The Packers boasted one of the league's top run defenses in the beginning of the 2016 NFL season, when they held their first four opponents to 50 or fewer yards gained on the ground. And now, as they prepare to face the Dallas Cowboys and Ezekiel Elliott, the unit will need to once again return to dominant form if Green Bay is to have any hope of defeating the Cowboys to move onto the NFC Championship Game.
On Sunday night against the Detroit Lions, however, the unit suffered a series of additional blows. Quinten Rollins left the game strapped to a board to go to the hospital after a scary-looking hit to his head/neck; per Mike McCarthy, he avoided serious injury but there's no word on whether he'll be able to go on Sunday against the Giants. Both Damarious Randall and Makinton Dorleant left the game with knee injuries, Randall is considered day-to-day, while Dorleant said initial tests showed no major structural damage.
It's been a rough road for the Packers secondary, which has been hampered by injuries all season. The team has needed leaders and playmakers to step up from within its ranks in its postseason push, and a key weapon who could be instrumental in the playoffs became clear in Week 17: defensive back Micah Hyde.
The Packers were a completely different defense without Micah Parsons last year. If that unit can come together early on, it will allow Parsons to make sure that he will not be rushed back to the field.