Packers Hire New Defensive Coordinator: Jeff Hafley, formerly Head Coach, Boston College

milani

Cheesehead
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
4,886
Reaction score
1,911
Thanks for the info. Well hopefully the Packers can run against the Colts. I admit I wasn't a Wilson fan but he looked very good on a sloppy field Friday night. Where Jacobs is almost a pure power runner, Wilson showed sone finesse and ab ability to take advantage of gaps in the line.

The Packers are in survival mode until Love returns. Pretty early for "must win" games, but considering the opponents, wins are doable. The Packers are a talented team and guys need to step up.
And with a tougher back end of the schedule even when Love gets back we are not going to run the table. I think the injury may have ended our hopes of winning the division unless the other teams experience a lost QB. But making the postseason is clearly there again. We lost 5 games last season to sub par opponents. We have to win some of those this season.
 

rmontro

Cheesehead
Joined
Feb 8, 2017
Messages
4,855
Reaction score
1,452
Didn't play that well? I guess he didn't throw an INT so that is something.
Well, it was only his first pro game, so expectations would be low. But he didn't exactly light it up. Sub .500 completion percentage, no TDs, 3.3 YPA, 55.7 passer rating. No INTs though, that's good for a rookie. Bottom line, he played well enough to win, I guess.
 

rmontro

Cheesehead
Joined
Feb 8, 2017
Messages
4,855
Reaction score
1,452
It occurs to me that we might be experiencing the sophomore jinx with Love. Right now we're the only team in our division without a win.
 

El Guapo

Cheesehead
Joined
Dec 7, 2011
Messages
6,447
Reaction score
1,830
Location
Land 'O Lakes
It's only Week 1. Our starters did not play more than 3 snaps in the preseason. It's a natural outcome of not being in game situations until Friday night.

Some teams had their stuff together in Week 1 and some didn't. We belong in the second group. However, that doesn't mean that Love is regressing.
 

pacmaniac

Cheesehead
Joined
Mar 4, 2011
Messages
2,146
Reaction score
613
It occurs to me that we might be experiencing the sophomore jinx with Love. Right now we're the only team in our division without a win.
I was wondering if Love may have a sophomore slump this season. Too early to tell though. One game doesn't make a slump.
 

milani

Cheesehead
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
4,886
Reaction score
1,911
It occurs to me that we might be experiencing the sophomore jinx with Love. Right now we're the only team in our division without a win.
We came within 5 points of beating one of the super teams in the league. That is why not everything goes smoothly. But we scored 29. The Packers have quite a few sophomores. They are still the youngest team in the league and were 2-5 at one point last season. We have a new backfield, relatively new OL, new D coach, and a new kicker.
 

Voyageur

Cheesehead
Joined
Nov 10, 2021
Messages
2,776
Reaction score
2,243
I wasn't disappointed with our defense. Yes, they were gouged at times, but considering this was really the first real test under fire, they weren't actually that bad. Especially when you realize how many new faces there were out there, compared to last year.

My gut reaction was to call out Alexander for his play. He was constantly jawing at guys, and they ended up taking him to the woodshed, on way too many plays. Poor coverage, bad choices in where he was on the field, and what appears to be rubber band arms, letting guys escape what should have been tackles. Then, I got to thinking as to how much our defense has changed since last year, and how in the past, he was a heckuva good one on one player. He's been injured a lot, and is really feeling his way again on the field. He had good moments out there as well as the bad so..... he doesn't get a pass, but he gets time to show that how they were burning him was a fluke, not something we're going to see going down the road.

I was disappointed in how LeFleur handled our two-minute offense, and the options chosen inside the red zone. I also noticed he's doing something again, that he did the last half of last year, and it doesn't work. If a guy has a great run, it's pretty much a given he's going to get the ball again on the next play for another run. Obviously, they are somewhat winded, and when it's done so often, the opposite team is waiting for him to get the ball. Matt didn't disappoint them. He was doing it again.

Yes, this is a work in progress out there, and maybe with Love out for a few weeks, some of them can find themselves and their voices on both sides of the ball, and start picking up the slack. If they do, and stay highly competitive, when Love gets back, they're going to be something special.
 

