GREEN BAY — Jeff Hafley burst into the room as he does every Thursday — ready, willing and able to take on whatever questions the Green Bay Packers press corps had for him in their weekly Q&A session with the defensive coordinator. 

And while there was one topic he immediately said he would not be addressing — the frequency with which his star pass rusher, Micah Parsons, is held by opposing offensive linemen and the officials don’t throw a flag — he was raring to go with the topic of the number of points his unit has given up in the fourth quarter and overtime of the first five games.

“We can talk about the fourth quarter, maybe,” Hafley said, smiling, “but not holding.”

Hafley knew the conversation was coming because he and head coach Matt LaFleur had already had one of their own on the subject. Entering Sunday’s matchup between the Packers (3-1-1) and Arizona Cardinals (2-4) at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., the Packers have given up only 102 total points this season — good for 11th in the 32-team NFL.

What’s fascinating is how those points have been divvied up by quarter.

Green Bay has yet to give up a single first-quarter point, the only team in the league to have a 0 on the stat sheet for the opening 15 minutes. The Packers have only given up 22 points in second quarters, and only 17 in third quarters.

But in the fourth quarter and in the overtime they played in their 40-40 tie with the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 28, the Packers have allowed a mind-boggling 62 points — and Hafley didn’t need a journalism degree to know that was a story.

“Here’s the deal, right: You look at it and, you guys, with all your articles, notes and comments, bring up a lot of good points. We’re like No. 1 in scoring defense in the first quarter. Then we’re [No.] 2 in the second quarter. Then we’re like top five in the third quarter. Then, it is what it is in the fourth quarter. So why?”

Hafley and LaFleur talked through a variety of potential explanations of the “discrepancy” earlier in the week, with LaFleur outlining such possibilities as defensive players “running out of gas” because they’re not in peak cardiovascular condition or because the coaches aren’t rotating enough players in and out; whether players took too much time out from workouts during the bye week; or if the defense’s stunning lack of takeaways — the Packers’ two forced turnovers are the second-fewest in the NFL — is the culprit.

“That’s something that obviously we’ve got to find a better solution to,” LaFleur acknowledged. “A lot of it is dictated by the circumstance … Every game’s a little bit different. I know you guys want a black-and-white answer, but it’s not that simple. There’s going to be moments. It’s the National Football League. Everybody you’re playing against is generally pretty good, so they’re going to have their moments. It just so happens that the second half has been not as good for us and it’s been better for the opposition.”

Perhaps the Cardinals are the perfect antidote for what ails the fourth-quarter defense. Arizona has lost its last four games by a combined nine points, and the Cardinals enter Sunday averaging 4.3 fourth-quarter points per game — 29th in the league.

Regardless, in a record-settingly long answer on Thursday, Hafley felt it was important to point out that the Packers had insurmountable leads over the Detroit Lions in the opener and the Washington Commanders in Week 2, with each team scoring a cosmetic touchdown late. And the defense had allowed only three points in the team’s Sept. 21 loss to the Cleveland Browns before a Jordan Love interception ended up giving the Browns the ball at the 5-yard line to set up a game-tying touchdown.

But there’s no doubt in Hafley’s mind that the fourth-quarter defense has not been good enough the last two games.

“Is there something different that we’re doing? Is there something better that I need to be doing? Is there something different that the offense is doing?” Hafley asked rhetorically. “Then, after you look at scheme, you look at execution. Are we executing as good in that quarter as we did the first three quarters? And some we are, some we’re not, right? It’s just the way each game goes.

“We play so hard, when I watch our film. Are we playing as hard in the fourth quarter? At times we are, and if we’re not and we look tired, why? And then, did their players make some plays? So you look through all that, and then the key I think is consistency over time. What can we do better? What can we be more consistent at? What can I do better? And you search in all those different ways. We’ll work through it.”

Hafley wasn’t done, soliciting follow-up questions to his lengthy soliloquy — and then continuing his answer before one could be asked — before closing by saying, “Frustrating. I got it. [But] we’ll get better. I’m very confident in that.”

Hafley’s players had very few answers to the “Why?” question as well. But one thing they could all agree on? That if this defense is going to be the defense that they believe it is, the fourth-quarter trend stops. Now.

“We’ve just got to execute better coming out of the half. I think definitely the biggest thing [is], we haven’t been that great coming out of the half all year. We just got to make sure that we go out there and execute what’s being called and just have that energy,” All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney said. “Somebody’s somebody got to get us going. That’s what it is.”

Added fellow safety Evan Williams: “Honestly as the game goes on, it’s not that our playstyle decreases. It’s just a lack of discipline that’s led to some extended drives. Near the end of those drives, I feel like we can definitely work on our conditioning too. I feel like some of those piles get to pushing forward for another 3, 4 yards. Those are big yards at the end of the day, especially on first down.

“At the end of the day, it comes back to playing fast, playing as relentlessly as we can for as long as we can. If we can find a way to get off the field early in those drives, we’ll be in a lot better situation.”

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