After two weeks, the NFL world seemed to think that the Green Bay Packers had the best defense in the NFL. After another two weeks, that idea seemed to have been presented prematurely.
Sure, the Packers’ defense is still an impressive force. After all, it’s led by the frontrunner for the 2025 NFL Defensive Player of the Year in Micah Parsons and a quality defensive coordinator in Jeff Hafley, who could get a few calls for head coaching positions this offseason.
Still, for all the good the Packers defense has done through four weeks, there’s one aspect it needs to clean up on the other side of the BYE Week.
Green Bay Packers’ elite defense missing one crucial element: takeaways
The Green Bay Packers have forced just two turnovers in four games. Granted, they are not the only team with so few turnovers. The Cleveland Browns have plenty of hype behind their defense, and they only have two turnovers, too. Nearly a quarter of the league has two or fewer takeaways so far this season.
Still, this should be a point of concern for Packers fans as the team comes back from the BYE on a bit of a skid. The tie to Dallas felt more like a loss, which stings a bit more with the loss to Cleveland preceding it. Turnovers spark opportunity, though, so it’s an aspect that Green Bay needs to bring to the table this season.
Last season, the Packers were third in the league in takeaways. Considering the leap this defense has made this season, it’s high time they get back to forcing turnovers and flipping game scripts in their own favor.
Overall, Green Bay’s defense has been as advertised. They’re still a top scoring defense, and they don’t give up a ton of yards either. Still, lacking the ability to create short fields for the offense can lead to the precarious positions the Packers have found themselves in the past two weeks.
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It’s been discussed with the struggles from the special teams department. If the special teams unit is giving the offense long fields, and the defense isn’t circumventing that by creating turnovers, then every drive is a slog for Jordan Love and company. It’s tough to create space on the scoreboard this way.
Luckily, on the other side of the BYE Week are the Cincinnati Bengals, who have turned the ball over a league-leading eight times in four weeks. Maybe getting a few takeaways from the Bengals’ struggling offense will carry the momentum to finding more throughout the season.