The Green Bay Packers are underachieving this year in just about every aspect. The offense and defense were widely assumed to be, at least, above average this year. That, however, is an understatement when it comes to the defense. They were often regarded as a top-five unit before the season started. 12 weeks into the season we are realizing that’s not the case with this defense. Going into their week 13 match-up with the Bears, the Packers are 23rd in the league in points allowed per game. With their off-season additions and players coming back from injury, this was thought to be the strength of the team. When Packers’ defensive coordinator was asked about why the Packers’ defense hasn’t been performing, his answer was disheartening.
Joe Barry: “I Wish I Knew”
When Joe Barry was asked about what had gone wrong with the defense, this was his response:
“I wish I knew,” Barry said on Thursday afternoon. “I’ve stayed up many nights thinking about that and I wish it was one specific thing that I could put my finger on. I think for periods, definitely periods during games, we’ve played dominant.”
It didn’t end there. The Packers’ defense missed TWENTY-TWO tackles vs the Philadelphia Eagles. A gruesome stat that no one expected to see. When Joe Barry was asked about this, he once again didn’t have an excuse:
“You don’t tackle live at any point during the year other than the games that you play, so we try to create those scenarios as best we can, try to create drills that are as realistic [as possible], but you can’t create anything realistic to tackling Jalen Hurts until you’ve got to go tackle him,” Barry said.
“So, yeah, it was a bad deal, but we went right back to work this week working on the details, working on keeping leverage to the ball. We talk about ‘population to the ball,’ getting as many hats to the ball when you’re dealing with a great player. If you do miss a tackle, you’ve got that second, third, fourth, fifth guy there. Just relentless effort to the ball. But, yeah, it was a bad display of tackling, no doubt about it.”
With the lack of explanation, or seeming knowledge that he knows what is going on with his own defense, Twitter went off. Here are a few examples of what is being said about Joe Barry after these comments:
Joe Barry might be worse at giving answers than he is at calling plays pic.twitter.com/3afDTXpMfC
— Poor Man’s Packers Podcast (@PMPPod) December 1, 2022
Joe Barry should’ve been fired six weeks ago when the season was still salvageable. There’s absolutely no point in doing it now. Besides, the three stooges are far more responsible for this mess. pic.twitter.com/FxkODeZqYN
— Michael Rodney (@PackersNotes) November 28, 2022
Need to stop my laughing spree with an actual tweet. If Joe Barry even makes it to the end of the season, someone needs to be charged with a crime.
— Aaron Rodgers Doppelganger (@ARdoppelganger) November 28, 2022
The #Packers gave up 363 rushing yards and 500 total.
If Joe Barry is still the DC next week then we know this front office just doesn't care.
— Eli Berkovits (@BookOfEli_NFL) November 28, 2022
Describe Joe Barry with a picture pic.twitter.com/NaOMV7BkV0
— 🧀🧀🧀 (@HailRodgers12_) November 28, 2022
Green Bay Packers fans may be just about as ready to move on from Joe Barry as they were from our special teams coordinator after last season. Last season, however, special teams cost us in the playoffs. This season, we likely won’t get to the playoffs. A big reason for that will be because of the defense.
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