Packers Periscope: The Great Bird, Offensive Defense……….

Tommy DeVito, a backup quarterback for the New York Giants, garnered national attention two weeks ago for his

outstanding performance on Monday Night Football against Joe Barry’s defense and the Green Bay Packers. The

Giants declared on Wednesday that DeVito’s brief day of fame had come to an end, benching him in favor of Tyrod

Taylor, who is returning from an injury reserve term.

DeVito ran for 71 yards, took zero sacks, and completed 81% of his passes against the Packers. Throughout the course

of his remaining seven games (five of which were starts), DeVito only completed 61% of his throws, took 36 sacks,

and only managed 124 yards of rushes.

Now that he’s playing against the Packers defense, DeVito’s current success seems to fit a recent pattern of below-

average quarterbacks having their finest games of the season. At Lambeau Field in Week 15, the Tampa Bay

Buccaneers scored 34 points behind quarterback Baker Mayfield’s 22 of 28 completions for 381 yards and four

touchdown passes.

Following a 2-13 span in which they averaged only 15.7 points per game, the Carolina Panthers scored a season-high

30 points on Christmas Eve against the Packers. Bryce Young, the quarterback for Carolina, who had been having

one of the least productive passing seasons in recent NFL history, finished with a 312 yard gain and two touchdowns.

In other words, Joe Barry, the defensive coordinator for Green Bay, and his team have been turning average

quarterbacks into stars lately. The Packers practically need to defeat the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears in

their final two games of the regular season in order to secure a postseason berth. Now, the question is whether

Barry’s paper tiger defense, which is loaded with first-round picks, will contain quarterbacks Nick Mullens and

Justin Fields’ final-quarter performances.

Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!