If you watched the green bay packers’ past two games, you’d expect them to have two future hall of fame quarterbacks in a row: tommy devito of the new york giants and baker mayfield of the tampa bay buccaneers. Devito led the giants to a victory on “monday night football,” passing 17-of-21 passes for 158 yards and one touchdown with 71 rushing yards (no sacks).
The packers’ pathetic defensive showing against mayfield and the buccaneers was similar. With a passer rating of 158.3, he completed 22-of-28 passes for 381 yards and four touchdowns. As if this wasn’t bad enough, green bay’s odds of making the playoffs were almost shattered by these two losses. Sure, that wasn’t the goal this season, but two games ago, the packers were one of the league’s hottest young teams, and they had a real chance.
The defense of defensive coordinator joe barry has ruined it. Isn’t now the right time to fire barry? This season has been all about growth, and one thing we can say for certain is that barry has failed to capitalize on the plethora of talent drafted for his defense by general manager brian gutekunst for two seasons in a row now.
Matt lafleur may not be able to make the playoffs this season, but he can make a statement that would resound throughout his young locker room: exceed the expectations of playing in green bay or lose your job. however, it seems lafleur isn’t able to make the move at this point. When asked if he would consider an in-season change as coordinator, lafleur said, “yeah, now is not the time for that to be honest with you.” Why not? “now is not the time to do so.” I’m trying to find solutions, so i’m going back and taking a look at the film,” lafleur explained.
It’s worth noting that barry’s contract will expire after this season, so lafleur will not have to fire him in order to find a new defensive coordinator for 2024. With that being said, lafleur’s inability to take action in this regard may be a defining characteristic of his young and tenacious crew.
