Joe Barry and the Green Bay Packers defense have had a difficult season.
The eye examination is one thing. Green Bay’s defense is the definition of Swiss cheese, despite having a unit full of first-round talent (Kenny Clark, Devonte Wyatt, Lukas Van Ness, Quay Walker, Rashan Gary, Darnell Savage, and when healthy, Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes).
The Packers are a soft team. They’re easy to run on and prone to allowing big plays through the air.
The statistics back it up. The Packers allow 349.9 yards per game, with 138.8 coming on the ground. Their rush defense ranks third in the NFL.
With the Packers suffering back-to-back losses that effectively cost them a playoff spot, Barry has been under fire, to say the least. Matt LaFleur’s offense hasn’t been flawless, but it’s a young unit with a lot of potential that looks great when it clicks.
Green Bay’s last two losses have been attributed to Barry’s defense, which has made Tommy DeVito and Baker Mayfield look like Hall of Famers.
That explains why Barry has had such a difficult week. On Thursday, he explained it to the media.
“It stinks to lose. Always. But, yeah, I’d be lying if I said this week wasn’t difficult,” Barry admitted. “It was difficult for me and my family.” But, after all, this is the National Football League. This is what you agreed to.”
Barry also accepted blame for Green Bay’s defensive woes. Earlier this week, LaFleur stated unequivocally that communication is at the root of the defense’s problems.
Aside from calling plays on the field, Barry admitted that communication is essentially his job description.
“Getting it coordinated is part of my job as the coordinator.” “I’m to blame if things don’t go as planned,” Barry explained. “It’s aggravating. You’d think things would be running smoothly at this point.”
You’d think that at this point in the season, with three games remaining, things would be going swimmingly for a professional defense.
That, whether hard truth or not, is reason enough for Barry not to be retained when his contract expires at the end of the season.
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