Packers’ dominant defense getting ready for tougher tests

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Micah Parsons says Green Bay’s defense still has room for improvement.

Consider that a warning to the Packers’ remaining opponents.

After holding the Minnesota Vikings to 4 total yards in the second half of a 23-6 victory Sunday, Green Bay’s defense is on pace to produce the kind of statistics this franchise hasn’t seen since its most recent championship seasons.

“I just think there’s stuff to build off of, flashes of great things, but there’s still things to fix,” Parsons said after getting two sacks in Sunday’s game.

The Packers entered Monday night’s game ranked fourth in the NFL in yards allowed per game (278.7), second in yards allowed per play (4.6) and fifth in points allowed per game (18.4).

According to Sportradar, the previous time the Packers finished a season having allowed fewer points per game was during their Super Bowl championship run in 2010. The most recent time they allowed fewer than 278.7 yards per game or 4.6 yards per play over an entire season was in 1996, which also ended with a Super Bowl title.

Conventional wisdom suggests the Packers (7-3-1) won’t be able to maintain these averages the rest of the season. Their Thanksgiving Day trip to Detroit starts a stretch of five straight games against teams with winning records before the Packers finish the regular season at Minnesota (4-7).

But the Packers’ performance Sunday showcased this defense’s potential.

The Packers play Minnesota twice each season, yet this was the first time since 2010 that they’d held the Vikings without a touchdown. This also was the first game since a 20-3 victory over Tampa Bay in 2014 that they allowed fewer than 150 yards, fewer than seven points and no more than 10 first downs while also getting five plus-sacks.

Green Bay forced three turnovers during that second-half performance in which it allowed only 4 yards. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the Packers were the first team to produce at least three takeaways while allowing fewer than 5 total yards in a half since the Buffalo Bills did it in a 37-7 victory over the Cleveland Browns in 2004.

The Packers did this despite playing the entire game without leading tackler Quay Walker and most of it without cornerback Keisean Nixon.

“I think we’ve got one of the best defenses in the league, if not the best, (with) the talent that we have,” safety Xavier McKinney said. “We have a hell of a DC (Jeff Hafley). He called a great game today and we went out there and executed. Great DC, great players all coming together, it looks good.”

What’s working

The Packers continue to take care of the football. They also finally are starting to force more turnovers. They produced a season-high three takeaways Sunday. … The Packers had a season-low two penalties Sunday. … Even without Josh Jacobs, the Packers rushed for 146 yards. … Green Bay had five sacks.

What needs help

Green Bay’s longest plays from scrimmage went only 18 yards. They could afford to be conservative on offense Sunday because Minnesota wasn’t capable of scoring in bunches, but the Packers will need more explosive plays these next few weeks.

Stock up

Emanuel Wilson rushed for 107 yards on 28 carries in his first career start while filling in for Jacobs. … Daniel Whelan averaged 47.5 yards and landed three of his four punts inside the Minnesota 20. … Evan Williams has intercepted a pass in back-to-back games. … Isaiah McDuffie had a team-high nine tackles to go along with an interception and half a sack. … Parsons and Devonte Wyatt had two sacks each. … Anthony Belton, a rookie second-round pick from N.C. State, took over at right guard and played 68.2% of the Packers’ snaps. Belton hadn’t been on the field for any offensive plays in Green Bay’s previous three games leading up to this one.

Stock down

Belton’s emergence at right guard meant that Jordan Morgan played a season-low 31.8% of the Packers’ offensive snaps. Morgan entered Sunday having played every offensive snap in each of Green Bay’s past three games.

Injuries

Nixon left in the first half with a stinger. Walker (neck), Jacobs (knee), CB Nate Hobbs (knee) and WR Matthew Golden (shoulder) didn’t play.

Key number

10 — Parsons’ sack total for the season. The only other player to have at least 10 sacks in each of his first five NFL seasons was Reggie White from 1985-89. Parsons is the first Packer to produce at double-digit sacks in a season since Za’Darius Smith had 12 1/2 in 2020.

Next steps

The Packers try to complete a regular-season sweep of the Lions, who lost 27-13 at Green Bay on the season’s opening Sunday. This marks the third straight season in which the Packers have played on Thanksgiving Day, as they won at Detroit in 2023 and beat the Miami Dolphins at Lambeau Field in 2024. This will mark the first time the Packers have played on Thanksgiving in three straight seasons since 1951-63, when they played on that holiday every year.

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