Without their star defender, Micah Parsons, can Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley devise a new scheme to stop the Chicago Bears' dominant run game and contain Caleb Williams?
There's going to be a ton of pressure on Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley for the rest of this 2025 season and perhaps for some of the 2026 season as well -- if he's not a head coach by then.
Hafley has been a great coordinator for the Packers, but his skills are about to be tested. His greatest weapon, and one of the best defensive weapons in the NFL, Micah Parsons, will be gone for at least the next nine months with a torn ACL.
Parsons is the straw that his stirred the Packers' defensive drink, and that's not a surprise. His elite first step and ability to get into the backfield made life so much easier for everyone around him. It also elevated the play of mid-tier pass-rushers like Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness and mid-tier cornerbacks like Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine.
But now that's all gone, and Hafley faces an extremely tough test in Week 16. Up next is another clash with the Chicago Bears, who have retaken the NFC North lead, and Chicago head coach Ben Johnson has to be licking his chops for the opportunity to call a game against the Pack without having to worry about Parsons.
So how does Hafley adjust? He no longer has the weapon that gave him his X-factor, but he still does have some talent that he can use to his advantage.
First of all, stopping the run is going to be crucial. The Bears have an elite rushing attack (they are rushing for 151.9 yards per game) and Johnson is undoubtedly going to pound the rock. Keep in mind, the Packers also lost Devonte Wyatt a few weeks ago, who was an elite run stuffer.
Hafley can counter Johnson with one player in particular, and that would be rookie Nazir Stackhouse, who checks in at 6-foot-4, 327 pounds. Stackhouse is a big player who at the very least will require constant double teams from Chicago's interior offensive line. If Stackhouse can get in and just be a gap-filler one-technique, that could perhaps open up lanes for Green Bay's speedy and athletic linebackers, Quay Walker and Edgerrin Cooper, to get free for some tackles for loss.
Speaking of Walker and Cooper, Hafley may want to have one of those two "spy" on Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams, especially in third-down passing situations where he's been known to take off and run.
If the Packers can make Williams a pocket passer, they'll win this game. Johnson got Williams running on bootlegs in the first game and he ended up picking Green Bay's defense apart, though. Having a speedy linebacker who can cover sideline-to-sideline like Cooper could be an advantage for Hafley when it comes to containing Williams' legs. The problem is, if he's spying the quarterback in big spots, that's one less player in pass-coverage, so there are downsides to that too.
Lastly, Halfey must use Gary like he used Parsons. That's not to say that Gary will have a Parsons-esque impact, because he wont, but Green Bay's pass-rush has been best when Hafley moved Parsons around the front seven. Hafley did that a bit with Gary last season, so that must make a comeback.
Gary has limitations, but he's athletic enough to be a stand-up blitz option from the A-gap and he's quick enough to at least get pressure on some of the stunts that we saw Parsons run. He won't get home like Parsons, but the name of the game is pressure at this point, and you hope that pressure can lead to some sacks.
Hafley has his work cut out for him this weekend, but it is more than possible to beat the Bears without Parsons.