Nine games into 2026, the Green Bay Packers’ defense has 19 takeaways: 13 interceptions and 6 fumble recoveries. Last season, they had 14 in 17 games. Sunday’s 45-27 win in Foxborough made it six straight games with multiple takeaways. Green Bay took the ball away four times and turned those turnovers into 21 points.
What stands out is that it isn’t coming from blitzing. Against New England, Green Bay never rushed more than four, and all three interceptions came with Drake Maye in a clean pocket.
The Packers are winning after the snap, with disguise, rotation and safeties who read the quarterback.
The safeties set the tone
Safeties Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams have nine takeaways between them, almost half the team’s total.
McKinney leads the team with five interceptions, including two-pick games against Chicago and New England. On Sunday, he picked off Maye’s first pass of the game and returned it to the New England 14. Later he read Maye’s eyes from a deep-quarter alignment and drove on a backside dig.
Williams has three interceptions and a fumble recovery. His pick against the Patriots came off a Brandon Cisse deflection on a deep shot, with Williams rotating over the top while McKinney was used as a rusher.
Everyone’s getting in on it
Nine different defenders have a takeaway. Six of them have an interception. Isaiah McDuffie had the best all-around day in Week 9. He stepped up when Ty’Ron Hopper left with a chest injury and became the first Packer since 2000 with multiple tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in one game. His strip-and-recover of Rhamondre Stevenson in the third quarter ended any thought of a Patriots comeback.
McDuffie also has two forced fumbles. Javon Bullard, Zaire Franklin, Devonte Wyatt and Anthony Campbell have one each.
Doing it shorthanded
Green Bay has done this without its biggest name. The defense has played all nine games without All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons. It has also lost linebackers Edgerrin Cooper and Zaire Franklin, and three defensive tackles, to injured reserve. A defense that can’t count on pressure has had to take the ball away with coverage instead. So far it has worked: the Packers are 6-3 and have won five of their last six.
Takeaway rates swing a lot from year to year, and some regression should be expected. Still, a defense whose turnovers come from disguise and safety play has a sturdier base than one living on tipped balls.
