Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry has come up short quite a few times this season. He made some questionable calls in the loss to the Raiders, got ripped apart by the Lions, and most recently let the Steelers' ball-carriers run wild in Week 10.
In the loss to Pittsburgh, the Packers' run defense had no answer for Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, two backs who have been mostly bottled up this season.
Harris finished with 16 carries for 82 yards and one touchdown. Warren finished with 15 carries for 101 yards and one touchdown.
The Packers' defense was able to stymie the Vikings' and Rams' rushing attacks in games prior, so why did the unit struggle so much last week?
Barry gave a long-winded answer that may not completely satisfy Packers fans. He talked about the Packers getting "gapped out" on the Steelers' explosive runs, which attributed to some of the defense's missed tackles.
Packers DC Joe Barry had no good answer for Steelers' rushing success in Week 10
Barry still has Matt LaFleur's support, nonetheless.
When asked about the team's specific schematic defensive choices against the Steelers, LaFleur defended Barry to the point of belittling the reporting who asked the question.
Through 10 games, the Packers have a 27th ranked run defense and are set to face a gauntlet of dangerous ball-carriers in the next few weeks from Chargers' Austin Ekeler to the Lions' dynamic duo of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs.
Barry's defense will have nowhere to hide then.
