It may be difficult to come out of Saturday night’s loss to the Chicago Bears with much to feel good about for the Green Bay Packers, such was the heartbreaking nature of their divisional loss in the Windy City.
But following the devastating loss of Micah Parsons in Denver a week earlier, there was reason for optimism from Jeff Hafley’s defense in terms of still being able to generate pressure on opposing quarterbacks, even without their superstar defender.
Advertisement
On the face of it, Saturday night’s pass rush performance does not seem to be anything special, especially as the Packers did not actually register a sack of Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.
They would have produced a crucial one on a late 3rd-and-20 if not for a facemask penalty by Green Bay rookie Warren Brinson, but for the most part, Williams remained as elusive and tough to get down as usual.
The Packers did manage to accumulate 23 pressures in Saturday night’s game though, which represents their highest tally since a Week 7 matchup with the Cardinals. At 47.4%, it was the most pressure Williams has been under in terms of the rate of his dropbacks in 2025.
It was expected to take more of a committee approach without Parsons, and that turned out to be the case. Twelve different Packers defenders had a pressure versus the Bears, marking the team’s largest number of players with a pressure in any game this season.
Advertisement
Green Bay’s linebackers and defensive backs became a bigger part of the pass rush equation, as Hafley changed tact, sending more blitzes than he has tended to throughout his tenure.
Quay Walker rushed the passer 12 times, which represents a new career high and beats his previous high for this season of nine back in Week 6. He had multiple pressures for the first time since Week 7, while his partner Edgerrin Cooper also had a pair of pressures after not managing that feat since Week 2. Cornerback Nate Hobbs had two of his own, and Carrington Valentine also had one.
Chicago has been one of the better offensive lines in football in 2025, so Green Bay’s ability to create consistent pressure on Williams throughout the game is an encouraging sign of how they may be able to make up for the loss of Parsons in the final weeks of the regular season and the playoffs.
For Hafley’s part, it was another impressive showing of his ability to adapt to what he has on hand and do whatever is necessary to field a competent defense, regardless of his circumstances.
Advertisement
His group was more than competent overall, despite much of the attention post-game going to the blown assignment between Hobbs and Keisean Nixon on the Bears’ first touchdown and Nixon getting beat deep to end the game.
The Packers defense held the Bears offense out of the end zone until the final drive of regulation, and if Romeo Doubs had not botched the onside kick recovery, they would have kept them without a touchdown for the entire game.
Had they held the Bears to just nine total points, as it appeared they would until Doubs’ error, it would have been the fewest points Ben Johnson’s offense had put up in a game all year.
After losing Parsons, it was vital for Green Bay to pivot quickly and be able to show their defense was still capable of holding up against playoff caliber opponents, as they will need to in the coming weeks. They ticked that box on Saturday night.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Hope for Packers pass rush as Jeff Hafley adapts without Micah Parsons