Acme Packing Company
Hiring Joe Barry as the Packers’ defensive coordinator is one of the great errors of the Matt LaFleur era. The Packers’ 2021 defense was respectable, but things went downhill quickly under Barry’s guidance, though he’d hang on through the end of the 2023 season.
But on the occasion of the Packers facing the Carolina Panthers, we have the opportunity to thank one of the key contributors to the end of Barry’s tenure: Bryce Young.
Late in the 2023 season, the Packers were desperately trying to rally for a playoff spot and traveled to Carolina in Week 16 with their season on life support. Things were dire in part because of a defensive dumpster fire performance the previous week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Baker Mayfield put up a perfect 158.3 passer rating, shredding Barry’s defense for 381 yards and four touchdowns to send the Packers’ season record to 6-8. They’d have to win out for a shot at the playoffs.
Fortunately, the lowly Panthers and Young, their diminutive rookie quarterback, looked ripe for the picking. They entered the game with a 2-12 record and hadn’t scored more than 18 points in a game since before their Week 7 bye. There was no reason to assume they’d threaten the Packers at all.
No reason, that is, except for Joe Barry.
Now, even though he’s gone from Green Bay, I don’t want to scapegoat Barry entirely. There were plenty of reasons why the Packers needed a game-winning field goal from Anders Carlson late in the fourth quarter to keep their season alive. Two fourth quarter three-and-outs don’t exactly paint the offense in a glorious light, despite the significant lead they built and the defense later surrendered.
But Barry’s defense made the Packers’ 2023 showdown with the Panthers into a shootout it absolutely did not need to be.
I’ll spare you the blow-by-blow recounting, but multiple players on the Panthers had career days, most notably Bryce Young. The rookie quarterback had by far the best passing game of his rookie season, posting season highs in yards, passer rating, and yards per attempt. The two touchdowns he threw represented just the second multi-touchdown game of the season. And he did it all against Barry’s defense, just a week after the Packers were torched by the Buccaneers.
Thank goodness Jaire Alexander appointed himself a captain for this game, right? (Honestly, that has nothing to do with Joe Barry, but it was another slice of weirdness that I couldn’t help but mention.)
Fortunately, the Packers were able to pull the game out of the fire late. The Panthers rallied from a 30-16 to tie the game late, only for the Packers to make their way downfield to take the lead with 22 seconds left. Even then, the Panthers made a game of it. Two deep passes put the Panthers in Packers territory late, and had the Panthers been a tick faster to the line of scrimmage, Bryce Young may have had time to spike the ball...
