The No. 26 hung over the Green Bay Packers' defense all offseason.
That was their league ranking against the run in 2008, the primary deficiency that led to the overhaul of the defensive coaching staff for 2009.
Now the Packers have a different number to think about. No. 1.
By holding the Arizona Cardinals to just 48 yards rushing in a 33-7 victory on Sunday in the regular-season finale, the Packers put themselves first in two significant places.
First, they finished No. 1 in the league in run defense, allowing 1,333 yards on the season, an average of 83.3 per game.
Second, that per-game average set a
, besting the 85.2 allowed (1,363 yards) in 1994.
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