Andy, respectfully, I don't think you get it. The decision has obviously been made that the average passing attempt gains more yards than the average rushing attempt, and that passes are more likely to end up in the endzone than runs, and they're more likely to be a "chunk" play.

So, starting from that point, the only rational course of action is to encourage teams to run. If Kirk Cousins throws a pass against us, it gains on average 7.0 yards. If he throws it to Jefferson, it's an average of over 9 yards/attempt. If it's completed, like about 70% of his throws are, it's 14 yards on the average.

But if he hands it off to Dalvin Cook, that's less than 5.0 yards on average. So if you just stuff the run, stuff the run, stuff the run, the Vikings are going to throw more. The Packers don't want teams to throw more.

The Packers would rather have the Vikings try to grind it down the field, and take our chances on stopping them on third down, or them stopping themselves with a penalty, turnover, missed assignment, incomplete pass, etc. They'd much rather see Cook with 25 carries for 150 yards....that's 6 yards a crack,......than see Jefferson with 14 targets and 10 receptions for 150 yards.

That's why our run numbers are bad. Conversely, our passing numbers are pretty good, because teams don't throw 40 times a game against us, we have some good cover guys, and we get good pressure. That's why we get so many interceptions despite not getting thrown on very much.

This isn't a case of "bad run defense". It's a calculated defensive design that held 16 of 17 opponents under 28 last year, and a majority of opponents to 23 or less.

I get why people want to see us just stuff the run. I really do. But I think this is a smarter way to keep the score low and keep us in the game, instead of inviting a shootout, which we rarely win. Under LaFleur, we've lost most games where the opponent goes over 30. (1-10 since 2019). But until this past season, we were 34-2 when we held teams to 24 or less. This past season, we were 7-4 in games where we held our opponent to 24 or less.

To recap: Help defend against the pass by encouraging the opponent to run. The goal is to keep points down, and you score more points, more quickly, passing, than you do running.

I agree LH; I think that’s one of the reasons LaFleur keeps Barry as DC; that’s his defense (no pun intended).
Everyone wants great pass AND run defense, but by roster alone, it looks like the run defense is mostly the ILBs responsibility, while the line/edges are all about pass rush.