How one views Pettine is going to have a lot to do with how one views his talent. And that's a tricky discussion because one side can say that Player X isn't that great, so give Pettine a break, while the other can say that Player X would be better if only they had a better coach.
My personal opinion of our defensive personnel lays out like this:
- Great: Z. Smith, Clark, Alexander
- Good: P. Smith, Amos
- Abv Avg: Williams, Lowry*
- Avg: King*, Savage**, Fackrell*, Lancaster*
- Blw Avg: Gary*, Martinez, Goodson*, Sullivan*, Campbell*
- Bad: Burks*, Adams*
- Terrible: Jackson*, Keke*, Redmond*
*Denotes part time role-player
**Savage and King were either better or worse than this middle ranking, so they land here as a result.
So on the whole, I think that Pettine has a pretty decent crew to work with. This is not the personnel one would need to craft a dominant unit by any means, but it's better than what the average team is working with.
One major caveat is that Clark was very obviously injured all the way up to the bye week. The before and after difference has been stark. So one of Pettine's best player was playing like a league average guy (at best), and his issues caused other players to perform worse (esp. the linebackers and other defensive linemen). Down the stretch, with a healthy Clark, GB is allowing about 14 points per game (final five games of the season-- some of that also attributable to opponents).
Another thing to note is that there is an entire position group that is really lacking (off-ball linebacker). Sometimes weaknesses are easier to mitigate when they are peppered throughout a roster. The Packers have a definitive and glaring weakness at the second level and offenses have victimized it often throughout the season.
Another note-- it should be pointed out that there are guys playing easily their best football under Pettine's coaching. Preston Smith averaged 6 sacks/season in WAS and had 12 this year. Za'Darius Smith averaged less than 5 sacks/season in BAL and had 13.5 this year (and should be a legitimate candidate for DPOY). Adrian Amos was as good or better than the Chicago version despite playing behind a lesser front.
Lastly, Pettine did a pretty good job of adjusting to the weaknesses of his unit. The lack of a 3T rusher has been masked by playing Gary/Fackrell more on the edge and rushing Z. Smith from the interior. His coverage calls have largely masked some of the man cover talent problems that this team has.
So taking all of this together, I give Pettine a
B+ grade. If a "C" is your league average coordinator, I would argue that Pettine has been solidly better than that without being amazing or among the elite. He has largely overcome the personnel deficiencies on his unit, gotten about as much as you could expect from the players he's been given, and his unit has performed best where it matters most-- in the red zone.
