Barry Needs To Be Better

The Packers are ranked in the top 10 in both points and yards allowed, but it's OK to be very concerned about Joe Barry.




While Barry's hiring wasn't popular back in February 2021, his first season in Green Bay went OK. Despite not having two of his best players for most of the year (cornerback Jaire Alexander and edge rusher Za'Darius Smith), the defense finished in the top 13 in both points and yards allowed. And then that unit held San Francisco to two field goals in the divisional round of the playoffs. So fans and most media members went into the offseason feeling pretty good about Barry.

But if you looked a little closer, there were troubling signs. The biggest was the way the defense finished the regular season. From Weeks 11 through 18, opposing offenses averaged over 27 points and 350 yards against the Packers. That included 30 by the toothless Bears, 30 by the Ravens with Tyler Huntley and not Lamar Jackson at quarterback, and 22 by the Browns that could've easily been 40 had Baker Mayfield not thrown four terrible picks - two deep in Green Bay territory.

The defense's only good game after the middle of November was against Minnesota in Week 17, but there were two big caveats. The first was the quarterback. Sean Mannion started in place of Kirk Cousins, who had thrown for 341 yards and three touchdowns against the Packers a month earlier. The second was the weather. It was 11 degrees that evening in Green Bay, and almost every player on the Vikings looked like he would rather be anyplace other than Lambeau Field.

As for that playoff game against the 49ers - the one that had most Packers fans and the media feeling pretty good about Barry heading into the offense - well, maybe it was nothing more than fool's gold. Remember, the Packers, led by MVP Aaron Rodgers, managed only 10 points on a bitterly cold and snowy night that was not conducive to good offense. Plus, 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garropolo was dealing with a shoulder injury that would require major surgery a few months later. And most importantly, with the game and season on the line, Barry's defense folded like a cheap suit, allowing the 49ers to march 44 yards in nine plays and kick a walk-off field goal that knocked the top-seeded Packers out of the playoffs.

Despite the unimpressive final seven weeks of the regular season and the late collapse in the divisional round of the playoffs, most fans and media members felt pretty good about Barry and the defense heading into free agency and the draft. They felt even better after GM Brian Gutekunst re-signed All-Pro inside linebacker De'Vondre Campbell and cornerback Rasul Douglas and selected inside linebacker Quay Walker and defensive end Devonte Wyatt in the first round.

While I liked all of the offseason moves, I couldn't forget how the 2021 season ended or what a couple of people whose opinions about football I respect told me about Barry when the Packers hired him last February. They both criticized his lack of aggressiveness and his unwillingness or inability to make adjustments during games while coordinating truly awful defenses in Detroit and Washington. This led me to write the following paragraph in my 2022 season preview:

Offensive coordinators have spent the past six months studying Barry, who was almost a complete unknown going into 2021. He hadn’t been in charge of a defense since being canned by Washington in 2015. Because opponents will be much more aware of his tendencies this season, Barry’s almost certainly going to have to make more adjustments during the week and on game days. That wasn’t his strong suit in the nation’s capital or before that in Detriot (2007-2008).

Unfortunately, my concerns have been justified despite the defense's very impressive rankings through the first four games.

The defense opened the 2022 season by allowing Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson to catch nine passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns in an embarrassing 23-7 loss. Barry had no answers despite having months to prepare for the game and knowing how important it was to slow down Minnesota's best offensive player. He could've put his best corner (Alexander) on Jefferson, but that never happened. Instead, Barry stubbornly stuck with a scheme that wasn't working.

The scheme in question is the one Barry learned while working under Brandon Staley with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020. Developed by Vic Fangio, it relies on getting pressure with only four rushers and playing a two-high shell to avoid giving up big plays. That's the defense head coach Matt LaFleur wanted to bring to Green Bay because he had struggled mightily against it while working as the Titans' offensive coordinator in 2018 and as the Packers' play-caller in 2019 and 2020.

LaFleur wanting to bring a scheme he respected to Green Bay made perfect sense. That's what head coaches do, and he certainly wasn't alone in his admiration. The Broncos, Chargers, Rams, Seahawks, and Vikings are among at least 10 teams using some variation of the system first introduced by Fangio while coordinating the Bears' defense from 2015 to 2018.

Of course, the "Fangio System" doesn't include the man who brought it to the National Football League, so choosing the right person to implement it is incredibly important. While pretty much anyone can do the installation, having it function at a high level during games requires the ability to adjust depending on the opponent and how things are going on a specific day. That brings us back to Barry and those criticisms from people who knew his prior work very well.

Four weeks after the Jefferson debacle, Barry had a chance to redeem himself last Sunday. The Patriots were down to their third-string quarterback (rookie Bailey Zappe) late in the first quarter, and it was clear to the 78,317 people in the stadium and the millions of fans watching on television that New England coach Bill Belichick was going to be running the football as much as possible for the remainder of the afternoon. Barry had to know this as well, yet he made no significant adjustments to keep Rhamondre Stevenson and Damien Harris from carving up his defense in the second half.

Look at how Barry decided to line up for these 2nd-and-5 plays. The first occurred midway through the third quarter. Despite being an obvious running down, especially for a team with a rookie third-string quarterback, the Packers are in their nickel package with both safeties at least a dozen yards off the line of scrimmage. The second came early in the fourth quarter and is even worse. The Patriots brought in a sixth offensive lineman. Barry countered by replacing the nickel back with a third defensive lineman and re-positioning Campbell. That wasn't nearly enough, and the results were very predictable. While players obviously have to make plays, it's up to coordinators to put them in a position to succeed.

People flooded Twitter during and after the game to take Barry to task. Even some of the local reporters who've been carrying water for the team were highly critical. And while it's easy to brush off fans and the media, what happened 24 hours later can't be so easily dismissed. Listen to what LaFleur said about the defensive strategy in his day-after press conference.

Like thousands of people on social media and many local media members, LaFleur agreed that staying in a two-shell against a team that was running the ball so effectively was a flawed strategy. What's scary is that he had to "talk to Joe about it." You'd think someone being paid to coordinate a defense could've figured it out on his own. This reminded me of two years ago when opposing offenses kept converting on 3rd-and-long. LaFleur had to talk to Barry's predecessor about playing the corners so far off the line of scrimmage. For what it's worth, Mike Pettine was let go a few months later.

It's too soon to talk about firing Barry. Still, unlike a year ago when LaFleur stubbornly stuck with an incompetent special teams coordinator, he needs to be willing to make an in-season change if necessary. And while there wasn't anyone on staff to replace Maurice Drayton, there is a legitimate option to take over the defense. Cornerbacks coach Jerry Gray was a coordinator in Buffalo from 2001 to 2005 and in Tennessee from 2011 to 2013. He also did a very good job in that role last season against the Cardinals when Barry was forced to miss the game after testing positive for COVID.




Do I think LaFleur would make such a dramatic change during the season? Probably not, and hopefully, there won't be a need to find out. While Barry will never be a top-flight defensive coordinator, he doesn't have to be. He just has to be competent - something he wasn't twice in the first four games. But there's still time to improve. The Packers don't face a good offense until Week 8 when they take on Josh Allen and the Bills, so Barry has another three weeks to get his shit together.

It also wouldn't hurt if some of Barry's key players started performing better. Only nose tackle Kenny Clark and outside linebacker Rashan Gary have upped their game from last season. Campbell, defensive end Dean Lowry, and cornerback Eric Stokes have regressed, Darnell Savage continues to disappoint, and Wyatt has been on the field for 28 forgettable snaps.

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