GREEN BAY, Wisconsin – The Green Bay Packers defense, coordinated by Jeff Hafley, ranks fifth in the NFL in second-half scoring. During their three-game winning streak, they sit second in points scored after halftime. Since Week 1, only one team has given up fewer goals after halftime.

These must have been some incredible adjustments made by Hafley.

Actually, not much.

A coach coming into the locker room and making some game-changing adjustments is more fiction than reality.

As Hafley quickly learned, there is no time.

“This is crazy,” Hafley said after practice on Thursday. “The first preseason game, I was really looking at the squad in detail, and then the coach was like, we need to go upstairs (to the stairs to the coach’s box). I haven’t even seen the actors yet. Fast. It’s really fast.”

Halftime at university lasts 20 minutes. In the NFL, that period is 13.

Hafley doesn’t spend his 13 minutes talking to his players. During home games, he directs the defense from the seventh floor of Lambeau Field, so getting to the locker room requires an elevator and a fairly long ride in a golf cart.

“The golf cart drops us off at the elevator,” Hafley said. “We’re running more than I’ve been running all week because then I have to run to the locker room. Since it’s a long half you might have to use the restroom so there’s another period of time. I hate to be descriptive about it.”

Yep, there’s a much-needed pause at the urinal before any schematic magic happens in the locker room.

“So,” Hafley continued. “You’re sitting in a room, talking to the coaches you’ve been talking to the whole game with headphones on, then I go up, draw something on the board, give them a message and dammit, you’re up again. “This is the fastest thing in the world.”

Hafley thinks he spent “at most” 2 or 3 minutes with the players at halftime.

Hafley’s defense is emerging as one of the best units in the NFL. This is especially true in the second half of matches.

The Packers are fifth in points allowed per game in the second half through Week 7, with 7.0 points allowed. This includes the third-leading 3.1 points allowed per game in the fourth quarter.

In Week 1, the Eagles scored 17 points in the second half, 14 points in the third quarter and three points in the fourth quarter.

Over the past six weeks, the Packers have allowed just three second-half touchdowns; one in Indianapolis with 1:47 to play in Week 2, Tennessee in the third quarter of Week 3, and one against the Rams with 3:30. Go in week 5.

The Packers allowed one field goal in the second half in their Week 4 loss against the Vikings. During their three-game winning streak, they are allowing just 4.0 points per game after halftime: a six-point field goal against the Rams, a field goal against the Cardinals, and a field goal against the Texans.

Safety Xavier McKinney said dramatic adjustments “don’t usually happen like that.” “Usually there’s a few little things that happen and we kind of clean them up and talk amongst ourselves, just making sure we’re ready for the second half. But there’s not a million adjustments. There’s always a few things we didn’t do right in the first half, we fix those and then we’re right back on the field.”

Usually, players talk at the beginning of the half while the coaches are gathered together. But towards the end – after a mad dash from the coaches’ box to the bathroom – Hafley joins them to make a few changes before making the journey back upstairs to end the second half.

“Oh, he’ll come in there and get everything ready, whatever fixes he thinks we need, and then he can set up a meeting,” McKinney said. “We might get a call, but then he can adjust it based on what the defense is doing. That’s when we’ll figure it out and get back out there.

Defensive tackle Kenny Clark also disparaged the idea of ​​coaches stepping in and making sweeping adjustments that determine the outcome of the game.

“The coach comes and tells us what they are doing and what we need to stop. “Guys just locking in again and motivating each other and getting back on the field and doing our job,” Clark said.

Clark said major adjustments might need to be made “if they’re killing us with something crazy (or) there’s a lot of big plays.” Otherwise it’s a matter of correcting an alignment or adjusting the personnel.

“We’re still executing our game plan and what we need to do,” he said.

Green Bay needed strong second half defense against the Texans last week. Green Bay trailed 19-14 at halftime. Once Houston got the ball early in the third quarter, there was a sense of urgency.

“I think mentality-wise we needed to stop,” McKinney said. “Coming into half-time we were down. We just knew we had to stop. Whenever we’re down and we know the other team has gotten the ball back, we say, ‘Okay, this is a very important possession.’

“Even before, when we were on the field defensively and we knew they were going to get the ball back at the end of the half, that last move (of the first half) was going to be a crucial moment. Obviously you don’t want them to score a goal and then get the ball back after half time. For us, mentality-wise, knowing we have to stop, we try to get the ball out as much as we can, we try to get a pick, we try to make plays, we try to force turnovers on downs and get off the field. ”

The Packers got that stop last week and the offense marched down the field and scored the go-ahead touchdown.

But the pressure wasn’t on the defender’s shoulders. The game was tied for most of the second half, meaning the defense had no room for error. Houston’s first four possessions of the second half resulted in punts. Green Bay allowed 35 total yards.

McKinney said that’s a sign of a good defense, especially against a high-quality quarterback like C.J. Stroud.

“Whenever you have to stop and you can stop, no matter what the score is, you have good defense,” he said. “When you absolutely need a stop on any play and you can get it, then you have a good defense.

“Especially in this league, we know now that it’s very difficult to get stops and it’s very difficult to stop teams from scoring goals. If you can do that when you need it most, you have a good defense.”

So why was Green Bay’s defense so good in the second half? For example, last year he scored 11.7 points per game in the second half, the eighth highest in the league.

The Packers allowed 76 yards and a late field goal after halftime against Houston.

Since losing to the Eagles in Week 1, the Packers rank first in second-half interceptions (five), first in tackles (six) and second in sacks (14).

“We understand how guys attack us and we just play games,” Clark said. “We just go with the flow, whether it’s putting pressure on the quarterback with blitzes, disguises and things like that.

“Most of the time, they come up in their starting 15 (games) and come up with untracked appearances and make some plays on top of that, but when we get down to it and they focus on their scheme, that’s what we do. We lock in on that and do what we’re ready to do.” ”

While halftime adjustments are overrated, in-game adjustments are critical. On Sunday in Jacksonville, Hafley will adapt to the plays of Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor, and Taylor will adapt to the schemes devised by Hafley. It’s an ongoing tug of war for schematic supremacy.

“There is no halftime in the NFL,” Hafley said. “After every series you get used to it and you just go and get used to it and go and get used to it. I think that’s actually one of the advantages of being in the booth, because between each series I’m on the iPad and taking notes.

“How can we adjust them on the next third descent? What do we need to do differently on first or second down? How will they attack us? What’s coming? It’s just constant communication and suddenly you’re back on your feet.

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