The Green Bay Packers are not a dramatic organization. They rarely sign huge free agents, they don’t make blockbuster trades, and they almost never make midseason organizational decisions. It’s just simply not who they are. Unfortunately, in the case of Joe Barry, this methodology has been an absolute disaster.
Another unacceptable performance in Philadelphia has grown the “fire Barry” chants to an almost deafening level.
Beyond the horrific numbers from Sunday’s loss, anyone who’s ever watched a game of football should be able to decipher Barry’s fatal flaw. The man refuses to be aggressive. Sunday nights loss in Philadelphia was downright embarrassing. Having Cris Collinsworth dissect the Packers continued attempt to get pressure with four down lineman while letting the Eagles tear them apart was embarrassing. It’s been the same all season. With a roster filled with first and second round draft picks Barry seems intent to play scared and soft as opposed to aggressive.
Maybe it was easy to be aggressive in years past as an elite offense made the defense more willing to take chances, but this season they needed to be that same aggressive defense as the offense took time to get up and running. Barry’s players have spoken up about the lack of aggressiveness making Barry’s continued unwillingness even more frustrating for fans.
Paul Bretl at Fansided notes:
“This inability to pivot in a timely fashion has, unfortunately, happened frequently this season for Barry. Early on in the year, there was a reluctance to have Jaire Alexander line up against the opponent’s top receiver or to even put him in the slot at times. Barry would also rarely break away from his two-high shell that he often coupled with soft zone coverages, which made the Packers susceptible to crossers and underneath routes. There was also an unwillingness to blitz for a number of weeks as well.
Even now, there have been games where he has been more aggressive, but eventually, Barry slides back to his old ways. While Barry has made adjustments throughout the course of the season, they often come too late.”
Matt LaFleur is loyal to a fault. That is an entirely different conversation for a different place and time. But simply put, he continues to trust people in positions long after they’ve proven not capable. The Amari Rodgers thing was outrageous, but at a certain point it became less Rodgers fault and more LaFleur’s for continuing to trot him out there.
I understand that coaches have deep relationships and there’s a level of respect there but at this point keeping Joe Barry is getting comical. In any football city in America, especially those with expectations as high as they were in Green Bay, a coordinator performing this poorly would rarely survive. It’s time for Barry to go. It’s been time for a while now. If he is still on the staff past the bye week it’s just another reason to question the powers that be, and the way they have decided to run this organization. One thing I know for certain is the calls for his job will not quit anytime soon.
