Getty Joe Barry, Packers defensive coordinator
The Green Bay Packers have to fire defensive coordinator Joe Barry, and they have to do it as soon as possible.
Pressure on head coach Matt LaFleur to make the call and cut Barry loose has ballooned to untenable proportions after the defense blew a 14-point, fourth-quarter lead to the one-win Carolina Panthers on Sunday afternoon, December 24.
The Packers escaped by the skin of their collective teeth, winning 33-30 on the strength of a late-game field goal. However, if Carolina had just one or two more seconds on the clock, the outcome could have been very different and ended Green Bay’s playoff hopes in the process.
Packers win becuase the Panthers ran out of time to keep embarassing the Packers defense. Green Bay wins. Matt LaFleur needs to do the thing. There’s absolutely zero excuse at this point.
“Packers win because the Panthers ran out of time to keep embarrassing the Packers defense,” Andy Herman of Packer Report posted to X. “Green Bay wins. Matt LaFleur needs to do the thing. There’s absolutely zero excuse at this point.”
Herman was not the only media member who said the time for LaFleur to act is now.
“The most points scored by the Panthers this season,” Peter Bukowski of The Leap wrote on social media. “Joe Barry cannot be the #Packers defensive coordinator by Christmas Day. Just can’t do it.”
Others, like Aaron Nagler of CheeseheadTV, were too exasperated with the performance of the Packers defense to continue repeating arguments they’ve been making for weeks.
“Just reuse my rant about the defense from last week,” Nagler wrote on X. “I’m too tired.”
Matt LaFleur May Have to Walk Back Comments on Joe Barry After Just 1 Week
GettyGreen Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur (left) and defensive coordinator Joe Barry (right).
LaFleur stood by Barry after last week’s effort against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in which Baker Mayfield threw for 381 yards, 4 touchdowns and became the first visiting quarterback to earn a perfect rating of 158.3 in the history of Lambeau Field.
“If I thought that [firing Barry] was the best solution today, then we’d make that decision,” LaFleur said during a December 18 press conference.
The communication didn’t get any better on Sunday in Carolina, which calls into question the message LaFleur sent to the media six days before.
Matt LaFleur said Monday the *plan* was to keep Joe Barry for the rest of the season.
The Packers just allowed a season high in points to the NFL’s worst team and might be headed to OT if the clock didn’t run out.
Does LaFleur fire his DC after a win?
“Matt LaFleur said Monday the *plan* was to keep Joe Barry for the rest of the season,” Matt Schneidman of The Athletic wrote on X following the game. “The Packers just allowed a season high in points to the NFL’s worst team and might be headed to OT if the clock didn’t run out. Does LaFleur fire his DC after a win?”
Packers Must Win Out to Make Playoffs, Defense Must Improve to Achieve that Outcome
GettyDefensive coordinator Joe Barry of the Green Bay Packers.
As it stands, the Packers are 7-8 and remain in the thick of the NFC playoff race, despite abysmal defensive efforts in three consecutive contests.
Green Bay will now travel to play a desperate Minnesota Vikings team in Minneapolis on New Year’s Eve. The Vikings are also 7-8 and will play the Packers in what is essentially an elimination game, as both teams strive for a spot in Wildcard Weekend.
If the Packers can win that contest, they will host the resurgent and strangely dangerous Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field in Week 18 in another game that is likely to prove a must-win. It is hard to imagine Green Bay winning both divisional matchups without better efforts on defense than the team has managed to muster over the past month, which may be more than enough justification to part ways with Barry as soon as possible.