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Without Jaire Alexander, Carrington Valentine and Eric Stokes have to guide Packers CB position through playoffs

Paul Bretl | 1/2/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers will have to navigate the remainder of the season without cornerback Jaire Alexander, who underwent knee surgery to repair a lingering PCL injury. So is the Packers are going to make a postseason run, it’ll come with them continuing to rely heavily on Eric Stokes and Carrington Valentine.

“It’s really next-man up mentality,” said Carrington Valentine on Wednesday. “We always gonna go out there and compete and just put our best foot forward.”

While a lack of ball production and high completion rates plagued the Packers’ cornerback room for much of the year, both Valentine and Stokes have been on an upward trajectory over the last several weeks.

Of the five pass deflections that Valentine has logged on the season, four have come in the Packers’ last four games. He’s also paired with those deflections two interceptions as well.

Even as productive as Valentine’s 2023 rookie season was, there wasn’t a stretch that he put together like the one he is currently on. However, Valentine still believes that there is a lot more that is still out there for him.

“I’m probably my biggest critic,” said Valentine on Wednesday. “It’s always things to clean up, so I still feel like I’m still trending upwards. I still feel like there’s more to give for sure.”

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Stokes, meanwhile, doesn’t have the ball production that Valentine does. In fact, he hasn’t recorded a single pass breakup or interception over the last two seasons. But his completion percentage these last six games is quite low, surrendering only seven completions on 15 targets over his last six games. Since Week 12, out of 74 eligible cornerbacks, Stokes’ completion rate of 46.6% is the second-lowest during that span, according to PFF.

“It’s been good,” said Stokes of his play. “Finally getting more comfortable and more comfortable as the weeks go on with the scheme, technique and little stuff and just getting more comfortable as the weeks go on.”

Even when Stokes has surrendered a reception this season, he’s been able to limit the damage, allowing just 10.0 yards per catch this season. The biggest difference for him, in what has been a tale of two seasons after allowing a completion rate of 68% through the first nine games, is the comfort he now has playing in Jeff Hafley’s defense.

“It was just a lot of little things — just getting used to the technique, getting used to some of the other little things all over, and some of the routes and some of the things that we’re getting,” said Stokes on adjusting to Hafley’s defense. “I just had to get used to it, and now I pretty much know what type of defense we run, everybody knows, so we pretty much get hit with the same things over and over, so then you start picking up on it.”

Although for much of the season, we saw a rotation between Valentine and Stokes taking place, in recent games, when the Packers are in their base 4-3 defense and have just two boundary cornerbacks on the field or when Javon Bullard has been in the slot, it’s been Valentine who has seen those starting reps opposite of Keisean Nixon.

“CV is a young player, and the more he plays, it seems like the better he’s getting,” said Matt LaFleur. “And I think he’s addressed some of the things that we wanted him to work on throughout, not only last year, but into this year, and he’s done a nice job, and certainly he’s made some plays for us, particularly in the last couple of games, and I expect him to get better.”

However, with Bullard having missed some time recently and the Packers also dealing with injuries at the safety position–neither Evan Williams nor Zayne Anderson practiced on Wednesday–more movement on the back-end has been required, which has resulted in Stokes playing a much larger role. If Bullard isn’t in the slot, then Nixon takes over that position for him, while Valentine and Stokes line up on the boundary, which is what we’ve seen a lot of over the last few weeks.

Assisting Valentine, Stokes, and the Packers’ secondary as a whole will have to be an improved and more consistent pass rush. While, yes, Sam Darnold and the Vikings’ passing game put up a lot of yards against the Packers this past Sunday, a key contributor to that was all the time he had in the pocket. With or without Alexander, having to defend that talented group of pass-catchers for three or four seconds routinely is a tall task for really any secondary.

Awaiting the Packers in the playoffs could potentially include some combination of Detroit, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, and Philadelphia–all four of whom rank top 10 in the NFL this season in points per game as well as yards per passing attempt, generating big plays against the opposing secondary. And not to be forgotten about either is Matthew Stafford and the Rams’ offense, who can put up yards with the best of them when rolling.

Since the offseason, the Packers have continually expressed the confidence that they have in the secondary and their actions–not drafting a cornerback until the seventh round and not making a trade deadline addition–back those sentiments up. Now, whether that confidence was misplaced or not, we will find out in the coming weeks.

It won’t be easy against that aforementioned group of quarterbacks and passing offenses, but the playoffs aren’t supposed to be easy. The spotlight will be on Stokes and Valentine and their level of play will be an important factor in determining what kind of success the Packers have in January.

