New Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s focus on creating turnovers is showing early success.
In the first two weeks of the season, Green Bay’s defense has achieved five interceptions and a total of six takeaways, leading the NFL in both areas as of Monday.
This is a big shift from last year when the Packers managed only seven interceptions all season, ranking almost last in the league, just ahead of the Tennessee Titans who had six. The Packers (1-1) are enjoying playing under Hafley’s system.
“I’ve been saying this since the offseason, we get to play with vision on the quarterback, and I love doing that, especially,” Packers safety Xavier McKinney said after a 16-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
“And I know we do as a defense because we’re able to play with our instincts, we’re able to call out different things, see different things and be able to just trust in what we see and go out there and make a play.”
McKinney, who was signed from the New York Giants to improve a weak safety position, has already intercepted a pass in both of Green Bay’s games. Last year, no Packers player had more than two interceptions.
McKinney had one of Green Bay’s three interceptions on Sunday when linebacker Quay Walker pressured Anthony Richardson into an overthrow. Eric Wilson grabbed a pass early in the fourth quarter, and Evan Williams intercepted Richardson’s last-ditch attempt on the final play of the game.
Green Bay’s aggressive defense and strong running game helped the Packers win despite the absence of starting quarterback Jordan Love, who hurt his left medial collateral ligament in a season-opening 34-29 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Packers rushed for 261 yards — 237 of those in the first half — while Malik Willis filled in for Love and managed to avoid the mistakes that plagued Richardson.
