LANDOVER, Md. -- Matt Ryan, Andrew Luck, Marcus Mariota and Kirk Cousins aren’t exactly a murder’s row of quarterbacks, but did the Green Bay Packers really expect to stop them -- or even slow them down -- with cornerbacks like Quentin Rollins, LaDarius Gunter and Demetri Goodson on the field?
While general manager Ted Thompson at least tried to supplement the banged-up running backs group with waiver-wire pickups (Jhurell Pressley and Christine Michael) and a trade (Knile Davis), he has ignored the cornerback spot since he lost opening-day starters Sam Shields (concussion in Week 1) and Damarious Randall (to a groin injury that has kept him out six of the last seven games).
Cousins, like the three quarterbacks immediately before him on the Packers’ schedule, torched that make-shift secondary, which got even thinner after Goodson sustained a horrific-looking left knee injury that no doubt will be season-ending.
Perhaps Randall, who underwent surgery on Oct. 20, can return for next Monday night’s game at Philadelphia, but the damage has been done. Dom Capers’ defense has allowed four straight games of 30-plus points, the first time a Packers team has done that since 1953. And the last two games have been in the 40s.
Cousins' 375 yards passing in the Washington Redskins' 42-24 destruction of the Packers (4-6) on Sunday night at FedEx Field brought the total passing yards allowed in the current four-game losing streak to 1,239. With the Redskins’ 515 total net yards, the Packers have yielded 1,683 yards in this stretch.
“We didn’t stop ’em,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “Our pass defense, we didn’t get off the field. It was touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, field goal in the second half. I think that tells the story.”
When Redskins receiver Jamison Crowder beat Rollins deep for a 44-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter and Pierre Garcon did the same to Gunter on a 70-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, they were the 10th and 11th touchdowns the Packers have allowed this season on throws of 15 or more yards down the field, according to ESPN Stats & Information. That tied them with the winless Cleveland Browns for the most in the NFL. Last year, the Packers allowed only six touchdowns on such throws.
“He just made a play,” Rollins said. “I didn’t make a play.”
Rollins offered no other explanation, but perhaps he’s still playing hurt from the groin injury that sidelined him for three games last month.
The reality is the Packers have been playing with their Nos. 3, 4 and 5 cornerbacks for most of this season. The No. 3 (Rollins) is a second-year pro who, despite being a second-round pick, did not play extensively as a rookie, the No. 4 (Gunter) a second-year undrafted free agent and the No. 5 (Goodson) a third-year former sixth-round pick who was suspended for the first four games of the season.
That trio doesn’t have a single interception this season. In fact, the only interception by a Packers cornerback this season belongs to Randall in Week 3 against the Lions. It’s not like the other defensive backs have made many plays, either. The trio of Morgan Burnett, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Micah Hyde haven’t picked up the slack.
“We have way too much talent in this locker room to be going out there and performing like that,” Hyde said. “Week in week out, we’re doing it. I’m speechless. I don’t know what else to say.”
The return of outside linebacker Clay Matthews from a three-game absence because of a hamstring injury didn’t help. Matthews recorded only one tackle and had no sacks or quarterback hits. Officially, the Packers hit Cousins just twice, on sacks by Nick Perry and Julius Peppers.
In one week, the Packers dropped from 16th to 23rd in passing yards per game.
“Just like anything the working components have to go together, starting with the pass rush [and] getting the quarterback off the spot,” McCarthy said. “We’ve got to get the quarterback off the spot, and we gave up way too many big plays today.”