“They stepped up a lot,” said Xavier McKinney of Stokes and Valentine. “I think everybody’s been ready to go, been prepared and prepared the right way. No matter when their name was called, during this situation, they were always ready to go.”

Packers CB Jaire Alexander undergoes knee surgery; season ‘most likely’ over

Paul Bretl 1/1/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers will most likely have to navigate their upcoming playoff push without cornerback Jaire Alexander. After practice on Wednesday, head coach Matt LaFleur announced that Alexander would have surgery on his knee and that he was “most likely” out for the rest of the season.

“It’s unfortunate,” added LaFleur. “I feel for him. Obviously, he was trying to get his knee right, it wasn’t getting right, and so, yeah, it’s a tough deal for all of us.”

Matt Schneidman of The Athletic would later report that Alexander had a scope to help repair the torn posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in his right knee on Tuesday, December 31st.

Alexander suffered the injury late in the Packers’ Week 8 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, on a play in the end zone where he attempted to make a play on the football but came down awkwardly and injured his knee in the process.

Following Green Bay’s Week 10 bye, Alexander made an attempt to return to the field against Chicago in Week 11. However, he would reinjure his knee in that game and played only 10 snaps before exiting.

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For several weeks, it seemed like Alexander was trending in the right direction. Prior to the Detroit game in Week 14, he returned to practice in a limited capacity for two days before missing the third day. The following week against Seattle, Alexander was a full participant for two days of practice before missing the third day, with LaFleur saying that he was not hitting the needed speeds in practice to play effectively that week.

A week later against New Orleans, Alexander returned to practice as a full participant all three days and was listed as questionable for that game. All of that seemed to be positive news up to this point with Alexander’s workload in practice increasing each week.

However, when the inactives were announced prior to kickoff of that Saints’ game, Alexander was on that list. Then, most recently, in the week leading up to the Minnesota game, Alexander went from being a full participant to a limited participant to not practicing at all on that Friday, with an apparent setback taking place, and it doesn’t sound like that only happened on one occasion.

“It’s been tough,” said Xavier McKinney of Alexander’s injury. “Obviously, he’s dealt with this injury pretty much all year. Obviously, we wanted him to be back out there, but injuries are part of the game. So we understand that. We know that he was working to try to get back, but it’s like every time he was trying to, he would tweak it again.

“It’s a part of the game. We’re just trying to be with him as much as possible, try to make sure he was good mentally because I knew how much it was hurting him not to be out there with us, just having conversations with him personally. Those were the challenges that he faced and I think that we’ve seen, for us as a group.”

On Monday when asked if there was a difference in opinion between Alexander and the Packers’ medical team, LaFleur said, “I can’t really get into all that. I do know that he’s been dealing with swelling and he doesn’t feel right to go out there and play.”

Alexander finished the season appearing in seven games. He allowed a completion rate of 56% on 25 targets and 16.2 yards per catch with two interceptions and three pass breakups.

One of the big question marks is if the Packers and Alexander tried to rush him back too soon when he attempted to return against Chicago just a few weeks after suffering the injury. Ultimately, we’ll never know and it’s not a question that will be answered at this time.

“We can go back in time–that’s not what I’m trying to do right now,” added LaFleur. “It’s the situation. It stinks that we’re here but we’re here.”

Not having Alexander on the field obviously takes away a premiere player at that position. But his presence also has a trickle-down effect to how Jeff Hafley builds his game-plans. With a player of Alexander’s caliber on one side of the field, knowing he can handle even the most difficult matchups, provides Hafley with added flexibility in what he asks of other defenders.

“When Ja is healthy, he’s one of the best corners in our league,” Hafley said prior to the Seattle game. “Week in and week out, when you’re playing against some premier players, sometimes it’s helpful to have a premier player to have out there with him.”

Without Alexander, we’ve seen Carrington Valentine emerge as the starting boundary cornerback option opposite of Keisean Nixon. Over the last four games games, Valentine has forced two interceptions, has come away with two pass breakups as well. His passer rating when targeted during that span is just 75.8 and he’s allowed fewer than 11.0 yards per catch in three of those four contests.

“CV is a young player, and the more he plays, it seems like the better he’s getting,” said LaFleur. “And I think he’s addressed some of the things that we wanted him to work on throughout, not only last year, but into this year, and he’s done a nice job, and certainly he’s made some plays for us, particularly in the last couple of games, and I expect him to get better.”

Also a big part of that cornerback equation is Eric Stokes, who at one point was rotating series with Valentine and has seen an increased workload as of late as well with injuries at nickel cornerback and at safety. After a bumpy start to the season, Stokes hasn’t allowed many receptions as of late, surrendering only seven on 15 targets over his last six games.

