Through two weeks of football, Jeff Hafley’s defense is setting the standard across the league.
The Green Bay Packers effectively neutralized the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders, two of the NFC’s darlings. Hafley’s defense took a massive leap forward in Year 2, and adding Micah Parsons makes the group even more diabolical.
Parsons lives up to the well-deserved hype, even while recovering from a back injury, but his best trait might be his ability to be a force multiplier. With Parsons on the field, he commands the offense’s attention. It sets up other defenders to carve their own legends.
Defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt is a massive beneficiary. When the Packers traded his comrade-in-arms, Kenny Clark, as part of the Parsons deal, there were concerns about the interior defensive line. However, Wyatt is silencing those doubts by playing the best football of his career. A combination of more comfort in Hafley’s system, the addition of Parsons, and new positional coach DeMarcus Covington set the stage for a Wyatt breakout as he becomes a true difference maker.
For years, we cried for the Packers to get a true equal to play alongside Clark. Wyatt was selected in the first round of the 2022 draft to be that partner, but, ironically, he wouldn’t become that star interior defensive lineman until Clark’s departure.
Wyatt always showed tons of potential and an elite physical profile, but couldn’t finish plays and was inconsistent against the run. Hafley’s defense looked like it could unlock Wyatt’s ability. Hafley wanted to let Wyatt play fast, focusing on his job and finding comfort in the system. While Wyatt did look better, the pass-rush on the whole was lacking last season.
With Clark gone and TJ Slaton signing with Cincinnati in free agency, there were even more questions about the defensive line, especially against the run. Parsons might be approaching legendary status as a pass-rusher, but pundits said he wasn’t enough against the run, perhaps even a liability. Could the Packers defensive line improve at attacking the passer while handling the run?
Wyatt stepped up to both challenges.
Jared Goff and Jayden Daniels are two different types of quarterbacks, affected differently by the pass-rush. Goff is one of the league’s best from a clean pocket. Give him time, and he’ll carve you up. Meanwhile, Daniels is a true dual-threat quarterback who can throw beautiful passes or use his legs to gain yardage.
Wyatt was a big part of stopping both.
Against Detroit, Wyatt was PFF’s second-highest-graded Packer defender (78.7) thanks to four pressures, a sack, and a quarterback hit. He also had the team’s highest run grade and minimized Detroit’s Sonic and Knuckles rushing attack.
The following week, Wyatt had a career-high seven pressures and another sack.
Wyatt leads the Packers in pressures, with 11, his best streak of his career already. He’s second on the team in sacks, with two, behind only Rashan Gary‘s 2.5.
Devonte Wyatt now with two sacks in two games. A big reason #Packers were comfortable sending Kenny Clark to Dallas had to be what they're expecting from their 2022 first-round pick.
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) September 12, 2025
Wyatt’s overall PFF grade of 76.2 is tenth for qualifying defensive linemen, while his pass-rush score of 79.6 is second. His two sacks lead interior defensive linemen. While his run score of 57.4 is average, we’re seeing him hold up well against the run, especially with Clark and Slaton elsewhere. These scores agree with the narrative I’m painting, so, in this case, these are very relevant PFF grades.
As always this early into an NFL season, the sample size is small, but these games were against two of the NFC’s best in 2024, two teams that made it further in the playoffs than the Packers did. It’s extremely encouraging, and Wyatt will get another chance to stack success against the Browns’ struggling offense.
A myriad of factors play into Wyatt’s year-four jump. He could be more comfortable in Hafley’s defense in year two, as the staff believed.
“Devonte Wyatt, I think he’s going to thrive in this defense,” vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan said, unprompted, during the 2024 draft. “Where you can kind of just pin your ears back, get off the ball. That’s what he was at Georgia — quick, work edges, penetrate, disrupt. I think there’s a bunch of guys who are going to benefit from what we’re doing.”
Of course, Parsons drawing extra focus is a boon for Wyatt and the rest of the defensive line.
But it’s already amazing how much of an upgrade new defensive line coordinator DeMarcus Covington is. He’s already elevated this squad above anything we saw in 2024, and the line is playing physical football and defining games.
The mix of elements, along with Wyatt’s own hard work, has him playing his best football at a crucial time. The Packers needed Wyatt and others to step up, and the former Bulldog has heeded the call. It also bodes well for Wyatt’s future with the team.
The Packers exercised Wyatt’s fifth-year option and have a big decision in the coming months. With Parsons’ historical deal, there isn’t a ton of money to go around. But if Wyatt consistently plays like this and becomes a leader on defense, he might reap the rewards. After two weeks, Wyatt looks like the player the Packers hoped for when they drafted him in the first round in 2022.
Devonte Wyatt tried to intercept the spike 😅 pic.twitter.com/z5FTSk41eq
— NFL (@NFL) September 12, 2025