Green Bay Packers Defense year in review and grades

Dec 21, 2014; Tampa, FL, USA; Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Clay Matthews (52) during the first half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Green Bay Packers are an elite offensive team that often relies on their defense to do just enough, perhaps creating a turnover along the way.  Despite some serious struggles up the middle on the defensive line and in the linebacking corps, the defense played the pass well and held strong against the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship, albeit for just 55 minutes.

Defensively, the Green Bay Packers ranked near the middle of the league in yardage allowed and points scored, with opponents putting up an average of 21.8 per game.  Defending the run game, of course, was the achilles heel of this Packers team early in the season, and they ended 2014 ranked 23rd in the league averaging 119.9 yards allowed per game.

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Stopping the aerial attack, however, was a different story.  Green Bay allowed just 226.4 passing yards per game, good for 10th in the NFL, which is made more impressive by how often they held big leads with their opponents trying to throw their way back into games.  Tramon Williams, Sam Shields and Casey Hayward were helped by a strong season from Morgan Burnett and surprise rookie campaign by Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.

Green Bay posted 18 interceptions and 41 sacks, both above the league average, and were one of the better units at forcing fumbles from opposing running backs, most notably on DeMarco Murray in their Divisional Playoff game.

While this unit impresses on one play, it can disappear on the next.  The struggles against the run can be critical late in games, and opposing teams looked to expose the Packers’ holes often.  This is an important time for Green Bay’s defense, which could fill 2-3 holes and excel in 2015, or continue with it’s inconsistencies and burden the team.  First, let’s take a look back at the year that was and hand out grades to each position.

Next: The defensive line disappoints