New developments:it would’ve been regrettable lost but all thanks to this man

Execution issues plague the Packers’ defense in a narrow win in Week 16…

Even though the Green Bay Packers won 33-30 on Sunday, the game should not have been nearly as close as the defense let yet another opponent crawl back into a game that should’ve been over much sooner. They led 23-10 and 30-16 at one point to the Carolina Panthers and still couldn’t finish the way they needed to, calling into question defensive coordinator Joe Barry’s leadership this entire season.

The game planning and execution have been issues nearly all season off and on but more egregiously apparent the last few weeks. And to make matters worse, they’re going to be heading into a crucial Week 17 game versus Minnesota without Jaire Alexander because of his decision to head out for the coin toss in Week 16 with the captains. To be fair, Alexander didn’t play well versus Carolina either but he’s been pretty effective against Justin Jefferso

In addition to the poor in-game decisions by Barry, the defense also just made basic mistakes that let the Panthers back in the game with missed coverage assignments and being unable to cover receivers adequately enough.

On the first touchdown drive, Quay Walker was caught out of position twice, one versus a pass and another versus a run. On a pass play, the Panthers put a vertical stretch on him as the “reroute curl” defender.