The Green Bay Packers defense had some obvious holes entering the 2025 season. Trading for Micah Parsons covered up those holes. With Parsons out the rest of the season, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley will have to go back to the drawing board.
Pass Rush
Hafley’s defensive philosophy is to send four pass rushers and drop everyone else into coverage. That strategy only works if those four players can get to the opposing quarterback. Having a player the caliber of Parsons allows that to happen.
When Parsons wasn’t affecting the quarterback himself, he was drawing the attention of two or three blockers of the opposing team. This freed up other players on the Packers defensive line to make plays in the backfield.
After losing Parsons to a torn ACL in Denver, the Packers defense will be relying on the same pass rushers they had last year. Their performance in 2024 left a lot to be desired.
Rashan Gary, Kingsley Enagbare, and Lukas Van Ness will be expected to replace the production lost by Parsons. Gary has failed to live up to the 4-year, $96 million dollar contract extension he signed in 2023. He finished 2024 with just 7.5 sacks.
Van Ness has also failed to live up to the expectations of being the 13th overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft. He has just 8.5 sacks in his career so far.
Green Bay’s defense also lost their best interior pass rusher, Devonte Wyatt, for the season due to an ankle injury.
Hafley will have to get creative in order to overcome his decimated defensive front. Utilizing the speed of linebackers Quay Walker and Edgerrin Cooper on blitzes will be key for the Packers defense to generate pressure on opposing offenses.
Mixing up looks along the front seven to confuse opposing quarterbacks and offensive lines can be effective ways to generate pressure. The Packers defense also has defensive backs that can be used as effective blitzers in Javon Bullard and Keisean Nixon.
There is a down side to sending extra players to rush the passer, however. It leaves less players in coverage. Luckily, Green Bay has one of the best tandems at safety in the NFL with Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams to limit big plays.
Turnovers
The other big difference from a year ago was takeaways. In 2024, the Packers defense finished with 31 turnovers forced. That was good for the fourth most in the NFL.
Through 14 games this season, Green Bay has only taken the ball away 13 times. That ranks 25th in the NFL.
Winning the turnover battle can determine the outcome of games. The Packers are ranked 9th in the NFL in 2025 in turnover differential, because the offense only giving it away 10 times so far this season.
McKinney finished second in the NFL in interceptions last year with 8. He only has 2 so far this season. This is due to a lack of opportunities. Limiting big plays has been been a point of emphasis for the team this year. Opponents have not thrown deep on Green Bay much this season.
Finding a way to force turnovers will be necessary for the Packers defense down the stretch of the season.
Jeff Hafley has been the defensive coordinator in Green Bay for two seasons. Both seasons he has coached effective defenses, even though they have looked drastically different. In order to finish the regular season strong and go on a run in the playoffs, Hafley is going to have to go back to what worked in 2024.
Getting creative schematically to generate pressure and forcing turnovers can keep the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl contention. If Hafley can keep the Packers defense as a top unit after losing one of the best players in the NFL, he will be a head coach for a different team in 2026.
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