GREEN BAY, Wis. With Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, the Green Bay Packers defense has always played second fiddle. Taken the back seat. Been the ugly duckling.Thats not the case with the 2022 NFL season on the horizon. While the Denis Savard Jersey offseason trade of Davante Adams created serious questions for an offense that was overwhelmed by the 49ers in the playoffs, expectations are incredibly high for a defense that dominated that postseason matchup.On paper, general manager Brian Gutekunst has a sembled a powerful defense. If everyones healthy, there are no weak links. Pro Bowler Kenny Clark anchors the defensive line. All-Pro DeVondre Campbell leads the inside linebackers. Rashan Gary and Preston Smith provide a formidable one-two punch at outside linebacker. Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas and Eric Stokes could be the NFLs finest trio of cornerbacks. Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage form a strong tandem at safety. First-round picks were used on linebacker Quay Walker and defensive tackle Patrick Sharp Jersey Devonte Wyatt, and defensive tackle Jarran Reed was added in free agency. Its going to be scary, Gary said. Once we get our communication down and were all on the same page, its going to be good.Just nasty, Alexander said.Were trying to be the best defense, Douglas said. I think weve got the pieces.Douglas nailed it. The Packers do have the pieces. And trying to be the best defense is a worthy goal. It will be about mindset to make it happen. The Packers cant just expect to put their helmets on and overwhelm the Vikings in Week 1 or have Tom Brady reconsider his unretirement in Week 3.Heres the thing: Green Bays powerful playoff performance hides the fact that the defense really wasnt that good last season.Over the final seven games of last season, the Packers allowed 28-plus points five times tied for the worst in the NFL. When Joe Barrys defense should have been peaking, it ranked a woeful 28th in points allowed down the stretch. No team allowed more touchdown pa ses. It finished 24th in total defense, 22nd on third down and 28th in yards allowed per carry.To be sure, a healthy Alexander should change the math. An All-Pro in 2020, Alexander mi sed most of the 2021 season with a shoulder injury. Reed and Wyatt should improve the defensive line, and a Campbell- Dominik Kahun Jersey Walker pairing at inside linebacker could be formidable.But Campbell had never been an elite linebacker and Douglas had never been an above-average cornerback. Were they one-year wonders or can repeat performances be expected? There are obvious questions about the draft picks, too. The NFL Draft is a notoriously fickle thing. Theres no guarantee Walker who wasnt exactly a playmaker at Georgia will be an upgrade over Krys Barnes. Theres no guarantee Wyatt wont be pushed around by NFL blockers.Will the defense be better with Barry due to experience or worse because opponents will have had the offseason to study tendencies?Weve got to play a game Jordan Schroeder Jersey first, but weve got all the pieces, Alexander said.It will be up to Barry to a semble those pieces into a consistently strong unit. The potential is there. From Week 6 at Chicago through Week 10 against Seattle, the Packers allowed just 11.6 points per game. Things went off the rails from there, only for the defense to deliver a masterpiece against the 49ers to end 2021 and fuel expectations for 2022.Scroll to ContinueIf it all comes together, the defense wont play second fiddle. It will be the leader of the band that marches to the Super Bowl.Daily excellence is our goal, Barry said at the start of OTAs. I tell the defense all the time, if you can walk out of this building 1 percent better than you walked in it and it sounds maybe kind of corny or cheesy but I think if you take that mentality every single day I think its so great that we have guys that, they look back at last year and even though from a team standpoint it was brutal, devastating, we didnt Gustav Forsling Jersey hoist the Lombardi Trophy, so in our mind its a failure as a team, but when you do look at the specifics of the way we played, we played good. But our goal is to play great and our goal is to play great every single week, and we got a bunch of guys in that locker room that have that mindset and were chomping at the bit to get started.NFC North InsidersPart 1: Part 2: . Part 3: .Part 4: .Part 5: Part 6: Countdown to Packers Training Camp
