Paul Bretl | 12/2/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers defense has been finding its groove over the last two games, with their success against the run being a catalyst behind their play. This week, however, that run defense unit will be put to the test against Detroit’s David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs.
“They’ve got good running backs,” said Xavier McKinney. “They do a good job of putting the men in certain situations, too. Even the first time we played them, I think they played Montgomery the whole first half and then the second half they came with Gibbs. They got a good one-two punch. They’ve got a really good running game.”
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As a collective offensive unit, the 4.8 yards per carry by Detroit this season ranks eighth in football. Individually, the Lions have two very different backs, with Gibbs bringing the speed and homerun ability, while Montgomery is a more physical ball carrier–hence the nicknames Sonic and Knuckles.
Gibbs is just 27 yards shy of hitting the 1,000-yard mark this season and is averaging 6.0 yards per rush, the second-best mark this season. Montgomery has 720 rushing yards of his own and is averaging 4.3 yards per carry. Combined, the duo has 21 rushing touchdowns.
Tackling and rallying to the football is a must against these two backs with their ability to make defenders miss. While each back goes about it differently, with a more speedy and elusive approach from Gibbs compared to more power from Montgomery, both rank top 10 in missed tackles forced among running backs. This has resulted in a number of chunk runs, with Gibbs tied for first in rushes of 10-plus yards and Montgomery ranking 16th out of 61 eligible backs.
The last time the Packers and Lions met, about a month ago now, Montgomery and Gibbs would carry the ball 28 times between the two of them and rush for 138 yards at 4.9 yards per attempt.
“I think, personally, both those guys are very complete backs,” Matt LaFleur said on Sunday. “I think they’re a little bit different in terms of their style, where Gibbs has got that home run ability and Montgomery’s going to beat you up. I do think they complement each other nicely.
“I think they’re both kind of like what I used to talk about all the time with a 1A, 1B, and I think they’re both starting caliber backs in this league that are really explosive and dangerous both running the football and out of the backfield.”
Success for the Detroit offense as a whole begins here with the run game. As we saw in that first matchup, the Lions’ offense is a well-oiled machine. Oftentimes, either Gibbs or Montgomery picks up a handful of yards on first down. Now in a 2nd-and-short situation, the entire playbook is open to Detroit. They can run the ball again or pass, which spreads the defense out and can keep them on their heels with some unpredictability from the offense at play.
If Detroit chooses to run the ball, there’s a good chance they’ll put themselves in 3rd-and-short or perhaps pick up the first down. If they throw the ball, it will probably be off of play-action, where they use their run game to their advantage, and probably contains a crossing route or two, taking advantage of that aforementioned space in the defense, a screen, or the downfield shot play.
Obviously, this is a very oversimplified way to describe things, but you get the idea–it goes to show just how efficient and effective this offense is. Then, from there, just rinse and repeat the described process.
The Packers’ defense will enter Week 14 ranked seventh in yards per carry allowed at 4.2. They are coming off of two games against two dynamic backs in Christian McCaffrey and De’Von Achane, where they were able to bottle them up, holding the two to 45 total yards on 18 carries.
Limiting backs like McCaffrey and Achane, who can make any defense look silly, requires a group effort. It starts with a strong push from the interior and the defensive ends setting strong edges. Improved linebacker play for the Packers has been a critical factor as well with that unit filling gaps, fighting through blocks, and getting sideline-to-sideline to contain outside runs. For the defensive backs, it’s about rallying to the ball carrier.
“It’s just complementary football from all three levels,” said JJ Enagbare of the run defense after the Miami game. “The D-tackles, D-line, linebackers able to flow to over top and then the DBs able to make the open-field tackles when it comes to them, so it was pretty much just all 11 playing together and playing with each other.”
Not to be overlooked when discussing the Packers’ run defense as of late, has been the fast starts from the Green Bay offense. Complementary football, with the offense jumping out to quick leads, is a great way to mitigate the opponent’s run game, forcing the offense out of their gameplan as they can typically become more pass-heavy in an effort to try to catch up on the scoreboard, thus–in these last two games, for example–limiting the number of opportunities that McCaffrey and Achane had to touch the ball.
“It’s good. It works out in our favor every time,” said McKinney when asked about playing complementary football after the 49ers game. “When we do that, we’re a really good football team and I think it shows because when we execute on all levels and everybody’s kinda doing their job and our playmakers are making plays, we’re a hard team to beat, so just gotta continue to keep trying to do that.”
However, accomplishing that feat against the Lions, who have the highest-scoring offense in football and the third-best scoring defense, isn’t something that the Packers should probably be banking on.
A strong run defense has a positive trickle-down effect to the rest of the defensive unit. It puts the offense behind the sticks and in ‘get back on track’ situations, where the defense now has the upper hand. On these obvious passing downs, the pass rush can pin its ears back, and coverage-wise, there are only so many routes that can be run in those long down-and-distance scenarios, giving the secondary the advantage.
Finding a way to contain this high-powered Detroit offense likely starts on the ground for Green Bay, and not letting the dynamic duo of Gibbs and Montgomery control the game.
“We just want to be physical,” said Brenton Cox of the run game. “Knock things back, be violent, get off blocks to make plays.”