made changes on defense during the offseason to take the unit to another level. The Packers signed free agent defensive lineman Jarran Reed, spent their two first round draft picks on inside linebacker Quay Walker and defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt and re-signed inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell and cornerback Rasul Douglas.

The defense was redesigned to keep two inside linebackers on the field more often and therefore improve against the run while still preventing the big play through the air. The thought was that the team would not be as small in the box, and with Walker and Campbell starting in the middle, the Packers would have two speedy off-ball linebackers who could plug up the run while staying on the field for most plays. That means less dime formations and more nickel.

But through the first four games, the run defense remains a problem for the Packers. The team ranks 22nd in the league against the run, allowing 126.8-yards per game. Opponents are averaging five yards per rush against the Packers which is also 22nd in the league. That essentially means that if a team runs on every play against the Packers, they will get a first down on average every two plays.

Here are five reasons the Packers have continued to struggle against the run in the first four games of the 2022 season:

1. Joe Barry Emphasizes Stopping the Pass

Defensive coordinator Joe Barry’s overall defensive philosophy places a greater emphasis on stopping the pass than stopping the run. Since this is 2022 and not 1975, this makes sense. The modern NFL is a passing league and the Packers overall defensive philosophy is to force teams to go down the field slowly on long, time consuming drives figuring that they will make a mistake whether it’s taking a penalty, a sack or a failed play that puts the offense into an obvious passing situation which gives the Packers pass rush and strong secondary a better chance to shut down the offense and force a punt or turnover.

As a result of this emphasis on stopping the pass (which the Packers are presently ranked third in the league), the defense is more vulnerable to the run.

Even with the change in formations and having two inside linebackers on the field more often, the defense still prioritizes stopping the pass and that leaves them more open to struggling against the run. Obviously, the question remains how much they are willing to sacrifice defending the run and what they are comfortable giving up.

2. De’Vondre Campbell Hasn’t Played As Well as He Did Last Season

Campbell had a career year in 2021, signing a one-year, prove-it deal with the Packers. It paid off after he was named All Pro for the first time in his NFL career and he signed a lucrative new deal with the Pack this offseason.

So far this year, Campbell has not been as dominant as he was in his first year with the team. The former University of Minnesota star has already been credited with more missed tackles in four games this season (six) than he was in all of 2021 (four).

Part of the reason Campbell may be struggling more this season is addressed in item number three but if Campbell can pick up his game, the defense would certainly improve against the run.

3. Quay Walker Is Still Learning

Quay Walker has elite speed for a linebacker and an impressive first step. His speed allows him to recover when he misreads a play or is slow to react to the initial location of the football.

While Walker is making some good plays, he is also making his share of rookie mistakes. Last year’s starting ILB, Krys Barnes, may not be the athlete Walker is, but he is, at this point at least, more positionally sound than the rookie out of Georgia.

Walker has often been slow to read plays and has taken poor angles to the ball. Part of Campbell’s reduced effectiveness may be because he’s concerned about Walker not being in the right place to make the stop on running plays.

Hopefully, this issue will be less of a problem as Walker gets more comfortable in the defense and more confident of what he needs to do to be successful in the NFL.

4. The Defensive Line Is Getting Pushed Back

Stopping the run starts in the trenches and on too many plays, the Packers defensive linemen are getting pushed back from the line of scrimmage at the snap of the ball.

That prevents the linebackers from having enough time and space to get to the ball carrier on running plays.

Whether it’s the way the DLs are lining up, the approach they are taking at the snap or the fact that they are losing too many one-on-one battles, this remains a problem for the defense through the first four games of the season.

5. The Defense Fails to Adjust Mid-Game

The Packers have faced teams that they knew were going to run the football and still didn’t adjust their defense to take away the rushing attack. The Bears are not an effective passing team and they were able to run the ball against the Packers defense, picking up 203 yards on the ground.

The Patriots featured a third-string rookie quarterback making his first appearance in an NFL game and the defense knew the Pats would have to keep the ball on the ground yet New England continued to run effectively and gained 199 yards.

Even the team’s only loss against Minnesota presented problems for the run defense. In the fourth quarter, the Vikings were holding on to a lead and the Packers knew they would get a healthy dose of Dalvin Cook. Cook and the Minnesota running game was still effective and the Packers struggled to get the ball back because they couldn’t stop the run even when they knew it was coming.

They will again face a run-oriented offense Sunday in London when they face Saquon Barkley and the Giants who are depleted at receiver and hobbled at quarterback.

It remains possible the defense can improve against the run if Barry makes adjustments, Walker gains experience and Campbell comes closer to his 2021 form. But for now, the Packers defense continues to struggle against the run. This could become a much bigger problem when they face a healthier and more dangerous offenses later in the season.

 

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Comments (18)

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Coldworld's picture

October 08, 2022 at 11:41 am

I think the greatest reason is the DL, which compounds the issues for the ILBs. I also think the 6th DL/TE deployed by BB added to both issues.

It’s also fair to say that we’ve also faced a lot of good running backs and, Tampa perhaps aside, offenses built to rely on them. That skews things somewhat as well.

