When looking back on Mike Pettine’s tenure as defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers, I imagine that many are going to remember the 3-man rushes, the soft coverages, and the miscues more than anything.
However, the issue — at least from our vantage point — appeared to be consistency — or lack thereof — and simply not living up to their potential.
Both are fine, pretty much right in the middle, but not nearly good enough when you have a defense made up of Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, Rashan Gary, Kenny Clark, Jaire Alexander, Darnell Savage, Adrian Amos, and others.
New defensive coordinator Joe Barry will be bringing over a similar defensive system that was utilized by the Los Angeles Rams last season under then defensive coordinator Brandon Staley.
It’s way too early to sit here and try to gauge whether or not Green Bay will be more successful under Barry, but what we have learned so far is that the energy level in practices is quite different from what it has been in past years.
“It’s early right now, but a lot of the stuff that we’re doing is simple, lining up and we’re able to play fast and all that kind of stuff.
As I said initially, we don’t exactly know what this defense will look like this season under Barry or if they’ll improve–only time will tell, and I certainly do like their chances.