Packers Need To Shore Up Run-Defense To Make Playoff Run

The Green Bay Packers lost to the Tennessee Titans Sunday, but the story of this most recent loss sounds eerily similar to the Packers three previous losses thus far in 2008. To find the plot of this recurring tale, look no farther than the Green Bay run-defense.

First, lets take a gander at the Packers early struggles stopping the run. In week one, the Vikings were able to rumble for 187 yards, including 103 by Minnesota's star running back Adrian Peterson. The Packers won the game, but it most definitely wasn't attributed to the Packers run-defense.

Then, in week two, Green Bay held the still-winless Detroit Lions to a meager 47 yards rushing. The Lions were down 21 points before they even knew they were playing a football game, so at that point running the ball wasn't going to be an option. Even so, seven weeks later, this hardly looks like an accomplishment as the Lions rank 31st in the NFL in rushing per game.

All hell breaks loose for the Packer run defense from there. In weeks Cowboys-Packers">three, four, and five, the Packers gave up 217, 178, and 176 rushing yards, respectively, and Green Bay lost all three games. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said afterwards that run defense is "the thermometer of a defense". In all fairness, the run-defense in Green Bay was a Lambeau-in-January type cold to start the 2008 season.

But then, in the following two weeks, Packers fans saw a glimmer of hope, a definitive rise in McCarthy's hypothetical thermometer. Things were starting to heat up for the Packers run-defense.

This "mini-rejuvenation" started in Seattle, where Green Bay held the lowly Seahawks to only 113 yards rushing. That number was even skewed slightly higher when quarterback Charlie Frye had a 29-yard run in garbage time for the Seahawks. More importantly, the Packers won the game and the run defense appeared to be making positive strides.

The next week, the Packers got the luxury of facing the NFL's worst running team, the Indianapolis Colts. Green Bay held the rushing-challenged Colts to 73 yards, and heading into the bye, the Packer run-defense was actually gaining confidence that the unit could actually stop an NFL rushing attack.

Packers defensive coordinator Bob Sanders praised the unit after the Colts win. "We've been taking enormous steps forward in our run-defense in the past couple of weeks," Sanders said. "Hopefully, with the bye week and rest, we can continue our recent success and build on it moving forward."

That was all proved to be false advertising in week nine, as the Titans smash 'n' dash duo of Chris Johnson and LenDale White ran every-which-way all over the Packers. Tennessee accumulated 178 yards on the ground, and in the fourth quarter and overtime again exposed Green Bay's deficiencies in run defense.

After the Titans game, McCarthy had a much different tone then his defensive coordinator had just a game earlier when referring to his run defense.

"We need to play better run defense, McCarthy said. "I think we're a physical defense, just the way we're structured. Scheme-wise dictates that. Bump-and-run, two-gap inside. I'm disappointed in some of the continuous gap control problems that we've had."

"Floating to the gap instead of attacking the gap, just the fundamentals of football. You're probably tired of hearing about it. But there's a number of different fundamentals and techniques involved in gap control. And we do it as good as it can be done, and then we slip up and it costs us, and it's happened too much to us this year."

Statistically, McCarthy is right on. After eight completed games, the Packers rank 27th in run defense, and the truth of the matter is that the Packers have only "stopped" two rushing attacks (if that's the appropriate word) that rank 31st and 32nd in the NFL in running the ball. Holding them to their respective yardages in those games is more of a commonplace than an actual defensive achievement.

In all reality, the Packers win or lose on a given week almost solely on the performance of their run defense. Green Bay has given up an average of 188 yards in their four losses, but only 103 per game in their four wins. So in hindsight, when the Packers stop the run, they can be quite a tough squad to beat.

An NFC Scout was quoted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as saying one of the Packers most glaring weakness was their inability to stop the run, and that could directly hinder their run to a second-straight NFC North crown.

"Without Cullen Jenkins, [the Packers] are just hanging on inside. They get out-worked in run-defense, and with the workhorse backs like Peterson and Forte in this division, Green Bay could be in trouble in those games moving on," the scout said. "I don't see a way they make the post-season unless the run-defense improves drastically, and even if they did make the playoffs, they'd be a first-round exit with all the running prowess in the NFC."

As the scout said, a playoff berth could be a stretch. Looking to the remaining schedule for the Packers, there are some good rushing teams that could give Green Bay fits. This list includes Minnesota (Peterson, sixth ranked rushing-offense), Chicago twice (Forte, 11th), Carolina (DeAngelo Williams, 13th), Jacksonville (Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor, 17th), and Houston (Steve Slaton, 16th).

Even so, Packers defensive tackles coach Robert Nunn has somehow stayed optimistic throughout the struggles. “I do (think it’s fixable), I really believe that,” Nunn said. “I do believe we can play the run, and we’ve proven we can play the run. We’ve got to just stay with attention to detail and not let the little things come back and haunt us. We’ve got to tighten down on our technique and our assignments. If we do that, we will be a good run defense.”

Despite Nunn's optimism, the truth of the matter is the Packers better start playing consistent run defense, or this Packer season could all but end in the next two weeks. The Titans proved it doesn't take good quarterback play, by any means of the definition, to beat the Packers. With Rex Grossman in, we almost certainly will get to see a healthy dose of the NFC North's two best running backs, Peterson and Forte, in back-to-back weeks.

What better time to finally turn up McCarthy's "thermometer" than these next two weeks? Because, really, the Packers 2008 season depends on it.