Can the Green Bay Packers Defense Step Up?

The Green Bay Packers will have to lean on their defense to step up in the face of Jordan's Love's absence.

The Green Bay Packers dodged a bullet earlier this week. Now comes the hard part of having to replace Jordan Love, even if it’s temporarily.

Week 2 serves as the Packers’ first home game of the 2024 NFL season. Even without their star quarterback, they’ll be eager to celebrate their home account with a win and add to their streak of winning their last 11 home openers, the longest such streak in the NFL (h/t to the Packers’ wonderful dope sheet for that factoid).

Doing so without Love only ramps up the stakes when going against an 0-1 Indianapolis Colts team that got gashed by the Houston Texans in a 29-27 Week 1 loss. All eyes will be on recently-acquired backup quarterback Malik Willis to hold down the fort going into the fourth start of his NFL career.

But the biggest sense of security he will have going into Lambeau Field will be seeing what the Packers defense can do in defending their home turf.  

The Packers defense did little to slow down an Eagles offense that put up 34 points and got whatever they wanted, especially in the second half. The 410 total yards the Packers allowed to Philadelphia was the fourth-highest in Week 1. Six out of 11 Eagles drives ended in points, despite the fact the Packers forced three turnovers (though the Packers rued just getting nine points out of those three turnovers). Winning the turnover battle was a step in the right direction after the 2023 Packers forced 18 takeaways, which ranked 26th in the NFL last season.