The Green Bay Packers were incredibly underwhelming in all three phases of the Monday night game against the New York Giants, but their defensive line picked a particularly bad game to disappear. The D-line had zero sacks, one quarterback hit, and gave up 71 rushing yards to Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito. All were major factors why the Packers fell flat in New York.
Injuries have continued to mount throughout the season. The Packers were without Jaire Alexander, Quay Walker, Christian Watson, Aaron Jones, and others in New York. But their defensive line has stayed relatively healthy this year. Veterans Rashan Gary, Kenny Clark, and Preston Smith have been active for all 13 games this season, as have rookies Lukas Van Ness and Karl Brooks. Green Bay’s defensive line had been playing well in its three-game winning streak, with three sacks and seven quarterback hits against Patrick Mahomes over a week ago. But the defensive front no-showed against an offensive line that had allowed the most pressure in the league.
The defensive line wasn’t getting close. Unfortunately for Joe Barry’s squad, this was football, not horseshoes or hand grenades. As good as Gary is, over-pursuing and selling out for the sack only to see a quarterback climb through the pocket to the second level is one of his flaws. The Packers had Devito scrambling, but he made big play after big play with his feet, slipping out of pressure and scampering for back-breaking yardage.
For as much hate as Barry got after the game, had one of the well-paid linemen gotten home on DeVito at the right time, we might be having a much different conversation. To DeVito’s credit, he didn’t force throws when he felt pressure, and he has now gone three-straight games without an interception. There were no coverage sacks, even though the secondary gave the defensive line enough time to get home. Nor were there any truly errant throws that the pass rush forced. Giants coach Brian Daboll didn’t ask DeVito to do too much, and he delivered with an efficient 17/21 passing performance.
The Packers won’t face mobile quarterbacks in the coming weeks. There’s no Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen on the schedule. But it’s not like Tommy DeVito has elite agility. He had averaged just over 16 yards per game rushing in his five previous games this season, including a total of 13 yards over the past two. Green Bay faces the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week, and while he’s not quite the runner he was in college, Baker Mayfield can still scoot a little bit. With quarterbacks like Bryce Young and Justin Fields still on the schedule, the defensive line needs to figure out how to finish off a play with a quarterback hit. At the very least, they must provide some containment so the linebackers can make a play.
Green Bay’s offense struggled in New York. Christian Watson helped provide a level of sophistication within the offense that was lacking on Monday night. And Jordan Love was struggling to get things going with his available healthy players. Love was guilty of missing his fair share of throws and running opportunities, but it was a night when things weren’t quite clicking for the offense.
As the game wore on, it became increasingly apparent that the defense would need to come up with some sort of game-altering play. Green Bay had two golden opportunities fall into its lap. A deflection on a punt left the Packers with excellent field position midway through the third quarter, followed by Saquon Barkley stumbling and fumbling late in the fourth to give Green Bay hope. Still, those two New York giveaways weren’t enough to shift the tides. The Packers were left wanting for one more momentum-shifting play by the defense.
After big wins against the Detroit Lions and the Kansas City Chiefs, people offered Green Bay their fair share of praise in the week leading up to the New York game. The plane ride home was most certainly a humbling experience for the Packers, and how this defensive unit rebounds against the Buccaneers will be most telling. The Packers are still somehow in control of their playoff destiny. But if the defense does another disappearing act like it did on Monday night, the offseason will absolutely come sooner than most Cheeseheads are hoping.
