3 Packers to blame for Week 2 loss in Atlanta

Packers to blame for Week 2 loss: Run defense, and also, Joe Barry

Joe Barry and Matt Canada should start a support group for coordinators who have been vilified by their respective fan bases.

After Week 2, Packers fans are going to be hoisting the pitchforks for Joe Barry's sacking. The defense -- and the run defense in particular -- was abysmal in the final half of the Falcons loss. Falcons running back Bijan Robinson soared high with 19 carries for 124 yards which is impressive in itself, but.... the Packers had to know this was going to be Atlanta's game plan, right?

Green Bay gave up 175 yards on the Falcons' final three drives, allowing them to dominate time of possession and cap off the comeback with a game-winning field goal. When you're holding a 12-point lead into the fourth quarter, this kind of thing -- lack of mental fortitude, sloppiness, poor play-calling, whatever you want to call it -- can't happen.

We listed the run defense as the main unit to blame in Week 2, yet all parts of Barry's defense were misfiring by the end of that loss. When the Packers needed to get a crucial stop, they failed. When they needed to try and plug the Falcons' rushing attack or apply heavy pressure on Desmond Ridder (who was sacked just once) or jam up the passing lanes, they failed.

The Falcons only punted once on Sunday. In the second half, they drove down the field time after time to convert field goals and slowly build up hope for a comeback. It's Barry's and the defense's job to crush that hope, and unfortunately, the unit failed to work together to do so on Sunday.

Barry, who has served as the Packers' defensive coordinator for the last three years, is back on the hot seat after Week 2's loss to the Falcons. Some will say he never really left.