Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said his team was not in the correct defense at … [+]
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.What was Jeff Hafley thinking?
That question has been on the mind of Packer Nation ever since Sunday’s 24-22 loss to Chicago.
In that game, the Packers led, 22-21, with 15 seconds left. Chicago was out of timeouts and faced a third-and-11 at its own 49-yard line.
That’s when Hafley — Green Bay’s defensive coordinator — played a coverage that was mystifying, to say the least. Hafley had three safeties lined up 25 yards off the line of scrimmage, meaning the Packers were almost playing 8 vs. 11.
Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams took full advantage, hitting wideout D.J. Moore for 18 yards in a wide open middle of the field. The Bears spiked the ball with 2 seconds left, then kicker Cairo Santos drilled a game-winning field goal as time expired.
On Thursday, Hafley addressed the defensive meltdown for the first time, and said that was not the coverage Green Bay was supposed to be in.
“There was miscommunication,” Hafley said. “It’s not the call we were supposed to be in, certainly not at that time. Obviously, frustrating, disappointing. Learn from it. Move on, and we have we’re on a Philly, but I’m not, I’m not gonna sit here and get in the rehash all that, and I’m sorry that I can’t do that.”
When asked about the critical final play Monday, Packers coach Matt LaFleur said: “Obviously, can’t be in that call in that situation.”
How the Packers could have “miscommunication” is alarming considering they called a timeout before Chicago’s final offensive play.
Prior to that play, the Bears had just 206 yards of total offense. Williams spent most of the game throwing bubble screens and short passes against an aggressive, stout Green Bay defense.
At the moment of truth, though, Hafley’s defense collapsed.
Green Bay rushed just three on the final play. Moore was lined up wide left and had one-on-one coverage from cornerback Carrington Valentine, while the Bears lined up three wideouts right that were flanked by cornerbacks Eric Stokes, Keisean Nixon and Corey Ballentine.
Linebacker Eric Wilson followed running back D’Andre Swift into the flat, while safeties Xavier McKinney, Javon Bullard and Kitan Oladapo were lined up at the Green Bay 26.
Moore beat Valentine on an inside slant, and the nearest defender to help was 15 yards away. That allowed Moore to gain 7 yards after the catch, setting up Santos for his game-winning kick.
Hafley wouldn’t say Thursday what defense Green Bay was supposed to be in, but it certainly wasn’t the one the Packers lined up in.
“It clearly was not what we were supposed to be in,” Hafley said. “Certainly. So miscommunication, not, not, not ideal with what we were going to be in. Disappointing, learn from, it will never happen again. So learning experience.”
Back in 2003, Packers defensive coordinator Ed Donatell lost his job after Green Bay allowed Philadelphia to convert a fourth-and-26 that led to a game-tying field goal in the NFC divisional playoffs. The Eagles went on to win that game, 20-17, in overtime.
On fourth-and-26, Green Bay sat in a Cover 2 defense and rushed four. And when the pressure was non-existent, the middle of the field was wide open.
Nick Barnett, Green Bay’s middle linebacker, failed to get a deep enough drop with Eagles wideout Freddie Mitchell. Safeties Marques Anderson and Darren Sharper had inexplicably fallen 30 yards deep into coverage.
Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb fired a laser to Mitchell, and when safety Bhawoh Jue made a poor play on the ball and both safeties arrived late, Mitchell picked up 28 yards and the most impossible of first downs.
A math professor at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay later calculated the odds of the Eagles picking up a first down as 1-in-339.
“Let’s not sugarcoat it,” Donatell said when talking about the play more than a year later. “It’s part of Packer history. They’ll talk about it for a long, long time.”
People may not remember Chicago’s conversion and game-winning kick with the same disgust years from now. This was a regular season game and Green Bay was locked into the No. 7 seed no matter what happened against the Bears.
Make no mistake, though, the performance of Hafley’s unit was every bit as egregious — if not more so — than Donatell’s was 21 years earlier.
And it doesn’t bode well for the Packers as they get ready to face the Eagles in a wild card playoff game Sunday.
Read the full article here
