"Yes," the Penrith coach said on Thursday after his side survived a scare to beat Parramatta 24-18.
The Eels scored two of their three tries down that side where Isaiah Papali'i starts in the backrow, Blaize Talagi slots in at five-eighth, with Casey McLean at centre and try machine Tom Jenkins on the wing.
Penrith remain on top of the ladder and on course for the minor premiership, but the last fortnight has shown their left side defence has some vulnerabilities that could be exposed come September.
McLean missed 12 tackles a week earlier against Brisbane, while Talagi missed a game-high eight against the Eels.
Parramatta coach Jason Ryles refused to give too much away about the weakness his team had identified, but Cleary is refusing to panic.
"If they've been targeted for two years, we still remain the best defensive team," Cleary said.
"There's definitely some worries tonight, but on the balance, they can do better than that."
The win over the Eels means the Panthers have won just two of their last five games.
Cleary welcomed the resilience shown by their ability to fight back from 12-0 down and seal victory.
"We didn't play that well and certainly didn't start well," Cleary said.
"But it's one of those games where - I don't want to be disrespectful to Parramatta - but we did really well to come back for the two sinbins.
"That'll be good for us and there's a quarter of a season to go and in one way it's good that you can not play your best, come from behind, go through some hard periods and still get the win."
Penrith were without Dylan Edwards on Thursday, but Cleary is hopeful the fullback will be back to face Canberra in Mudgee next week.
Edwards was ruled out with a minor shoulder injury and was replaced by lively rookie Jaxen Edgar.
"It's not a long-term thing; Jax has been going really well in (the NSW) Cup, and has been learning the ropes behind Dyl for some time," Cleary said.
"He's a local junior who came through our pathways, and thought he was ready to have a crack and I thought he did well."
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