The Green Bay Packers will not renew the contract for defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, the team announced on Friday. The news comes less than a week after Green Bay’s 31-26 defeat by Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game. The defeat marked the Packers’ second consecutive loss in the game for the NFC title.
Pettine, 54, has served as the Packers’ defensive coordinator since the 2018 season. Throughout this period, the Packers finished 22nd, 9th and 13th in the NFL in scoring defense, respectively. In 2020, Green Bay’s defense ended in seventh place in the NFL in passes, 13th in races, tied for eighth in sacks, tied for 26th in forced turnovers, 10th in third downfficiency and eighth in red zone efficiency. Pro Bowl linebacker Za’Darius Smith had 7.5 more sacks than the next closest Packer, Rashan Gary. The other Pro Bowler of the Packers in defense was cornerback Jaire Alexander, who broke 13 passes for the senior team.
The Green Bay defense had its fights against the Buccaneers. While they held Tampa Bay on the first 19 runs and 2 of 8 on the third run, the Packers failed to overcome Tom Brady’s three touchdown passes in the first 31 minutes of the game. The Green Bay defense also allowed for a 20-yard touchdown by Leonard Fournette, while the Buccaneers came out with a 28-10 lead.
With the deficit reduced to five points, the Packers’ defense needed to stop with 2:05 remaining. But two expensive penalties allowed Buccaneers to keep the ball for the rest of the game.
A 19-year-old NFL-level technical veteran, Pettine served as the Jets’ defensive coordinator when New York made consecutive appearances for the AFC title in 2009-10. He spent a year as a defensive coordinator for Bills before moving to 10-22 as the head coach of the 2014-15 Browns.