Too many will point to a first and 10 from the 39 call with :08 left in a half as the last straw. The Packers were trailing the Buccaneers 14-10 in the NFC Championship game, knowing the Bucs were without any more first half timeouts. Yet the secondary lined up in a single safety formation with cornerbacks told to play man coverage holding inside leverage. Tampa receiver Scotty Miller ran right by Kevin King’s off coverage and Tom Brady lofted an on target throw in the end zone with only 1 second left on the clock putting the Packers in too deep of a 21-10 hole to climb out of.
Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine made the call and five days after the Packers were denied a trip to the Super Bowl, Head Coach Matt LaFleur made the decision to part ways with Pettine. It didn’t come down to that call for sure, but it illustrated an issue with the Packer defense that ultimately led to Pettine’s release.
With LaFleur’s high performance, high scoring offense building leads more often than not, Pettine’s defense was at it’s best playing into the desperate hands of a trailing opponent. His outside linebacking, edge pressure reliant system could get unleashed when opposing offenses became one dimensional. That was when the Smith brothers were at their best.
When games were even or the Packers trailed, it was a lot to ask of the defense to turn the game or stem the tide.
Despite that, Pettine’s unit did finish 9th in yards allowed per game in 2020, the first top 10 finish for a Green Bay defense in a decade. Za’Darius Smith and Jaire Alexander became All Pro’s.
Ultimately, he wasn’t LaFleur’s guy. Pettine replaced Dom Capers in Mike McCarthty’s final season of 2018 and was one of only a couple of holdovers when LaFleur built his first staff. The infusion of three key free agents, the Smiths and Adrian Amos domianted the 2019 story line which ended with the run defensive collapse against the 49ers in the NFC title game.
Most assistants work on rolling, two year contacts but Pettine did not sign the customary one year extension before the 2020 season began. LaFleur simply let the contract expire and decided not to offer a new one. What won’t be as simple will be finding a replacement.
I also wonder about other defensive assistants. Outside linebacker coach Mike Smith has been closely aligned with Pettine for years. Will Jerry Montgomery or Kirk Olivadotti be retained?
Coaching staffs have been compiled on all of the teams that had head coaching vacancies and options could be limited. LaFleur has a former coordinator on his staff, secondary coach Jerry Gray who just joined the team last year. He led defenses in both Buffalo and Tennessee before spending the last seven seasons working with Mike Zimmer and the Vikings.
Veteran coordinator Wade Wilson was coordinating the Rams defense when LaFleur was Sean McVay’s offensive coordinator in 2017. Wilson even sent a tweet out over the weekend thanking Packer fans for urging him to get in the mix. Down the road in Madison, Wisconsin Badger defensive coordinator Jim Leonard is getting a lot of run. The Badgers ranked among the best in nearly every category on defense over the past couple of years under Leonard but the Big 10 to the NFL is a big jump.
LaFleur, along with General Manager Brian Gutekunst, will finally meet reporters on Monday. First chance to hear what they have to say about all the Aaron Rodgers future speculation last week, the long list of unrestricted free agents to be, the firing of special teams coordinator Shawn Mennenga, the release of Pettine, and maybe that defensive call at the end of the half against the Bucs.
