The Packers defense could figure it out under the direction of Jeff Hafley

GREEN BAY – What does it say about how far your defense has come when your middle linebacker goes down and his replacement gets two sacks?

Or when a guy forgets to blitz, then remembers, and then forces the quarterback to make an incomplete throw on third down?

Or when your free safety lines up at the line of scrimmage, no one bothers to block him, and he throws the quarterback out on third down?

That means the new defensive coordinator and his players are starting to figure things out and play like the unit everyone thought they could be. That doesn't mean they've arrived, but it says a lot about how far they've come.

The Packers' 24-22 victory over the Houston Texans may have been due to a walk-off field goal by Brandon McManus after the offense had traveled 44 yards in 1 minute, 44 seconds to set up the 45-yard kick .

But it wouldn't have been possible if the defense had played its best game yet.

“It’s a great offense,” defensive tackle Kenny Clark said of the Texans. “And I mean, we just did a great job. We had a great plan and just put them in temporary situations. Once we put them in those passing situations, we had a good plan for the third period.”

The Packers' defense keeps the Texans on third down

The Texans came into the game ranked 11th in third-down percentage (41.5%), but the Packers held them to just 4 of 13 (30.8%) while limiting quarterback CJ Stroud to the fewest passing attempts. yards in his 24-game career (including playoffs).

Against complex pressure from coordinator Jeff Hafley, Stroud completed 10 of 21 passes for 86 yards and was sacked four times. He finished with the second-lowest passer rating (58.8) of his career despite not throwing an interception.

The Packers were fortunate not to face the Texans' top receiver, Nico Collins, who is on injured reserve, but they held their leading receiver, Stefon Diggs, to five catches for 23 yards and their third-leading receiver, Tank Dell, on five catches for 23 yards No catches on four targets.

“I can’t say enough great things about our defense,” coach Matt LaFleur said after his team improved to 5-2. “About the job he (Hafley) and our staff gave our guys and the aggressive mindset.

“You could tell that at the beginning of this matter we didn't want to allow CJ to get comfortable. I think CJ is a real guy in this league and he's going to be one for a very long time. So, just to put that pressure on him…”

In the first half, the defense had to start a drive on its own 11-yard line twice and beyond Houston's 40-yard line twice more. It held the Texans to two field goals and two touchdowns on those four drives and allowed running back Joe Mixon 81 yards on 11 carries.

Given that the Texans scored their 19 points on five completions and 121 total yards, it was hard to blame the defense too much, but things should get better in the second half.

For example, punts on four of Houston's five possessions.

“Sometimes, like in this game, there were certain adjustments in the game where we came to halftime and said, 'Okay, you know, we're going to get a little bit more pressure just because of how the game is.' goes,'” safety Xavier McKinney said.

“Sometimes you have to get a feel for the game and how the guys are covering or doing it, whatever. So this is a kind of adjustment in the game. And we started applying some pressure and it worked well.”

Eric Wilson gets two sacks after Quay Walker's concussion

Normally, linebacker Eric Wilson wouldn't have been on the field for his two sacks, but he was forced to take over as the “Mike” linebacker when Quay Walker suffered a concussion in the second quarter.

Wilson, who weighs just 220 pounds but is the Packers' fastest linebacker, got early blitz opportunities in the second half.

They were plays that were probably intended for Walker, but because the Packers lined up six or seven players at the line of scrimmage and then did spins and stunts with the linebackers and defensive linemen, Wilson had the freedom to sack Stroud and two of the Texans to finish. first three drives of the second half.

“It was a huge job coming up with a game plan and then making any necessary adjustments,” Wilson said. “It’s part of the job. Hafley did a great job.”

Hafley also laid out some options to relieve Rashan Gary of the one sack he has had since the season opener. Aware that Gary struggled with chip blocks from running backs and tight ends, he had him stand up like a linebacker on third downs and occasionally run around the middle.

This made it more difficult for the Texans to double Gary and allowed some of the inside players to hinder him, allowing him to get free. Gary chased Stroud all over the field and finished the game with five tackles, a sack and two quarterback hits.

His pressure on the Texans' first series – after quarterback Jordan Love was intercepted and the ball was returned 45 yards to the Packers' 11 – forced Stroud into a bad throw on third down and the Texans into a field goal.

Gary came with a delayed blitz attack, but it wasn't to be. He was supposed to be blocked, but guard Kenyon Green, seeing Gary staying put, went somewhere else to help, leaving a huge hole in the middle.

“I'm not going to lie to you, I kind of didn't realize what happened next,” Gary said. “So, I did it and really got going and should have gotten a sack. But that’s how we play together.”

Bottom line: If Hafley hadn't put Gary in that position, the Texans might have scored.

When he put safety Xavier McKinney in position to get a sack, he completely fooled the Texans and forced a punt early. Hafley had announced a similar attack for slot cornerback Keisean Nixon against Minnesota, but this time he took advantage of McKinney by sending the free safety to the right edge to create a seven-man front.

The Texans expected a heavy rush on the other side and shifted their offensive line in that direction. McKinney ran right past running back Dameon Pierce, who went to run a route, and blasted an unsuspecting Stroud from behind.

“With everything we showed, I didn’t have to go,” McKinney said. “So you didn’t expect me to leave. I have to thank Haf for setting this up. Now they have to account for me when I come down.

“They don’t know if it’s real or not.”

After allowing a 6-minute drive in the fourth quarter, it looked like the defense would have to wait another week to be considered real. But on first-and-goal at the 12, they dropped Mixon for two straight losses and forced an incompletion on third down to keep the Texans out of the end zone.

After that it was up to Love and McManus. Just like their defensive counterparts, they have it figured out.

The Packers' defense keeps the Texans on third down

Eric Wilson gets two sacks after Quay Walker's concussion

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