3 Packers to blame for embarrassing loss to Lions in Week 4

1. Joe Barry

Here's a quote we often hear regarding Joe Barry's Packers defense: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Head coach Matt LaFleur said that almost word for word following Thursday's defeat.

"We're going to have to do something different. It's insane to do the same things over and over again and expect different results," LaFleur said in his post-game press conference.

The same things? That would fall on Barry, whose defense constantly invites the run with soft coverages, protecting against the big play. Tough, physical teams like the Lions will gladly accept that invitation all day long.

We saw it in Week 2. Atlanta ran the ball 45 times and only threw when it had to. Green Bay allowed 211 yards and a touchdown on the ground. And it happened again in Week 4. Detroit ran 43 times for 211 yards and three touchdowns.

The only time the Packers had any success was early in the third quarter when they had no choice but to play aggressively. It worked. Green Bay pulled the game back to two possessions, but then Barry reverted to the safe defenses that created the mess in the first place.

As Peter Bukowski of The Leap pointed out, Barry had Lukas Van Ness drop into coverage with a safety 15 yards deep. The down-and-distance? Oh, only a fourth-and-3 that the Lions converted with ease.

The way to beat the Packers' defense is to run all over them. As we see seemingly every week, Barry has no answer for it.

More Packers news and analysis