Sanguine camper

Cheesehead
Joined
Jan 14, 2014
Messages
2,161
Reaction score
732
Didn't play that well? I guess he didn't throw an INT so that is something. If our D and ST can score TDs against the Titans I think we will beat them as well. If our O plays like the Bears did I don't think we will beat anybody.
I agree the Bears O line looked like garbage. 149 yards of offense in today's NFL is quite a feat but if you get a pick 6 and a ST TD, even a149 yard performance can be good enough. From what I can tell, the game looked too fast for Williams as he was late in his decisions. That should work itself out over time. If not, you have a less athletic Justin Fields.
 

milani

Cheesehead
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
4,886
Reaction score
1,911
I agree the Bears O line looked like garbage. 149 yards of offense in today's NFL is quite a feat but if you get a pick 6 and a ST TD, even a149 yard performance can be good enough. From what I can tell, the game looked too fast for Williams as he was late in his decisions. That should work itself out over time. If not, you have a less athletic Justin Fields.
Fields team won with defense yesterday as well.
 

tynimiller

Cheesehead
Joined
May 2, 2012
Messages
14,956
Reaction score
5,588
Eagles were no slouch and first game...I think any one judging Hafley or declaring a stance on him is premature. Not seeing it a ton here but dear lord other places where some of the true idiots of our fanbase live....yikes.
 

sschind

Cheesehead
Joined
Oct 5, 2014
Messages
5,321
Reaction score
1,547
Well, it was only his first pro game, so expectations would be low. But he didn't exactly light it up. Sub .500 completion percentage, no TDs, 3.3 YPA, 55.7 passer rating. No INTs though, that's good for a rookie. Bottom line, he played well enough to win, I guess.
Did he really play well enough to win though? He wouldn't have won if it wasn't for his D and ST bailing him out.

When I said "didn't play well?" in my original reply to your post I was going to add "you are being too kind" I think he was terrible. The best you can say was no INTs which, like you said that is good for a rookie. Heck our next HOF QB had one.

It was his first game and I wasn't expecting a whole lot. I'm not a Bears fan though. I think expectations were a lot higher from them and from many of the national media. Overall I think disappointment runs high in the Caleb Williams camps right now.
 

Sanguine camper

Cheesehead
Joined
Jan 14, 2014
Messages
2,161
Reaction score
732
I don't blame Hafley for the poor performance stopping the run. That's more of an athleticism question than a sceme question that a coordinator can fix. Packers just get physically whipped on the LOS in the run game. It's been happening for a long, long time. The roster on the DL is too small in my opinion. Other than Slaton, there really isn't a run stuffer. Gute has been setting his D coordinators up to fail with DL picks that are fast twitch guys but can't handle to point of attack.

I do expect Hafley to improve the pass defense and the anemic pass rush.

Eagles were no slouch and first game...I think any one judging Hafley or declaring a stance on him is premature. Not seeing it a ton here but dear lord other places where some of the true idiots of our fanbase live....yikes
 

GB2016

Cheesehead
Joined
Apr 18, 2016
Messages
129
Reaction score
18
I hope your right ... we need the D to hold us up until Love is back. If they don't it may be a long year.
 

rmontro

Cheesehead
Joined
Feb 8, 2017
Messages
4,855
Reaction score
1,452
It was his first game and I wasn't expecting a whole lot. I'm not a Bears fan though. I think expectations were a lot higher from them and from many of the national media. Overall I think disappointment runs high in the Caleb Williams camps right now.
Thanks for clearing that up. I don't know why Bears fans should be disappointed, they won. And anyone thinking realistically (I guess that lets out most Bears fans) would realize they have to give Williams time to adjust to the pro game.
 

sschind

Cheesehead
Joined
Oct 5, 2014
Messages
5,321
Reaction score
1,547
Thanks for clearing that up. I don't know why Bears fans should be disappointed, they won. And anyone thinking realistically (I guess that lets out most Bears fans) would realize they have to give Williams time to adjust to the pro game.
I agree with you. Sometimes a win when your guy plays like crap is actually kind of a blessing. First of all its a win like you said, second of all if you had high hopes for the guy I would hope one game wouldn't change that. Third, if you can win games like that what is it going to be like when he does come on?

You know how knee jerk reactions are though. Kinda like how the Packers aren't going to win another game if they insist on starting Willis. If that's the way you feel it tells me you really think the rest of the roster sucks and you were pinning all your hopes for the season on Jordan Love. If that's the case then I think you were setting yourself up for a disappointing season because I don't think he is that guy ... yet.
 

gopkrs

Cheesehead
Joined
May 12, 2014
Messages
5,718
Reaction score
1,438
I like Tyni's idea of pushing Q to the outside and putting one of the rookies in the middle. I like it a lot.
 

