Problem with Packers' NFL-worst run defense? 'Mainly attitude,' says Peppers
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Julius Peppers has been in the NFL long enough to be able to identify the reasons for a defense struggling in a particular area. For the Green Bay Packers this season, the issue has been a run defense that ranks as the worst in the league.
Peppers, a 34-year-old veteran added to the Packers defense this past offseason to ensure that these types of problems didn't happen, believes he knows why Green Bay hasn't stopped the run well.
"It's mainly attitude," Peppers said as he stood at his locker Thursday. "We just have to get a little tougher. That's what we focused on this week, getting a little tougher, getting a little bit more disciplined."
Attitude and toughness. Two qualities that could take more than the Packers' recent bye week to fix. Two traits that can be difficult to coach, especially at the midway point of the season.
"It's up to every individual to get that mindset during the week," Peppers said. "Because you don't turn it on on game day; you turn it on out here in practice."
Peppers knows what it's like to be on the NFL's worst run defense. Last season, Peppers' Chicago Bears were ranked last in the league in rushing yards allowed. However, the six-time All-Pro has also been a part of some great run defenses, too, including the 2010 Bears (ranked 2nd that year) and the 2005 Carolina Panthers (4th).
When Peppers jumped state lines to join Green Bay, he thought he had left the bad defense back in Chicago.
"I didn't foresee us struggling anywhere, in any areas," Peppers said of this year's Packers defense. "It's something that we're going to deal with. We're dealing with it right now. We're going to get better, we're going to get tougher."
Green Bay has been ranked between 30th and 32nd every week this season. So it's not like the defense has ever recovered enough in any one game to get itself out of the bottom three spots in the NFL. It's been a season-long situation that has yet to be corrected.
"A lot of run-stopping and having a great run defense is attitude," Clay Matthews said, agreeing with Peppers' take. "Making big hits, talking a little bit and just kind of having a little swagger about yourself on defense. At times we can't get lost in that and just go about doing our jobs. You have to do a little extra out there.
"You hate for something like that to kind of put it into perspective for you, but it's a wakeup call and it's a reality check."
Marshawn Lynch and the Seattle Seahawks started things off this season by running for 207 yards against the Packers in Week 1. In Green Bay's most recent game, the defense allowed Mark Ingram to have a career day as the New Orleans Saints rushed for 193 yards.
"It seems like when we do have lapses it's not a few runs here or there, it's significant yardage," Matthews said. "I think that's what we need to address. We can't just pick and choose when we're going to show up and what running backs and what schemes we're going to shut down."
Some of the blame has fallen on defensive coordinator Dom Capers for not putting players in the best spots to be able to shut down the run. Unprompted, though, Matthews wanted to make it known that this isn't about what Capers is or isn't calling.
"We can't sit here and talk about scheme and say we need to put ourselves in better position; it just comes down to executing," Matthews said. "Sometimes we have to take responsibility as players and as athletes being out there getting the job done. That's ultimately where the shortcomings are.
"The scheme puts us in the right position. There may be times where it may not be the right call for the right down, but that's not 99 percent of the game. The other 99 percent is us playing football."
On a weekly basis following each game, Capers hasn't been too disappointed in his team's run defense. He said it's been "probably 50/50" in terms of games in which he was satisfied and not satisfied.
There have been games when Capers has been OK with giving up yards on the ground as part of an overall defensive strategy.
"Sometimes you might give up a 4-to-5 yard run to take away the 20-, 25-yard pass," Capers said.
Still, though, the players' inability to make enough plays against the run has prevented Capers from doing what he'd prefer to do with his defensive looks.
"Obviously if you aren't stopping the run you're going to be playing downhill in terms of what you can call," Capers said. "There's a lot of things you can't call if you don't stop the run."
While it's easy to refer to the Packers' run defense as the worst in the NFL due to the yards-allowed-per-game statistic, Capers isn't a fan of the meaning behind those numbers.
"Over the years, that run defense statistic is different than what it used to be," he said. "It just is. There's some other things that affect winning and losing a lot more than that."
Don't take that as an excuse from Capers, though.
"No matter how you look at it, we've got to play the run better," Capers added.
Green Bay's next opponent, the Bears, did the most damage so far of any team the Packers have faced. In Week 4 at Chicago, the Bears ran all over Green Bay to the tune of 235 rushing yards.
But even with that challenge approaching, Peppers is confident the attitude and toughness he's looking for from the Packers defense will be seen without any further delay.
"We're going to get better stopping the run, and it's going to start this week," Peppers said.
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