GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers' defensive players spoke like they were on a verbal balance beam after Monday night's 10-7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
They stepped carefully knowing that they did their part -- and then some -- holding the defending Super Bowl champions to 10 points, while quarterback Jordan Love and the rest of their offensive teammates went scoreless for 3½ quarters and managed merely a late touchdown.
What they didn't know at the time was that while they were choosing their words carefully in the locker room, their quarterback invited them to speak freely when he said in his postgame news conference that the defensive players "have every reason to look at us and say, "What are you guys doing?"
The closest any defensive player came to verbalizing that in public came from cornerback Keisean Nixon, who couldn't help but boast about a defensive performance worthy of praise.
"Tonight, we played ball," Nixon said after the game. "Prime time, we held a team to 10 points. You can't really ask too much more of the defense. As a defense, I feel like we're playing ball right now, back end playing really well. It's a complementary game though."
The numbers back up Nixon. And not just from Monday night. The Packers fell to third in the NFC North at 5-3-1, including a 1-3 mark when holding opponents to fewer than 17 points. That's the most such losses in the NFL, and the Packers' most such losses in a season since 1978, when they went 6-3-1 in games allowing fewer than 17 points.
By comparison, the rest of the NFL is 62-5 in those games this season, according to ESPN Research.
"It's naturally frustrating," safety Evan Williams said. "You want to end up on the other side of things, but you can't hang your head or try to feel a certain way about the offense doing anything. It's the ultimate team sport, there's going to be games where we let up a lot of points and we're not going to be b----ing at the offense that you should be holding up your end of the bargain. It's just kind of how the game goes. It's a little frustrating, obviously, not coming out with dubs. But we've just got to get in the film room and find ways to win. That's all we can do."
Just when it looked like the Packers would run out of chances, the defense -- with the help of a puzzling decision by Eagles coach Nick Sirianni to call a deep shot on fourth-and-6 from the Packers' 35-yard line with 35 seconds left instead of trying to pin the Packers with a punt -- came up with something of a bonus stop to give the Packers the chance to try a 64-yard game-tying field goal that wasn't close as time expired.
A week earlier, the defense kept the Packers in what would turn out to be a 16-13 loss to Carolina, although the run-stopping ability came into question after Panthers running back Rico Dowdle went for 130 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley's unit fixed that Monday night, holding Saquon Barkley to 2.7 yards per carry (22 rushes for 60 yards). This after Barkley combined for 218 yards rushing in two wins over the Packers last season (Week 1 and wild-card round). Even quarterback Jalen Hurts was held relatively in check on his five rushes for 27 yards with none longer than 10 yards.
"We were able to hold down their rush game for the most part and keep Jalen from scrambling and limit their deep-passing attack," defensive end Kingsley Enagbare said. "So, pretty much made them earn every blade of grass. But ultimately we came up short."
The Packers' defense wasn't perfect. It didn't sack Hurts, although defensive end Micah Parsons was credited with five pressures. Barkley got loose once on a 41-yard catch-and-run on a ball caught behind the line of scrimmage, and receiver DeVonta Smith beat Williams for a 36-yard touchdown. They also left tight end Dallas Goedert uncovered on his longest catch of the night, a 22-yarder in the third quarter.
"We gotta keep battling as a team," Nixon said. "We are playing as one. No matter if the offense struggles, we gotta find a way as a defense to help them out. That's just the way it is. We gonna love on them boys. We're not mad at them. We'll be all right. We just gotta love 'em up and get their confidence back where it needs to be."
The Packers' 28-point second half in the 35-25 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers feels like it was more than just 2 1/2 weeks ago based on the struggles of the past two games.
Since then, the injury situation has only gotten worse. Tight end Tucker Kraft was lost for the season last week with a torn right ACL. Rookie receiver Matthew Golden, the team's first-round pick, was inactive on Monday because of a shoulder injury. Receiver Romeo Doubs (chest) and center Elgton Jenkins (lower leg/ankle) couldn't finish Monday's game. At least receiver Dontayvion Wicks returned from a calf injury, and perhaps they will get Jayden Reed (foot/collarbone) off injured reserve in a few weeks.
"My confidence [in the offense] is still high," Parsons said. "I got Jordan Love at quarterback. I got Josh Jacobs at running back. We banged up at wide receiver, but we still got Doubs, Wicks. We got the weapons. Don't hesitate; we got the talent."