Magooch

Cheesehead
Joined
Dec 15, 2021
Messages
998
Reaction score
950
I'm not too terribly concerned yet. I wouldn't call it a "good" performance out of our defense on the whole but I at least came away feeling like I saw some reasons to be encouraged. And to put it in perspective for myself...I think the Eagles should probably be one of the better offenses we face all season. They finished #7 in total offense last season, and that includes their bad skid to end the season. I don't have the numbers in front of me but I'm pretty sure prior to that slump to end the year they were something closer to #3 or thereabouts. And we did a much improved job of limiting Hurts as a runner (and that alone is a big improvement in my book; I am so tired of seeing any remotely mobile quarterback run rampant over us for what feels like the past decade plus) but they have a lot of other ways of doing damage. Saquon is still a beast when he's healthy. Goedert is a great TE, and there aren't many teams with a better WR tandem than Smith+Brown. And many would argue they have perhaps the best OL in the league, to boot!

So that's a tough test all around. And it's not exactly one we passed with flying colors, to be fair, but for week one with a new defense with very limited meaningful play together I can't be too upset. We do still have some tough tests to come (Lions, Dolphins, 49ers), but that's a hard matchup all things considered and we still hung awfully close.
 

Sanguine camper

Cheesehead
Joined
Jan 14, 2014
Messages
2,161
Reaction score
732
What I find concerning about the Eagles game is that the 2022 and 2023 first round picks aren't doing very much. LVN was non-existent as a pass rusher and was only on the field for 17 snaps which shows he's even fallen behind Enagbare as the number 3 pass rusher. Walker continues to not make many plays. I don't see a scenario where the Packers can compensate if two first round draft choices are not contributing. Hafley needs to get something out of those two or Gute's drafting in the first 3 rounds will sink the Packers' chances. A team can only overcome so many high draft pick busts before the roster is too thin. While I wouldn't label LVN as a bust just yet, he sure looks stiff in his pass rushes and Walker does look like a bust at this point. He's a first round pick and not getting the job done.
 

milani

Cheesehead
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
4,886
Reaction score
1,911
What I find concerning about the Eagles game is that the 2022 and 2023 first round picks aren't doing very much. LVN was non-existent as a pass rusher and was only on the field for 17 snaps which shows he's even fallen behind Enagbare as the number 3 pass rusher. Walker continues to not make many plays. I don't see a scenario where the Packers can compensate if two first round draft choices are not contributing. Hafley needs to get something out of those two or Gute's drafting in the first 3 rounds will sink the Packers' chances. A team can only overcome so many high draft pick busts before the roster is too thin. While I wouldn't label LVN as a bust just yet, he sure looks stiff in his pass rushes and Walker does look like a bust at this point. He's a first round pick and not getting the job done.
I think for them to do their thing the defense has to be better at stopping the run. The big bodies on the DL need to make that happen.
 

Pkrjones

Cheesehead
Joined
Jul 3, 2014
Messages
4,081
Reaction score
1,949
Location
Northern IL
I think for them to do their thing the defense has to be better at stopping the run. The big bodies on the DL need to make that happen.
GB only has 3 DL's over 300 lbs (Slaton-330, Clark-314, & Wyatt-304). They got bullied by Philly's 325lb+ average size OL.

Does Gute need to trade a DE (Smith, Wooden, Cox, or Enagbare) for a 320lb+ DT languishing on someone's bench? Are there enough snaps for a 4th DT?
FA Josh Tupou - 350lbs?
Fa (23 yr old) Siaka Ika - 360lbs?
 
Last edited:

milani

Cheesehead
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
4,886
Reaction score
1,911
GB only has 3 DL's over 300 lbs (Slaton-330, Clark-314, & Wyatt-304). They got bullied by Philly's 325lb+ average size OL.

Does Gute need to trade a DE (Smith, Wooden, Cox, or Enagbare) for a 320lb+ DT languishing on someone's bench? Are there enough snaps for a 4th DT?
FA Josh Tupou - 350lbs?
Fa (23 yr old) Siaka Ika - 360lbs?
Look at the good run stopping teams and see who they have.
 

Magooch

Cheesehead
Joined
Dec 15, 2021
Messages
998
Reaction score
950
Yeah, I don’t know if it’s just a matter of raw size. Just a quick sample - Last year’s number one rush defense (SF) had just one starting DL who weighed over 300lbs and that was Javon Hargrave - and he was just barely over at 305. The only other DL over 300lbs they had with any significant impact was Kinlaw (320).

Regardless of size it’s generally just felt to me like we don’t really prioritize investing in defenders with a profile that’s primarily (or even leans more towards) that of a “run stopper”.
 

rmontro

Cheesehead
Joined
Feb 8, 2017
Messages
4,855
Reaction score
1,452
This is backwards (OL instead of DL), but I seem to remember GB's massive DL being outplayed by Denver's much smaller but excellent run blocking OL in Super Bowl XXXIII.
 
Top