The Green Bay Packers have plenty of postseason experience, and Jordan Love has the potential to be the x-factor, but head coach Matt LaFleur’s team could be in a heap of trouble in Saturday night’s NFC Wild Card against the Chicago Bears.
After stumbling down the stretch, and as injuries blew a hole through what was previously one of the most dominant and disruptive defenses in the sport, Green Bay faces a suboptimal matchup if it hopes to spark an improbable but deep playoff run.
Packers’ run defense could be fatal flaw vs. Bears
As Green Bay arrives into Soldier Field on Saturday night, the Packers’ run-defense may be coordinator Jeff Hafley’s biggest liability.
“The injuries,” Kevin Patra writes for NFL Media. “Have magnified what’s been Green Bay’s biggest weakness for much of the season. The run defense, particularly up the gut, is soft and able to be exploited. It’s not just Derrick Henry, plowing them over for 216 yards in Week 17. It’s been an issue all season. Green Bay has allowed 100-plus rushing yards in eight of its past 10 games. It hasn’t held a team below 89 rush yards since Week 6. Wyatt’s absence has been massive in the middle.
“Not having Parsons to move around and disrupt has made it a bigger issue. Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks have flashed for spells but are inconsistent, and the rotation behind them is a group of fringe players. Couple that with Rashan Gary’s disappearing act, and Jeff Hafley’s front is a shell of what it once was. Opponents are going to run right at the Packers in the playoffs until they consistently stop it.”
Whether it’s the Bears, who rushed for 288 yards in two games against Green Bay in the wild card round, or the Seahawks, with Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet, should the Packers survive, or the Philadelphia Eagles or San Francisco 49ers down the line with Saquon Barkley or Christian McCaffrey, Hafley and the run-defense are going to be tested.
How the Packers’ ground defense holds up just might hold the key to how far Green Bay advances.
