It's Football Malpractice If Joe Barry Is Allowed To Coach The Packers Defense For One More Day
Icon Sportswire. Getty Images.After watching the Packers attempt to play defense this past Monday night against Tommy DeVito and the Giants, I didn't think it could get much worse. It appears they took that on as a challenge. Today Baker Mayfield achieved the first ever perfect passer rating by an opposing QB visiting Lambeau Field. A good Jordan Love game was thus wasted and the Packers grip on a playoff spot slipped away. There's a clear person to blame, besides Mintzy.
Heading into this year we were told defensive coordinator Joe Barry was going to cater to his players and adjust his gameplan to their strengths. What did that imply? More man to man coverage and allowing guys to use their athleticism to make stops. I viewed it as the only way to save his job. Stop doing what you want to do, and instead implore your players to do the opposite. Square deal.
Well, Joe Barry lied to us.
If you watch a Packers game and the other team is faced with a 2nd or 3rd and 15+ you'll see without fail the defense going into a prevent-esque look. It's beyond infuriating how many of those kind of plays they give up on a regular basis. I'd honestly prefer the defense face 3rd and less than 5 than 3rd and 10+.
When the names listed below are playing their best ball against you, that's a problem.
And the craziest part is that Joe Barry has never once been thought of as a good coach. He was the DC for the 2008 winless Lions who had pretty much the worst defense any set of eyes have ever witnessed. People ended their own lives after watching that team try to stop offenses.
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Truly amazing that guy has a job 15 years later. Every year he's been in Green Bay the defense has regressed more and more. Today against the Bucs they looked completely lost. Same story against the Giants. Aside from the dogshit scheme, guys don't know the play and/or where to line up pre-snap.
Sure there are injuries to the defensive side, but that can't be the excuse when this has been a running theme with the team for years now. LaFleur even said it out loud today.
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But then he dropped on us that now isn't the time for a change. EXCUSE ME?
Honest to God I think the LaFleur offense has showed some really positive signs in the 2nd half of the season. It's night and day compared to the inconsistency we saw in the early stretch. With that being said, if LaFleur can't recognize that his defensive coordinator is killing the team then he needs to be fired as well. This cannot continue any further. It's coaching malpractice.
In no way should Barry have been retained this past offseason. It was obvious a change was needed then, but MLF stuck with his guy. The fact that Tommy Devito did what he did in MetLife on Monday and nothing was done is nuts. The Packers entered Sunday as the NFC's 7 seed. Now they're out of the mix and basically have to win out to have a decent shot to get in. While I don't expect MLF to fire Barry during the post game presser if he chooses to keep hm on until the offseason it's a slap in the face to all those players and the fans. Jordan Love played a good game today and had it ruined by the defense. While Aaron Rodgers was no stranger to such a game, that doesn't mean this has to keep happening.
P.S. Jaire Alexander simply needs to play next week. I can't have this dude show up to media sessions with WWE belts and then sit out for the sixth straight game.
P.P.S. Jordan Love can ball