It was a disastrous outing for the Green Bay Packers in Denver, and little of that had to do with the 34-26 loss itself.
Zach Tom, Christian Watson, Evan Williams, and Micah Parsons all exited the game with a rogue’s gallery of injuries. In a tough game against the AFC’s top seed, the Packers couldn’t overcome the loss of so many crucial players.
While there was relatively good news regarding Watson, Tom, and Williams, the football gods were far less kind to Parsons; a torn ACL means he’ll miss the rest of this season and likely the start of the next.
Parsons moved the needle for Green Bay to go from a Super Bowl hopeful to a full contender, and few players’ loss will be felt as strongly. But the Packers were well-positioned to fight for the NFC’s best team before the Parsons trade, and we’ll have to hope the rest of the roster can elevate their play in honor of their fallen comrade.
Parsons was the closer and made the splash plays when they counted the most. His individual impact can’t be replaced, but other defenders will need to do their best to try.
Thankfully, at least one defender is particularly breaking out of late: linebacker Edgerrin Cooper.
Cooper had a phenomenal rookie season, earning two Defensive Player of the Week awards, Defensive Rookie of the Month for December/January, and making the PFWA’s All-Rookie team in 2024.
He didn’t have the strongest start to 2025, but we’ve seen more of the evolution we’ve expected over the past few weeks. Cooper fought tooth-and-nail to keep Green Bay afloat against Denver, and the Packers will rely on him heavily for the rest of the season.
Since the gauntlet of tough games starting on Thanksgiving, Cooper has been consistently one of the team’s best defenders.
Against the Detroit Lions, he had nine tackles and two run stops, serving as a major barrier to Detroit’s notorious rushing attack. Against the Chicago Bears, he overtook Quay Walker for the team lead in tackles, had a fumble recovery, and survived a brutal hit from Bears linebacker Kyle Monangai.
He was a monster with splash plays against the Broncos. His first was recovering a fumble after Parsons stripped the ball on Denver’s opening drive, allowing the offense to score three points.
Later, he had a diving pass breakup on a fourth-and-one with just under five minutes left to give the offense a chance to tie the game and force overtime. Alas, they did not. Still, Cooper made the play to keep the dream alive. It was a noteworthy effort play when the defense truly needed one.
On the day, he was PFF’s fifth-highest-graded Packers defender (73) thanks to the splash plays and eight tackles (two for loss). That brought his season tackle total over the century mark (105), 20th in the league.
It wasn’t flawless on a down-by-down basis, with at least one whiffed tackle. Still, Parsons brings an intense playing style and generates splash plays better than almost any other defender.
“He knows where he’s supposed to be in the run game, and he does it in a violent, physical manner,” linebackers coach Sean Duggan said last week. “I think that’s been incredibly consistent, and maybe that’s not splashy, but sometimes playing linebacker isn’t splashy.”
Cooper has been one of the better run defenders on a not-great run defense, and, at least against Denver, the splash plays were there. If that element of his game continues to improve, it bodes well for Jeff Hafley’s defense.
It’s that type of performance the Packers will need if they hope to compete for the Super Bowl, sans Parsons. The cornerbacks have faltered lately, and the pass rush will struggle without Parsons and Devonte Wyatt. The defense won’t be able to easily contain the Bears or Green Bay’s postseason opponents. Splash plays might make all the difference, and Cooper is probably the defender best suited to making them.
Cooper can’t replace Parsons, and he won’t be asked to. But every high-effort play he makes lessens the burden on the rest of the unit. If Green Bay’s defense is to handle the postseason, Cooper’s Year 2 jump and his ability to make splash plays when he can need to be part of the recipe.
