The Green Bay Packers are still emphasizing takeaways on defense, and while defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley doesn’t want his defense chasing them haphazardly, he strongly believes the takeaways are coming despite producing only two turnovers durnig the first three games of the 2025 season.
Hafley likes the process so far, and he wants to “stay the course” for what has been a dominant defense to start the year. Good, sound defense will eventually lead to takeaways. And the Packers are taking plenty of swings at the football.
“My belief is that they’re coming,” Hafley said Thursday. “I mean, we’re swinging at the ball more than we did last year. Honestly, that’s the truth, because we’re even charting that. We’re to the point where we’re charting how many opportunities did we have to go after the football. For every play we feel we had an opportunity, and how many we didn’t take. And guys are taking them, and they’re going to come. It’s like you just keep sharpening and sharpening and sharpening, and swinging at that tree, and eventually it’s going to fall down, and eventually we’re going to get the takeaways.”
The Packers got an interception from Evan Williams in the red zone in Week 1 and an interception from Xavier McKinney to end the first half last Sunday in Cleveland. Despite an offseason emphasis on creating more fumbles, Green Bay has yet to force a fumble or recover a fumble through three games.
Hafley admitted teams simply aren’t throwing the ball down the field as much against a stingy Packers defense that has consistently pressured the quarterback.
“I don’t know how much the ball is going up against us right now, it’s not, and that’s a good thing,” Hafley said. “Yeah, I want to get more takeaways. No one is sitting here happy with that.”
Hafley wants to trust the process and not risk explosive plays chasing takeaways.
The Dallas Cowboys, who host the Packers this weekend, have six turnovers in three games and are -5 in turnover differential to start 2025.
Could Sunday night in Dallas be the breakout performance on the turnover front? Hafley said the Packers are emphasizing takeaways more than last year, when the defense produced 31 total, including nine in the first three games. And eventually the takeaways are going to come for a fast-moving defense with Micah Parsons and one of the NFL’s best pass-rushing fronts.
More from Hafley below:
