Paul Bretl | 1/8/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — One of the crucial matchups in Sunday’s Wildcard matchup between the Packers and Eagles will be how well Green Bay’s much-improved run defense can contain Philadelphia running back Saquon Barkley.
In his first season with the Eagles, Barkley put up monster numbers. Without playing in the team’s season finale a week ago, Barkley still eclipsed the 2,000-yard rushing mark, averaging a hefty 5.8 yards per rush over the course of the season with 13 touchdowns.
Compared to the rest of the NFL, Barkley would lead the league in rushing. His 5.8 yards per attempt were just behind Derrick Henry, and his 13 rushing touchdowns were the seventh-most. In terms of his big play ability, no back had more rushes of 10-plus yards in 2024, and contributing to that success was Barkley ranking as one of the best at forcing missed tackles.
“The season he has had, he’s dynamic and he hurt us when we played them the first game of the season in terms of not only running the ball but he caught a rail route out of the backfield,” said Matt LaFleur of Barkley. “So, he’s a guy that you absolutely have to have eyes on, have vision on, and making sure that you have a plan for him.”
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Adding to the difficulty that comes with containing Barkley in the ground game is that also a part of that equation is quarterback Jalen Hurts. No quarterback in football carried the ball more than Hurts, who rushed for 630 yards at 4.2 yards per attempt and had 14 rushing touchdowns of his own.
The one-two punch of Barkley and Hurts in the backfield together can be a real stressor on opposing defenses. The Eagles’ heavy usage of the RPO game can stretch a defense horizontally, creating more space for the Eagles’ offense to attack, not to mention that attempting to decipher who has the ball can cause a split second of hesitation, which is all it takes for a running lane to open up.
“They do such a great job because there’s other weapons out there, too, and you’ve got to contain the quarterback and they’ve got one of the top offensive lines in the National Football League,” LaFleur said.
Under first-year defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, the Packers run defense has had a major turnaround. This unit finished the regular season, allowing just 4.0 yards per rush on the year–the third-lowest mark in football. Green Bay also surrendered fewer than 100 rushing yards per game, which ranked seventh this season, and this included doing so against some of the game’s most dynamic rushing attacks.
“(It’s) Allowing us not to play blocks and just to use our God-given athletic ability to get off of blocks and get separation to make those plays,” Karl Brooks said of the run defense. “I would just say it’s credit to the scheme and how we were taught.”
Success for any run defense starts with the interior defensive line and that unit’s ability to generate a steady push, take up space, and occupy blockers, which not only cuts off or closes up running lanes, but that frees up other defenders to make plays. The defensive ends also play a crucial role in setting the edge so ball carriers aren’t able to bounce outside.
“I would say our approach frontside of plays,” said defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich on one of the keys to the run defense’s success. “I think we’re getting some knockback at the point of attack, which is now making running backs have to bow out even further or closer to the surest tackler in the world, which we’ve said before is the sideline. Or if it cuts back, we’ve had pretty decent pursuit on the backside, whether it’s our backside ends, could be an interior player, backside three-technique, nose, whatever it is, or our linebackers behind. And they’ve done an outstanding job.”
However, while success may begin there in the trenches, for a defense to consistently operate at a high level against the run as the Packers have, it truly takes all 11 defenders.
Along with the interior defensive line, the defensive ends need to set strong edges to prevent ball carriers from getting outside. The linebackers need to fill gaps, shed blocks, and get sideline-to-sideline to prevent ball carriers from getting upfield. And for the defensive backs, it’s up to them to swarm to the running back to get as many defenders near the ball to help limit yards after contact or the damage from any missed tackles forced.
“Stopping the run is not just the D line,” added Rebrovich. “Our nickels have done an unbelievable job and those guys setting edges on the perimeter and bringing that thing back so it can’t gain a yard. The more and more we can push the ball lateral to where our guys are going to, the Calvary sets in, the less yards they’re going to get. Our corners have done a great job. It’s a team effort, as you guys know.
“Stopping the run is all 11. I can’t say enough. Our linebackers…when he (Edgerrin Cooper) gets a shot to go down there and pursue a play. So, it takes all 11 of us, but I would say the front side on knocking things back of these perimeter plays has probably been something we’ve gotten better at as the season’s going on.”
When the Packers faced the Eagles in Week 1 to open the 2024 regular season, Barkley rushed for 109 yards while averaging 4.5 yards per carry. However, 34 of those yards came on one rush in the second half. On Barkley’s other 23 carries, he did average just 3.2 yards per attempt.
Against Hurts, meanwhile, the Packers’ defensive front took a more controlled pass rush approach, where the focus was on keeping the quarterback in the pocket. There’s a give-and-take with that decision. On one hand, from the run game perspective, it did work, with Green Bay giving up only 33 rushing yards to Hurst on 13 carries. But on the flip side, the pass rush and the ability to generate pressure did suffer.
With this Eagles’ offense, it’s certainly not as if the run game is all that has to be worried about. This is a very potent passing game that features AJ Brown and Devonta Smith at wide receiver. Hurts’ average of 8.0 yards per pass attempt was the fourth-highest mark this season.
However, any sort of potential success in limiting this high-powered Eagles’ offense is going to have to start with Green Bay’s run defense and finding some way to contain Barkley and Hurts. If they can, there are times when it will put the Philadelphia offense behind the sticks and in predictable passing situations, where defenses often have the upper hand–both in coverage and from a pass rush perspective.
Yet, on the flip side, if the Packers can’t slow that dynamic duo, the offense will routinely be in short down-and-distance situations, where the entire playbook is open to the Eagles. At that point, Philadelphia can either 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. And when that element is coupled with all the playmakers on that side of the ball, well, good luck.
“We’ll definitely have our work cut out for us,” LaFleur added, “but I think our guys are eager for the opportunity to be into the dance. And that’s kind of what I told them: We’ve got to maximize the moment and we’ve got to make sure that our prep’s on point, that our process is on point, so we can go out there and give our best effort.”