Most have posed a dual problem as well. No matter how injured his WRs you can’t ignore Brady passing. Fields is as much if not more of a threat on the move and Jefferson proved decisive in game one. Last week, who on earth knew: that’s a partial exception.

Game one was a cluster: Barry played for last year’s Minnesota O and got burnt and we played like a team that hadn’t played as group since Christmas. Since then my view is the D has not been consistent, rather than bad. It’s lapses primarily. It’s also a function of what I see as a lack of willingness to face up to Lowry in these situations combined with the lack of a true anchor run stuffer. I do see extra bodies as an adjustment last week. I just think the wrong ones and combinations. Heflin is made for these games. Lowry most certainly not.

For these opening games we have a slow and contain the run D built primarily to be aggressive against the pass. We get less aggressive in the passing game if we are facing a lot of runs I think. I think we are missing one rush threat at OLB, but I don’t think Walker is ready to make those types of calls and make that up from ILB at this point.

I’d like more aggression from Barry, but, for the most part his strategy has worked when we avoid coverage lapses, despite I think poor DL choices and perhaps better placed caution with Walker. Honestly, I don’t expect a lot if these types of opponent in December (Tampa will get healthier). It’s a slightly distorted window thus far.

I also think that if our O could stay in the field more and give rest our front 7 would improve noticeably. If it could score reasonably consistently, I doubt we’d be discussing this nearly as much. The best defense against a run game is always to make it irrelevant. The best defense against Barry is not to put him in a position where he thinks slow run drives are the best means to do that. That should be the offenses job and it’s not getting it done.

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PackfanNY's picture

October 08, 2022 at 11:48 am

Thanks for the well thought out article Gil.

The two that bother me the most is “Joe Barry Emphasizes stopping the pass” and the “Dline is getting pushed back”.

Stopping the pass is not mutually excluding stopping the run as both can be accomplished by a good defense. Plenty of times where the defensive coordinator “knows” they are running yet they ran right over us. Saying we are focused on stopping the pass shouldn’t exclude an intelligent Coordinator from understanding and adjusting to what the opposition is going to do.

The Dline is getting pushed back has been and is a “frustrating” problem. The Packers have invested first round picks in Clark and Wyatt and free agent money in Jarren Reed. We can criticize Lowry all we want but he can’t be the sole reason. Then again if he can’t stop the run what exactly does he do? He sure as hell doesn’t pass rush, so…That’s a GM issue since he’s not only still here but playing regularly.

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dobber's picture

October 08, 2022 at 11:57 am

We're arguing aesthetics here. Nobody likes to see their defense get pushed around, but right now, this defense has been better at getting off the field than it looks like. I would argue that the Giants should be on par with NE in running the ball...which will be a real challenge. That said, I agree that this defense hasn't been tested by a really good, balanced offense. They won't see that until maybe the Lions (because Buffalo is mostly throw, throw, and throw some more). They've got a few weeks to get their acts together.

As for Campbell: he played almost every defensive snap in 2021 (where he was available) and less than half of those snaps did he play next to another ILB. It might be that he's covering for Walker and it's dragging him down (as is implied here), or it might also be that the Packers playing a single ILB and an extra DB (as they've favored for years), suited him better.

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LambeauPlain's picture

October 08, 2022 at 12:02 pm

I agree with CW a successful defensive strategy is keeping it on the sideline for long stretches as the O executes, long, chain moving, clock draining scoring drives.

One of the reasons the Packer Pass D is highly rated is lack of opponent pass plays. Teams are having success getting first downs running the ball. Why pass?

I agree with Gil's list of reasons for the soft run D. Like Pettine before him, Barry wants to defend against chunk passing plays as the priority. Run D? Meh!

I trend I am seeing with the ILBs...they are making too many tackles from behind. Lots of chase downs vs meeting runners in the run lane. Then good positioning is wasted by missed tackles.

What is frustrating is the D can play very well against the run as witnessed during the last two Pats drives.

I think this poor run D is all about coaching which is the key ingredient to consistency...or lack of it.

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splitpea1's picture

October 08, 2022 at 12:21 pm

Generally speaking, the defense is often in a reactive mode, and like last week, the strategy doesn't fit the opponent. I would agree with the previous article that we need to blitz more, especially against lower-tier QBs. But we have done a pretty good job of getting off the field after third down.

Forcing teams on long, time-consuming drives is okay if you're ahead by a wide margin and have confidence that your defense can eventually stiffen or at least limit the damage to a FG. In the early fourth quarter of the Chargers-Chiefs game a few weeks ago, Spagnuolo let the Chargers march downfield without too much difficulty, and I'm thinking this is pretty foolish; but then Herbert makes a mistake in the red zone and you get a 99-yard INT by for a TD. But this philosophy may be better suited to teams with high-powered offenses who can get those points right back if called upon to do so....the Packers offense isn't there yet. We need to be playing a tighter brand of defense with a few more blitzes mixed in.

