This is the second in a series of articles evaluating the Green Bay Packers in 2013.
Overview: The Packers brought in defensive guru Dom Capers and his 3-4 defense in 2009 to transform their defense into an aggressive unit that created pressure and caused turnovers. In one year Capers turned a 20th ranked defensive unit in yards into a second ranked defense that also finished 1st in turnovers. He turned a once disgruntled Charles Woodson into AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2009. In his second year, the Packers won the Super Bowl behind a defense that finished second in points allowed and sixth in turnovers. After that initial success, the Packers defense has been trending downward, and reached a new low in 2013. The Green Bay defensive unit finished 24th in the NFL in points allowed and 21st in takeaways, both of which were worsts under Capers. The dramatic decrease in turnovers was the most unusual stat for a team that twice led the league in that category in the last five years. Injuries and youth at several positions certainly contributed, but the defense as a whole failed to carry their weight when called upon.
Defensive Line: The Packers had a couple starters under perform and a couple younger players who really stepped up on the defensive front. B.J. Raji failed to record a sack for the second consecutive season, and his tackles dipped under 20 for the first time in his career. Ryan Pickett started all 16 games with Raji, and he also failed to get a sack for the third straight year or reach 20 tackles for the first time since his rookie season in 2001. Second year lineman Mike Daniels stepped in and delivered 6.5 sacks while making an impact in the run game with 23 tackles. 2013 first-round pick Datone Jones also produced in limited action with 3.5 sacks.
The return of Johnny Jolly also provided some help in the running game, giving the Packers a presence at the nose tackle position to crowd the line. The decision on whether to retain the struggling Raji will be a difficult one, but the Packers have some talent waiting in the wings and should find depth in the draft.
Final Grade: C+
Linebackers: With four linebackers on the field in a base 3-4 defense, one injury can test the depth of a team. The Packers dealt with several, with the most significant being Clay Matthews' thumb injury. Matthews broke his thumb, missed four games, then re-broke it in Week 16 against Pittsburgh. He missed the rest of the season.
A.J. Hawk raised his level of play a bit closer to what the Packers were expecting when they drafted in the first round in 2006. He led the team with 118 tackles, and showed more play-making ability with a career-high five sacks. Brad Jones also grew into the inside-linebacker role, posting double-digit tackles in five of the twelve games he played in. Jamari Lattimore and Andy Mulumba served as suitable backups when called upon.
At outside linebacker, the loss of Matthews and Nick Perry for several games each gave more opportunities to Mike Neal. The fourth-year player, transitioning from defensive end to linebacker, rose to the challenge with five sacks and his first career interception.
Health was a major issue for the line-backing core, but ultimately a 3-4 defense relies heavily on linebackers to stop the run, and a 25th NFL ranking in that department would suggest they failed.
Final Grade: C
Cornerbacks: The defensive backfield struggled so much in 2013 that I felt the need to split it into corners and safeties for the sake of this evaluation. For the first time sense Dom Capers took over in 2009, Green Bay failed to finish in the top ten in interceptions. The loss of the veteran presence of Charles Woodson definitely took away some of the ball hawking mentality of the Green Bay secondary. The Packers not only were failing to hold on to the ball, they weren't deflecting passes either, finishing tied for 27th in the NFL in passes defensed.
What this seems to point to is that the Packers did not employ effective coverage in 2013. Pass rush was not the problem, as Green Bay ranked eighth in sacks, tying them with the Seattle Seahawks, who coincidentally led the league in interceptions.
Employing good coverage starts with the corners, who seemingly left head-scratching holes in the secondary game after game. Man coverage didn't help much either, as Tramon Williams, Sam Shields, and Micah Hyde among others would inexplicably line up eight to ten yards off the line of scrimmage no matter the down and distance. In a league that does not allow defenders to make contact with receivers beyond five yards, it seems like a huge disadvantage to the defense to surrender those five yards and not disrupt the timing of receivers at all. Disrupting that timing also gives pass rushers additional time to reach the quarterback, which would also seem to benefit an aggressive 3-4 defense.
Whether this technique was a scheme employed by Capers or the cornerbacks themselves, it points to one thing: a lack of faith in the back-end coverage, namely the safeties.
Final Grade: D
Safeties: Going off of the cornerbacks section, the only reason that the Packers would surrender so much yardage on the outside is because they did not trust their safeties. Green Bay has seen two ball-hawking safeties leave in the last two years in Nick Collins and Charles Woodson. Since Collins' departure due to a neck injury and Woodson returning to the Raiders, the Packers have not had reliable coverage on the back end. As a result, the defense has to compensate by drifting the corners further back to prevent the deep pass, knowing that anything that gets past them is as good as gone with the Packers' poor safety play in 2013.
Morgan Burnett and M.D. Jennings were almost useless in pass coverage, totaling zero interceptions and five pass deflections all season. By comparison, Charles Woodson never had fewer than 12 in seasons he played at least 15 games for the Packers. Nick Collins had 40 pass deflections and 17 interceptions in his final three complete seasons spanning 2008-2010.
The safeties, particularly the free safety, are very important to a successful 3-4 defense. They play center field and give the cornerbacks confidence to challenge the wide receivers at the line of scrimmage, knowing that if anything gets past them, the safeties will pick up their coverage. The Packers did not have solid safety play all season, which stretched the defense thin and contributed greatly to the struggles the Packers endured in 2013.
Final Grade: F
Summary: Dom Capers greatly missed the veteran presence of Charles Woodson in 2013. Without him, the Packers lacked aggressiveness on defense and the ability to create turnovers. Injuries also tested depth at other positions, which often yielded more frustration than hope for the future. GM Ted Thompson cannot ignore the safety position this offseason, and may need to go against his normal philosophy of avoiding free agency and trading down in the draft to do it. The defense was called upon time and time again in 2013, and failed to deliver due to a combination of personnel and scheme issues that need to be fixed if the Packers want to get past more complete teams like the 49ers and Seahawks in the NFC.
Final Grade: D+
Green Bay Packers 2013 Report Card: Offense
Green Bay Packers 2013 Report Card: Special Teams
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