What went wrong with the Packers defense in the loss to the Eagles in Brazil

Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley preached the importance of forcing turnovers, and how he would prioritize that mindset. In the regular season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles in São Paulo, the Packers did get the ball back a lot on defense. They had two interceptions on Jalen Hurts, from Xavier McKinney and Jaire Alexander, and recovered a fumble after a botched snap.

Still, the defense was the main reason why the team lost on Friday. The offense didn't help by scoring only nine points off the three turnovers, to be fair, but the defense allowed 34 points. It was basically turnover or points, while Braden Mann had to punt only twice for the Eagles.

So, what went wrong? If forcing turnovers was the priority, they did it, and the unit was still underwhelming, something didn't go as expected. For head coach Matt LaFleur, it was the lack of pressure upfront.

"They were having their way with us," LaFleur said after the game. "I expected more from our pass rush tonight, and when we did bring pressure, a lot of times it looked like guys were uncovered."

The best pass rusher on the team was, surprisingly, slot cornerback Keisean Nixon, with three pressures and a 92.3 pass rush grade. Defensive tackle led the team with four pressures. The main issue was that edge defenders Rashan Gary and Preston Smith were shockingly ineffective, while backups Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare didn't bring much to the table either.

Edge rushers pass rush grade (via PFF):

• Lukas Van Ness 58.2
• Kingsley Enagbare 50.5
• Rashan Gary 56.6
• Preston Smith 50.0

Interior DL pass rush grade:

• Kenny Clark 68.1
• Devonte Wyatt 61.1
• Karl Brooks 60.8
• TJ Slaton 57.5

Run D

There was a perception that Saquon Barkley dominated the game. But the run defense wasn't exactly the problem. For the most part, the unit did a good job on a play-by-play basis. Barkley had 4.5 yards per carry, while Josh Jacobs got 5.2, for instance.

But the Packers allowed some big plays, and the Eagles were more effective in the red zone. Saquon capitalized it, receiving a touchdown and running for two others.

"We had some mistakes," LaFleur added. "In the run game, we had some blown gaps where Saquon was barreling through there and getting chunk gains. You can't do that against a good football team."

The Packers' interior of the defensive line had a poor showing in the area — the grades were these: Devonte Wyatt (50.9), TJ Slaton (50.0), Kenny Clark (41.6), and Karl Brooks (39.6).

The Indianapolis Colts have a strong run offense with Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor. Limiting them, and putting the Colts' offense in pure passing situations, will be the main challenge for Jeff Hafley in game 2.

But even if that happens, the Packers need more out of their edge rushers, because they are what makes this system work.

Related: Packers defense falters in concerning areas in first game under Jeff Hafley