Packers' defensive slip-ups could lead to big fall
CHICAGO — Aaron Rodgers’ aching right calf isn’t the only worry for the Green Bay Packers as they reach the win-or-go-home portion of the season.
The defense just got pushed around like pieces in an electric football game — by a three-win Chicago Bears team with a backup quarterback, no less.
“We won the ball game, first and foremost. But I understand what you’re saying and understand what you’re seeing,” safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix said after the defense collapsed in the fourth quarter, turning a rout into a too-close-for-comfort 30-27 win. “We’ve just got to find a way to finish and play four full quarters.”
Clinton-Dix had back-to-back interceptions as the Packers forced Matt Barkley into turnovers on four consecutive possessions spanning halftime. Safety Micah Hyde also had a pick, and outside linebacker Julius Peppers strip-sacked Barkley on the first play of the second half.
This after harassing Seattle into six turnovers – five of them picks – the previous week.
In a mere two games, the Packers have doubled their number of interceptions for the season and are now tied for second in the NFL with 16.
The problem comes when the defense isn’t getting takeaways. After that four-turnover flurry, the Packers gave up 228 yards as the Bears erased a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
To put that in perspective, Chicago finished the day with 449 yards of total offense. So almost half of their production came in just 15 minutes, when they ran roughshod over the Packers. Chicago's receivers might as well have been wearing red practice jerseys for as little as they were touched, and Jordan Howard chewed up more turf than a lawn mower.
Hyde did make the play of the game, batting away Barkley’s third-down pass at the goal line to save what would have been Chicago’s go-ahead touchdown. But the fact the Packers needed him to make that play ought to give coordinator Dom Capers and everyone else on the defensive side of the ball pause.
“That’s something we have to work on, closing out games,” Hyde acknowledged.
Chicago is slightly better than its 3-11 record indicates, and records are largely irrelevant in a grudge match that is nearly a century old. The Packers also were without sack leader Nick Perry (hand), and a shoulder injury has left Clay Matthews a shadow of his former self.
Still. If the Packers can’t stop the Bears, what happens when they run into, say, Dallas? If they even get that far.
The Packers are doing their usual December thing, piling up wins and improving their playoff position. And while Sunday’s victory, coupled with Detroit’s loss, gives them control of their destiny, they still trail the Lions by a game.
Green Bay has to win out, or it could find itself on the couch for the playoffs for the first time since 2008, Rodgers’ first season as the starting quarterback.
“Not really. Not really,” Peppers said when asked if he was concerned about the defense’s disappearance in the fourth quarter. “Those are things you get cleaned up during the week. You take a look at it and you see what happened. It seems like it should be easy and correctable.”
Maybe. But it’s reminiscent of the struggles the Packers had when they were in the midst of their four-game skid that pushed them to the brink of playoff oblivion.
Green Bay gave up an average of 420 yards in those losses, and was particularly hapless against the Tennessee Titans (446 yards) and Washington Redskins (515). In its three wins that followed? An average of 318 yards -- and that includes 354 by Seattle, which was forced to throw a lot because it was in such a big hole.
“It’s just playing fast,” Clinton-Dix said of what needs to change. “Having all 11 guys get to the ball. Make plays and get them on the ground.”
When the Packers defense is locked in, it's a fearsome bunch. See the Seattle game, or that 20-minute span during Sunday's contest when it was shaking down Barkley like a lunch-room bully.
But relying on takeaways is a dangerous game, and it's one the Packers will ultimately lose.
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Follow Paste BN Sports columnist Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour
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