Green Bay, WI – With the Green Bay Packers entering Week 11 after a rough stretch on offense, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley is confident that the team’s offensive unit will rebound strongly when they face the New York Giants this Sunday.
Speaking to the media earlier this week, Hafley acknowledged the struggles the Packers’ offense has faced in recent games, but he expressed optimism that they would get back on track. “I’ve seen the work and the preparation,” Hafley said. “Our offense has the talent and the resolve to turn things around. I’m confident they’ll bounce back against the Giants. They’ve been pushing themselves in practice, and the mentality is right.”
The Packers, currently sitting at 5-5, have had their ups and downs throughout the 2025 season, with inconsistency on offense being a significant issue. Quarterback Jordan Love has shown promise but has faced criticism for his erratic play, while the run game has also failed to consistently gain momentum. However, Hafley believes that these struggles are part of the natural growth process for a team in transition.
“I’m not worried,” Hafley continued. “The offense has the talent to be explosive. We have guys who can make plays, and once we start clicking, we’ll be hard to stop. They’re learning every week, and with each practice, they’re improving.”
Hafley, who has become a key figure in the Packers’ defensive resurgence, noted that the team’s defense has played its part in giving the offense opportunities to grow. The defense has been holding its ground, giving the offense a chance to stay in games and, ultimately, to find its rhythm.
With the Giants coming into Lambeau Field for a matchup that could be pivotal for both teams’ playoff hopes, the Packers are determined to make the most of this opportunity. The Giants, sitting at the bottom of the NFC East, will be looking for an upset, but Hafley is confident that Green Bay will be ready to capitalize on the chance to get back into the win column.
“Our offense has everything it needs to succeed. It’s just a matter of putting it all together,” Hafley said. “We’re focused on the Giants, but I’m expecting a strong showing from the offense this week. We’ll see them bounce back.”
As the Packers gear up for their Week 11 showdown, all eyes will be on the offense to see if they can finally find the consistency that’s been elusive all season. If Hafley’s confidence proves right, Green Bay could be poised for a crucial second-half surge.
Just mention the words “edge rusher” to a Dallas Cowboys fan and you might see them wince, even if just slightly. Might be that way for awhile.
It’s what happens when you trade away a generational player, in his prime, at that position. Which the Cowboys did when they sent Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers this summer.
While everyone around the Cowboys has collectively mourned Parsons’ departure the last few months, someone on the roster has begun to quietly assert himself in place of the perennial NFL All-Pro.
Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox tagged Cowboys rookie edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku as the team’s potential “Breakout Star” for the second half of the season as he seems to continue to get better every game.
“Rookie pass-rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku has already made an impact for the Dallas Cowboys,” Knox wrote on November 13. “He has two sacks and 10 quarterback pressures.The Boston College product has had both sacks, three QB hits and three tackles for loss over his last three games, and his production could continue rising over the second half of the season. Dallas added Quinnen Williams at the trade deadline, and he should create regular one-on-one opportunities for the guys playing next to him.”
There might be no player on the roster more poised to benefit from the new look Cowboys defense than Ezeiruaku.
When the Cowboys take the field for Monday Night Football against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 11, they’ll do so with a pair of new starters in Williams, a 2-time NFL All-Pro, and another high impact player in inside linebacker Logan Wilson, who they obtained in a trade with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Williams, 6-foot-3 and 303 pounds, is a 2-time NFL All-Pro who is one of the league’s premiere run stuffers. Wilson is a playmaker on both levels, with 12 career interceptions and is on pace for his fifth consecutive season with over 100 tackles.
“Donovan Ezeiruaku is suddenly the league’s top rookie pass rusher,” Pro Football Focus reporter Ryan Smith wrote on November 8. “A couple of impressive weeks vault the Cowboys edge defender past Abdul Carter for the top PFF pass-rush grade among first-year players.”
Ezeiruaku put together one of the greatest seasons by a college pass rusher in his final year at Boston College in 2024, when he won the Ted Hendricks Award as the nation’s top collegiate defensive end with 16.5 sacks, 20 TFL and 3 forced fumbles in just 12 games.
Those are the type of numbers — and against the type of competition — that almost guarantee you a spot in the first round of the NFL draft.
For Ezeiruaku, 6-foot-2 and 248 pounds, it meant dropping to the Cowboys at No. 44 overall in the second round. That drop happened almost entirely because he’s 2-3 inches shorter and 30-40 pounds less than what teams think an ideal NFL edge rusher should look like.
From Bleacher Report’s pre-draft scouting report: “Undersized and lacks the strength to hold up against offensive linemen as a run defender in the NFL … Lack of size and strength also shows up when trying to turn speed to power as a pass-rusher.”