The Green Bay Packers clearly miss Micah Parsons.
It's not like that's inherently a surprise. They traded a haul for him before the season and then signed him to a record-setting contract because he's one of the most disruptive defenders in football.
But when Parsons' season ended early with an injury, everything changed for the Packers.
Interestingly, certain aspects of their defense have still been OK.
But in a new article on Wednesday, ESPN's Aaron Schatz points out that the problem has been defending the pass on later downs.
"On second, third and fourth downs, the Packers rank 26th in defensive DVOA and allow 5.9 net yards per dropback," Schatz writes. "It has been particularly bad since edge rusher Micah Parsons went down with a torn ACL, as the Packers have allowed 8.3 net yards per dropback on second through fourth downs in their past three games."
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And guess what? The NFC has teams particularly equipped to exploit this issue.
"This is going to be a problem in the playoffs," Schatz writes. "On second down, three of the four best passing teams in the league are the Rams, Seahawks and 49ers. And the league's best passing teams on third down include the 49ers and Eagles."
The Packers already have a tough path for themselves. They're locked into the No. 7 seed in the NFC, meaning they'll go on the road for as long as they can stay alive.
It certainly would help to have a supreme pass rusher for those road trips.
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