Paul Bretl | 1/11/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — September 6th was just over four months ago. In the grand scheme, that’s not a lot of time. However, in the NFL, that period of time is an entire season. 18 weeks worth of ups and 18 weeks worth of downs. There’s disappointment–that just comes with the territory–but hopefully overall there has been growth.
For the Packers’ defense, September 6th was Green Bay’s first game of the 2024 NFL season, which took place in Brazil and against the Philadelphia Eagles. That was also the first time that this unit was in a live game that had meaning while under new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley.
Personnel-wise since then, there have been changes, as is the case with most teams. Evan Williams didn’t play a snap that week. Javon Bullard was still at safety and not at the nickel. The defense hadn’t yet had to overcome playing without Jaire Alexander and Edgerrin Cooper played just 11 snaps that week. And oh yeah, Brenton Cox, a now key member of the defensive end rotation, was a healthy scratch.
However, going beyond who was on the field in that Week 1 matchup compared to now with the NFL playoffs just about here, perhaps and even bigger change for this Packers’ defense has been their growth within Hafley’s scheme, allowing them to not only operate at a higher level, but to do a lot more as well.
“A lot of growth,” said Xavier McKinney when asked about the defense then vs. now. “We’ve learned the scheme a lot more. We play calls a lot better. The details of where we’re at Week 1 a lot different than what they are now. I think we’ve gone a long way from where we were Week 1 and it’s pretty cool to see like if you watch Week 1’s game, even the calls that we were calling, it wasn’t as much as we do now because we’ve grown in the system.
“Haf has done a great job of making sure that we know what’s going on through each and every call and it’s given us the ability to call more stuff and go out there and just play.”
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For whatever reason, Hafley’s defense was dubbed a simple system. But that’s not the case at all. Perhaps there is less on the plates of the defenders compared to other schemes, but there is incredible nuance and detail to what they are being asked to do, and like with anything, mastering it takes time.
Although we all want results in whatever it is that we do as quickly as possible, switching over to a new defensive scheme takes time–far more time than just OTAs and training camp. While, yes, all of the installs are made during that time of the year, as we’ve heard Matt LaFleur reference in the past, it’s one thing to know the playbook, it’s another thing to be able to go out and execute your responsibility on the field when everything is moving at lightning speed.
And even when a player may be comfortable with what they’re being asked to do, each offense every week is going to attack the defense differently, giving the defenders new looks that they have to react to in real-time within the scope of what is being asked of them. It’s also not as if the playbook implemented in August is the same playbook now either. As Hafley has said, it’s constantly evolving and changing as the season progresses, adapting to the challenges that the upcoming opponent presents and so the Green Bay defense doesn’t become predictable.
Think about it this way–you start a new job, and while what’s being asked of you on a weekly basis is within the scope of what the job description entailed, there are constant moving parts that can put new responsibilities on your plate depending on what the week looks like. Some of these changes may be dictated by your department, or perhaps, it’s another part of the organization that you have to adjust to. For most, there is going to be a learning curve that comes with all of this.
“You watch these guys,” said defensive backs coach Ryan Downard, “first year in a system, regardless of what system you’re running, obviously the common thought is it’s a simpler system so they should play faster. And once they learn the details and the rules, then they can play fast, but there’s a process to that, and it still is very detailed. So while we might not be doing quite as many techniques, the techniques that we are using are very detailed. That’s the best way to put it, I guess from being in a couple different systems and this one most recently.”
It’s also not as if the players are the only ones doing the learning. The coaching staff has been doing the same from the perspective of learning each player’s skill set, specifically, what they do best and how to leverage those abilities within Hafley’s scheme and weekly gameplan.
Then for Hafley himself, in his first season as a defensive coordinator, there’s a learning curve for him as well as he adapts and adjusts on the fly to what opposing offenses are throwing at him and how to make sure that he his maximizing his player’s abilities and putting them in consistent positions to be successful.
“We were talking about watching that first game and we were just joking,” said Hafley. “We got here almost a year ago, and we kind of just all moved in here together, got to learn each other, figured it out what we wanted to do, who we wanted to be, learn our players, so there’s a lot of, I have a lot of appreciation for all the hard work that defensive staff has done from the quality control guys to the assistant position coaches.
“There’s a lot of hard work that goes into that, so I give those guys a lot of credit, and then I give the players a lot of credit. Kind of going into OTAs, we started out doing some stuff and we’ve had to evolve and grow and the way they’ve gotten better and bought in and jelled together, it’s been a lot of fun to be around.”
All offseason, we frequently heard the terms “fast and physical,” which is the play-style and mentality that Hafley wants his defense to exude. In part, that’s a mentality, but achieving that type of play also stems from confidence and the preparation that goes into each week.
Overthinking can be debilitating not only in football but also in sports in general. As running backs coach Ben Sirmans says, if you think, you stink. When overthinking, oftentimes, a player will slow down rather than reading and simply reacting to what’s unfolding. That overthinking can occur when something is new and trying to process what is happening in real time while still playing within the scope of what your role calls for.
But, on the flip side, when there is confidence and a truly deep understanding of what you’re being asked to do, there is less thinking and just more reacting to what the offense is doing. This ultimately unlocks that fast and physical play-style.
As one would hope, as the season has progressed, so has the Packers’ defense. The comfort and confidence in the system as more reps, both on the practice field and in-games, takes place is leading to that aforementioned fast and physical play-style.
“I think there’s a lot of guys starting to hit that stride,” said Jeff Hafley in Week 15. “I think guys are gaining confidence in themselves, they’re gaining confidence in the scheme because they know what they’re doing and they’re getting more confidence in what they’re doing and when you have more reps over time that usually happens.”
The end result of that steady growth and progression is a defensive unit under Hafley that ranked among the best in several key statistical categories. The Green Bay defense will head into the postseason ranked sixth in scoring, third in yards per rush, 11th in yards per pass attempt given up, and fourth in takeaways.
All of that isn’t to say that this group has reached its ceiling–there are certainly still areas for improvement. It would also be naïve to think that the Eagles’ offense has experienced growth of their own since Week 1 and that high-powered and well-round unit will provide a big challenge on Sunday.
But having said that, while yes, it is a rematch between the Packers and Eagles, and many of the players who starred in the season opener will again take the field this week, from a confidence, comfort, play-call, and execution standpoint, this version of the Green Bay defense doesn’t look like the one we saw four months ago.
“The coolest thing for me is I do think we’ve gotten better,” said Hafley. “I really think we’ve improved, and I think it’s a really good foundation and a good starting point. And I believe we can be even so much better. And I know our players believe it and we believe it and that’s really the cool part. So I think there’s a strong foundation, but it’s about winning and getting our players better. And I do believe we’ve done that.”