On January 10, the Green Bay Packers suffered a devastating, humiliating playoff loss to the rival Chicago Bears. Despite leading 21-3 at halftime and 28-10 in the fourth quarter, their loss was predicated on a complete collapse of all three phases of the game. The defense, in particular, failed to stop Chicago from quickly walking up and down the field late in the game, right until the very end.
I'm not trying to dwell on the past too much, but that loss felt like such a monumental, history-altering defeat. The kind that can set whole franchises back years. Remember what happened to the Dallas Cowboys in the aftermath of the 2024 wild-card game?
At the time, it felt like Packers fans needed to see some heads roll. Someone needed to take the fall. It turned out that the someone was Brandon McManus (and deservingly so).
Otherwise, the team's two main power structures stayed intact. Matt LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst stayed on board and received massive extensions (I assume, since the numbers aren't public). But a culpable figure that seemed to escape scrutiny (for the most part) was then-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, perhaps due to his soon-to-come exit from the team?
But I always thought it was strange that in that game, despite surrendering such an enormous playoff lead, Hafley was given the injury excuse while LaFleur and offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich were not.
Perhaps that is due to the massive impact that losing Micah Parsons left? After all, when you lose the second-best edge rusher in the league, the downstream impacts are enormous. I don't need to spell them all out here, but here's a quick summary.
Statistic | Before Week 15 | After Week 15 |
|---|---|---|
EPA per Play | -0.040 | +0.140 |
Defensive Success Rate | 57.5% | 49.8% |
Sack Rate | 6.8% | 2.3% |
First Down Rate | 27.3% | 33.5% |
How Jonathan Gannon gives the Packers a better chance to survive without Micah Parsons
An entire offseason later, the Packers once again face the enormous challenge of playing NFL football without Micah Parsons screaming off the edge. To me, the challenge is actually twofold, and it hints at a major reason the Packers hired Johnathan Gannon in the first place: schematic flexibility.
Remember the famous quote Gannon said, once in Philly, several times in Arizona, and then again in Green Bay? In one form or another, it boils down to "I don't have a scheme." Upon first glance, it sounds like the same empty quote you hear from all defensive coordinators when they first get hired.
"You have to stay flexible."
"You adjust to the players you have."
So on and so forth. But Gannon, over the course of his career as a defensive coach, has actually proven to walk the walk.
Season | Nickel | Base | Dime | Disguise Rate | Man Coverage | Cover 3 | Cover 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PHI 2022 | 80.9% | 12.0% | 6.7% | 28.8% | 23.6% | 35.1% | 25.8% |
ARZ 2023 | 78.2% | 16.1% | 5.2% | 29.9% | 15.6% | 25.0% | 32.5% |
ARZ 2024 | 72.9% | 13.9% | 13.1% | 40.2% | 24.3% | 32.6% | 15.0% |
ARZ 2025 | 47.6% | 29.2% | 22.5% | 36.0% | 19.9% | 27.0% | 28.3% |
The numbers jump up and down, seemingly without reason. Gannon's flexibility is his calling card, and it has set him up well to oversee "Act One" of the Packers' 2026 season, the one without Micah Parsons.
The first reason why I'm confident that the defense will be good without Parsons is a benefit that Hafley never got: time to plan out what his defense will look like without Micah.
Remember, the trade was pulled off only about a week or so before the opening game. Was that enough time for Hafley to properly scheme up a massive change to the defense? That's debatable, but having the proper roadmap beforehand certainly helps Gannon this year.
Jonathan Gannon is already providing clues about new-look Packers defense
So far in the preseason, we've already seen a couple of hints of what this might look like in Green Bay. Keep in mind that while preseason numbers can usually be discarded, Gannon in his first year is still trying to teach his system to the defense. I'm confident that there will be a correlation to what we see in the real games.
Week | Cover 4 | Cover 3 | Disguise Rate | Nickel | Base | Dime |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 37.8% | 21.6% | 21.6% | 83.8% | 16.2% | 0% |
2 | 37.5% | 21.9% | 43.8% | 84.4% | 15.6% | 0% |
Disguise rate is the biggest change between the two games, and that's interesting because I think it will be a big part of what the Packers pull off this year.
An underrated move by Green Bay over the offseason was the addition of former Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich as a secondary/defensive pass game coordinator. Babich and Gannon have no prior working relationship, and it always catches my eye when these kinds of moves are made.
To me, it means that Babich has something that Gannon wants to add to the defense. So what does Babich have? In addition to running the #1 pass defense in the league last year, he also ran the highest rate of disguised coverages.
This is an area the Packers also leaned into with great success, and it highlights one of the major strengths of Green Bay's defense: the safeties.
Being three deep at safety (Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams, and Javon Bullard) is a major advantage, and a rarity in the NFL. We've already seen the Packers use a three-safety look in the preseason games, one with Bullard and Williams acting in a "box" role while McKinney roams deeper still. It perfectly leans into the strengths of all three of these players.
Meanwhile at cornerback, Brandon Cisse's emergence as a starting cornerback for the team should alleviate a lot of the pressure on the secondary. Not only does he have the talent to become a good-to-great contributor for Green Bay this year, but having Babich and Gannon to develop him is a major advantage. Fixing the secondary is such an important part of what went wrong for the Packers last year after Micah got hurt.
At linebacker, Zaire Franklin's experience allows the Packers to truly set Edgerrin Cooper free in the box, something that was sorely missing in 2025. With Parsons on the line, Cooper and Quay Walker were often relegated to cleanup roles, something he was effective at, to be sure, but it doesn't match his real skill set. I look forward to seeing what Gannon has in store for such a versatile, athletic chess piece like Cooper.
And finally on the defensive line, healthier versions of Lukas Van Ness and Devonte Wyatt, who were both on their way to breakout seasons, are something to get excited about.
But the Packers also have a deeper rotation of players behind them at both edge rusher and defensive tackle. When I watched the film of Javon Hargrave's 2025 season, I thought it was obvious that the vet still has more in the tank.
The Packers have every opportunity to be a top-10 defense in the league, even before Parsons comes back to multiply its effectiveness. And having a competent defense beforehand lets the Packers ease Parsons back into the lineup to get properly acclimated before the playoffs begin.
Because that's when you really need a piece like Parsons. If the Packers run up against the Bears or an elite team in the NFC playoffs, he's the ultimate factor in preventing another heartbreaking playoff loss.
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