Devonte Wyatt was doing the unthinkable by holding down the fort on the interior of the defensive line after they dealt Kenny Clark in the Micah Parsons trade. Wyatt’s devastating, season-ending ankle injury is a gut punch for the Green Bay Packers’ defense. Now the Packers must soldier on without him to face their division rivals from Soldier Field, and the Chicago Bears will undoubtedly test the effect of Wyatt’s absence early and often.
Wyatt had 22 quarterback pressures on the season, tied with Karl Brooks for the most among Green Bay’s defensive tackles. Wyatt accumulated his number with 64 fewer pass-rush opportunities. Injuries aren’t anything new for Wyatt; it seems like just as he’s started to hit a groove — like in the first four games of the 2024 season, and now this year — health woes halt his progress.
No team averages more rushing attempts per game than Ben Johnson and the Bears. Chicago is running the ball 31.2 times per game this season, tops in the league.
It was their bread and butter against the Philadelphia Eagles. Johnson’s offense gashed Philly with one inside run after another, totaling 47 rushing attempts opposed to just 36 pass attempts from Caleb Williams in last Friday’s win. When the Bears needed to keep the good vibes rolling, they turned to the two-headed monster of D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai.
This likely would’ve been a focal point for Chicago against the Packers regardless. It’s been a key component of their offense. Now with Wyatt on the shelf, Johnson will be even more incentivized to feed his two running backs.
Head coach Matt LaFleur knows replacing Wyatt won’t be easy, and one player won’t do it.
I’m sick for him, I’m sick for us, that’s a critical loss for our football, for our defense obviously. I can’t say enough great things about him in terms of watching him mature, not only as a football player, as a person, I’ve got a lot of love for Devonte Wyatt and I think the whole locker room does, too, so (the victory is) a little bittersweet.
Micah Parsons has done exactly what he did in Dallas: make life a living hell for opposing offensive lines and quarterbacks. He’s rained praise on Wyatt at a couple of different junctures this year and reflected on Wyatt’s season and what the Packers will have to do now that Wyatt’s out for the season.
I didn’t realize what happened until I got to the locker room. I am obviously praying for him. You guys see the difference he makes when he got back out in the field. I mean, he’s a player you can’t replace. We’re gonna have to ask a lot of young guys to step up. It’s going be challenging but we’re gonna have to really dial into our details and our fundamentals and try to replace someone that’s un-replaceable. That’s the reality.
Suddenly, a defense that was humming along beautifully has a major sticking point. Immediately facing off against Chicago, a team that will lean on the run as much as possible, will be a great first test to see how the unit looks without Wyatt in the fold.
Monangai ran for 130 yards against the Eagles, nearly matched by Swift’s 125. (Yes, you read that correctly.) It’s an Eagles defense that hasn’t been great at stopping the run this year — they’re No. 24 in the NFL — but giving up 125-plus yards to two different running backs in one game is beyond unacceptable, regardless of the carry totals.
The good news for the Packers is that their run defense has largely been solid this year. There have been hiccups against the likes of the Carolina Panthers’ Rico Dowdle and the Cleveland Browns’ Quinshon Judkins. Still, the Packers also held the electric Jahmyr Gibbs to 68 yards on 20 carries after bottling him up in Week 1. The run defense has been brilliant in some weeks and above average overall. Most of that has come with Wyatt in the middle.
If there’s one group Packers fans should have faith in figuring their way through adversity, it’s this defense. The offense looked phenomenal against Detroit twice, but otherwise it’s often been a bumpy ride. Special teams have been a mixed bag.
But the defense has been Super Bowl good. Missing one player, even a key one, shouldn’t completely change that, but it will require some craft adjustments from Jeff Hafley. The Bears will undoubtedly force that to happen right away, which is both a challenge for the Packers but also an opportunity to adapt heading into the stretch run of the season.
