How the Packers had a top passing defense despite talent issues and what it means for how they build moving forward

It doesn't really make sense. Jeff Hafley put together an elite defense with cornerback questions, two rookies starting and a pass rush that didn't show up. How?

Matt LaFleur and Jeff Hafley wanted to rely on the front four to get pressure, let Xavier McKinney roam the middle of the field, and create turnovers at a high rate, all while stopping the run with an extra guy in the box. Remarkably, they accomplished all of those goals except one, setting up one of the starkest improvements in one offseason made by the Green Bay Packers in recent years. They did it without the front dominating, with Jaire Alexander missing more than half the season, and three rookies starting in the back seven. Oh and trading their longest-tenured edge player in the middle of the season.

It’s a credit to Hafley he made it work, and to Brian Gutekunst for nailing the McKinney acquisition. Though Javon Bullard struggled in coverage this season, the Packers thought him good enough to start him at two different positions this season and he looks like the nickel corner in Green Bay for a long time. Fellow rookie Evan Williams started his career on fire and tailed a bit as injuries mounted late in the season, but he looks like one of the steals of the 2024 draft already.

Without them, the Packers don’t become the 9th-best pass defense by DVOA or 4th in EPA/dropback. Improving the safety position provided the salve for a defense that got sub-par play for stalwarts on the defensive line and another banged-up season from the best cornerback on the team by a Lambeau mile.

A secondary starting Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine, and the aforementioned Bullard blanketed the eventual Super Bowl Champions in Philadelphia for the Wild Card game. Jalen Hurts may have been coming off a long rest with a concussion, but that wasn’t why he managed a meager 131 yards throw the air against Hafley’s crew.

No one was open.

And even with the questions about the talent of the personnel, the Packers secondary finished 9th in DVOA vs. WR1s, 12th against WR2s, and 13th against WR3s.

Name the game they lost because they couldn’t cover anyone. The best example might be the second Minnesota Vikings game, but how many times did Sam Darnold hold the ball, clutch it, double-clutch it, and then find someone open because the Packers pass rush was banging its head into a purple wall?