There’s a lot to be said for consistency. But there is also the issue of capitalizing on opportunities. In 2010, the Green Bay Packers rallied later in the year to finish with a 10-6 record and grabbed a wild-card berth. Road playoff wins over the Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons and Chicago Bears, quarterback Aaron Rodgers and his teammates knocked off the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. That season was the second in what has been eight consecutive postseason appearances by Mike McCarthy’s team. Unfortunately for the franchise, that remains the lone Super Bowl appearance by the club over the eight-year span.
All told, Green Bay has come up short in two of the past three NFC title games. In 2016, the Packers’ defense proved to be an even bigger liability than its recent predecessors. So has dependable help arrived for this unit, most notably in the secondary?
Who they added
It has been a busy offseason for Green Bay Packers’ general manager Ted Thompson. The team was more active than usual during free agency. The club also wound up trading down and out of the first round in last week’s draft. They gave the 29th overall selection to the Cleveland Browns for second- and fourth-round selections. They wound using a pair of No. 2s to choose University of Washington cornerback Kevin King and North Carolina State safety Josh Jones.
Add in the return of corner Davon House (released by the Jacksonville Jaguars) and there is some promise for a group that took a beating in 2016. The Packers still have two-year cornerbacks Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins, as well as the safety tandem of Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and seven-year pro Morgan Burnett. But health was a major issue at the corners this past season.
The task ahead
First things first. The Green Bay Packers ranked 22nd in the NFL in total yards allowed this past season. And don’t be fooled by the fact that only seven teams in the league allowed fewer yards on the ground than Dom Capers’ defensive unit. That figure was bolstered by a good start by this group, only to see the team struggle in this department as well.
Meanwhile, injuries in the secondary – particularly at cornerback – were one reason for the team’s disappointing performance against opposing quarterbacks. Only the New Orleans Saints surrendered more yards through the air than the Packers. Green Bay defenders also surrendered 32 touchdown passes in 16 regular-season games, then eight more aerial scores and 326.0 passing yards per contest in their three-game postseason run. Things should be better this fall, because things couldn’t get much worse in ’16.