It's a shame we lost Barnes, because I do think he would make a difference in our run defense and allow Walker not to play such a high percentage of snaps early in his rookie season.

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dobber's picture

October 08, 2022 at 12:46 pm

"Forcing teams on long, time-consuming drives is okay if you're ahead by a wide margin and have confidence that your defense can eventually stiffen or at least limit the damage to a FG."

I think it's OK if your offense is more efficient and productive than the Packers' offense has been. Yes, the O generates yards, but not so good at points.

"We need to be playing a tighter brand of defense with a few more blitzes mixed in."

It doesn't seem like the Packers blitz a lot, but someone posted earlier in the week that they have a pretty high blitz rate--I couldn't believe it. I do think that run blitzing might help (and I've been calling for it, too), but teams seem to be getting to the edge pretty frequently.

"It's a shame we lost Barnes, because I do think he would make a difference in our run defense and allow Walker not to play such a high percentage of snaps early in his rookie season."

I think this is a long-game thing: the Packers are playing Walker now for the player they hope he'll be in December and January. Seems like that was their plan from the moment he was picked.

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splitpea1's picture

October 08, 2022 at 03:00 pm

Sure enough, you're right about the blitz %age--I'm coming up with 5th highest. But the sack and hurry totals aren't that great, so maybe they need to improve the results of those blitzes instead.

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Coldworld's picture

October 08, 2022 at 05:06 pm

If you rush 5 (2 OLB and three DL), PFF treats it as a blitz. That is pretty much a false comparative in terms of what I think we here typically mean by blitzing in terms of surprise and origin.

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splitpea1's picture

October 08, 2022 at 05:41 pm

I was looking at Pro Football Reference and their definition of a blitz is four defenders rushing the QB. "Surprise" and a variety of "origin"? Forget about it, Barry's too conservative.

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Fubared's picture

October 08, 2022 at 12:49 pm

Wyatt is a bust so far. Early first round pick andhe has done nothing. Just what did Gutt see in this guy. Reminds me of Perry. He was good at USC because the guys next to him were very good. Alone he was a bum.

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Oppy's picture

October 08, 2022 at 01:40 pm

The Vikings are perennial bed shitters.
Don't forget, at the end of the year, the Packers will be on top of the North and the Vikings will have found a way to cut themselves out of the playoffs.

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dblbogey's picture

October 08, 2022 at 03:09 pm

Didn't you predict what a bust Rashan Gary was?

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PhantomII's picture

October 08, 2022 at 03:10 pm

Your logic does not work unless you view the current DL as very poor. I do not, but they have not been as effective as hoped for. I would run the rook out there much more often and see if there is progress as the others are not lighting the stats up either. At 25 yrs. old this is the only contract he will likely fulfill unless he becomes very, very dominant. I always believe no matter how good our OL/DL coaches are viewed a guy who does not play much could actually play a greater role a year earlier. If I were ML I'd be pushing the DL coach hard for this young man to start sooner than later, let's face it he's a 1st Rd pick and ALL 1st rounders should produce year one or they were mis-drafted or were a project with intangibles like Gary was. Wyatt needs to feel the urgency of a team that should have been in the SB last year. He's from a National Championship team with buddies on the team. It wouldn't hurt for them to push him also. GPG

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dobber's picture

October 08, 2022 at 05:00 pm

"At 25 yrs. old..."

Old for a rookie, yes, but not 25 until March. IDL will frequently play into their 30s.

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PhantomII's picture

October 09, 2022 at 10:59 am

24-7/12s He was drafted high like a 22 yr old stud. He has not done much for a 1st rounder. That's a lot of football in college. He should be better day 1. Too bad you can't protect a high draft pick on the PS because that's where he should go to get a sense of urgency about a NFL career.

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GBPDAN1's picture

October 08, 2022 at 09:57 pm

It's been painful watching our D get run over so far this season. The Packers themselves know it, and they also know the Giants will run the ball a lot (just like the Patriots did). I'm very curious to see if Joe Barry has learned anything and will adjust, or is it going to be business as usual? I also want to see if our front 7 is embarrassed and are ready to man up? This getting run over has to stop!

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Spawny's picture

October 09, 2022 at 06:54 am

Playing two deep zone pulls your safeties back and their closure is eight to ten yards off the line of scrimage. I would like to see our run allowed average posted showing against man and against zone.
I believe that the reason the Pack don't get a higher percentage of turnovers is that the two deep zone coverage makes Stokes, Alexander and Savage conservative and somewhat complacent. With the speed these three have, they should be attacking on virtually every play.

Joe Barry has been shit canned twice before. He is not going to be bold and aggressively attack out of man coverage. He was/is the wrong coach for this group of defensive backs. Dump Barry and turn the entire defense over to Grey.

Reed has been a disappointnent so far through four games. But, clearly the common denominator in lack of run defense has been/is Lowry. Until Lowry is sent packing and replaced by a stellar run defender, the Pack will be what they will be.

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vin0770's picture

October 09, 2022 at 08:50 am

How about quit playing nickel on run downs….brilliant 🤪

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