GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Mike Daniels had not even made it back to his locker yet on Sunday, when, as he emerged from the shower following the Green Bay Packers' win over the Detroit Lions, he saw someone with a stat sheet in his hands.
"Are we still No. 1 in run defense?" Daniels asked.
Yes, Mike, after holding the Lions to just 50 yards on the ground, you still led the league.
And it's not even all that close.
The Packers' three opponents -- the Jaguars, Vikings and Lions -- have combined to rush for just 128 yards. That's an average of 42.7 yards per game. The NFL's second-best run defense, which belongs to the Philadelphia Eagles, has yielded an average of 71.0 yards per game.
"Things are changing around here," Daniels said as he kept walking toward his locker.
A year ago, the Packers were atrocious against the run to start the season. They allowed more rushing yards (130) in the first half of the 2015 season opener against the Bears than they have in three games so far this season.
"We were horrible," Daniels said of the Packers' run defense in recent years. "It was embarrassing."
No one has set a better tone for the run defense than Daniels, who has become one of the NFL's top defensive tackles. Evidence of that was presented when the Lions tried to run on third-and-goal from the 1-yard on Sunday. Daniels knocked back right guard Larry Warford and pushed his way through another couple of players to dump running back Dwayne Washington for a 1-yard loss.
"I thought Mike Daniels had an outstanding play where he knocked the lineman back and actually used up three blockers and made the tackle on that play," Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers said. "He gave us a chance."
It was one of six tackles for loss, not including the Packers' three sacks, against the Lions.
Through three games, the Packers have 21 tackles for loss on rushing plays -- five more than the next-closest team, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Their defensive penetration shows up in another area: they have allowed only 33 yards rushing before first contact -- 106 fewer than the next closest teams (see accompanying chart).
"We're off to a good start there," Capers said. "Their long run was 9 yards and we've limited the long runs, which has been as much the emphasis as anything because a year ago if we had eliminated the long runs we would have been a top run defense. But that's what got us a year ago."
A turnaround in run defense isn't foreign to Capers. When he took over as defensive coordinator following the 2008 season, the Packers ranked 26th against the run. In 2009, they led the league. Now, Capers is trying to repair a unit that has ranked 21st or lower to finish each of the last three seasons under his watch.
The results still have to be considered at least mildly surprising when you consider all the questions about the Packers' front seven heading into this season. Daniels and Letroy Guion were the only two defensive linemen on the roster who had ever played in an NFL regular-season game, and rookie first-round pick Kenny Clark had not exactly flashed much play-making ability in the preseason, when he was slowed by a back injury. And the three inside linebackers on the roster were a pair of second-year players in Jake Ryan and Joe Thomas plus rookie Blake Martinez.
With five key defensive players sidelined by injuries against the Lions, Capers had to go young. Among the 20 players who lined up on defense, 12 were first- or second-year players. And it wasn't like they were all high picks like Clark, who played 42 of the 68 snaps. In fact, three of the rookies who played on defense were undrafted.
"We had 13 first-year players playing the game; nine of them on defense," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "And they got a lot of opportunities and with that we'll be a much better team as we move forward."
The run defense covered up for some deficiencies on the back end. Second-year cornerback Damarious Randall gave up chunks of yardage for the second straight game, although he did wrestle a pass away from tight end Eric Ebron for an interception. But a week after Minnesota's Stefon Diggs caught nine passes for 182 yards, Detroit's Marvin Jones had six catches for 205 yards, and the Packers rank 28th in passing defense.
"For a long time, the strength of our team was our defensive backs," Daniels said. "The focus on stopping the run might have not been as strong but our defensive line room as a lot of pride. Not saying it wasn't before but now you can see it. Look at the way our young played. These are guys, they're just kind of out of college. This is their third NFL game -- first for some of them -- and look at the way they played.
"It's attitude and pride. Attitude and pride. It's that simple."