“It was just a lot of little things — just getting used to the technique, getting used to some of the other little things all over, and some of the routes and some of the things that we’re getting,” said Stokes on adjusting to Jeff Hafley’s defense. “I just had to get used to it, and now I pretty much know what type of defense we run, everybody knows, so we pretty much get hit with the same things over and over, so then you start picking up on it.”

Assisting the Packers’ Alexander-less secondary will have to be improved consistency from the pass rush. A key contributor to the massive amount of passing yards that Sam Darnold and the Vikings’ offense put up on Sunday was due to the time in the pocket he had. With or without Alexander, having to defend that group of pass-catchers for three or four seconds routinely is a tall task for really any secondary.

“They stepped up a lot,” said McKinney of Stokes and Valentine. “I think everybody’s been ready to go, been prepared and prepared the right way. No matter when their name was called, during this situation, they were always ready to go.”

Packers look to re-establish momentum in Week 18 in preparation for difficult playoff path

Paul Bretl | 1/1/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — With only one game left in the regular season, the focus for the Packers is on the Chicago Bears and cleaning up everything that went wrong against the Minnesota Vikings.

“There was a lot to clean up,” said Matt LaFleur on Monday. “It was just, honestly, I didn’t feel like it was to our standard, and you got to give them credit. I mean, that’s a good football team, but I thought there was a lot of things within our own control in terms of playing with fundamentals and discipline that we did not do a very good job of. And that was disappointing. It just was sloppy football.”

Against another one of the NFC’s top opponents, it was another slow start for the Packers’ offense. The passing game, in particular, was disjointed from the get-go, with the Vikings’ man coverage-heavy looks catching Green Bay off guard. In addition to that, there were also penalties, and the lack of a steady pass rush on defense–along with other factors–resulted in a big day through the air for Vikings’ quarterback Sam Darnold.

It goes without saying, but yes, teams want to win every game. However, losing by two points on the road to a 14-win Viking team isn’t the part of all this that stings the most. Rather, it’s the fact that the same lingering issues–much of which was highlighted above–continue to rear their ugly heads for this Packers’ team when facing the NFC’s best.

“I want to say yeah but right now the story is we haven’t beaten those teams,” said Xavier McKinney when asked if the Packers were at the level of the NFC’s best. “So I can’t sit up here and say we’re on the same level if we ain’t beat them. In order to be on the same level, you gotta beat these teams. We gotta be more on our details. We gotta play cleaner. We gotta start faster. That’s just what it is.”

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As GM Brian Gutekunst described during the Packers’ bye week, peaking when the playoffs arrive and being at your best, is the goal for every team. On paper, the 2023 Packers were 9-8 and the seventh seed in the NFC, but on the football field, especially on offense, they were operating as one of the better units in the NFL and that late season momentum propelled them to some postseason success.

But where we sit right now this season, can we say that the Packers are peaking at playing their best? I’m not sure that we can.

Now, don’t get me wrong, at 11-5 on the season, a lot has gone well for the Packers this season and despite being 0-5 against Minnesota, Detroit, and Philadelphia, they’ve shown that they can hang and can give themselves the opportunity to beat any of those teams. I mean, on both sides of the ball Green Bay ranks top-10 in scoring this season.

However, what still eludes the 2024 version of the Packers is consistency, particularly on offense, where that unit is still looking to put together a four-quarter performance.

In their recent performances against the Vikings and Lions, the Packers would score 25 and 31 points, respectively. But in both games, it wasn’t until the second half that the offense started to find any steady momentum.

Against Seattle, where the offense again hit the 30-point mark, there was a four-possession stretch in the second half where Green Bay went punt, fumble, punt, and turnover on downs over the span of just 15 plays. It’s those types of stretches against teams like Detroit, Minnesota, or Philadelphia that can send a team home in the playoffs.

Even in a 34-0 win over New Orleans, Jordan Love and the passing game was just off, averaging a modest 6.5 yards per attempt, which over the course of the season, would rank 25th in the NFL. While it was a blowout victory against an inferior opponents–which is what good teams are supposed to do–and win clinched a playoff spot for the Packers, the overwhelming feeling afterward was that there is more out there for this offense.

“It’s just being consistent,” said Jordan Love after the Saints game. “I think there’s, I don’t think we’re far off, I think we’re right there. I think it might just be a missed throw here, not being able to hold up in protection long enough, I just think it’s little things that when we start being more consistent and dialing in on these things that the sky’s the limit for the offense. We’re definitely not far off. It’s just little things that we can clean up.”

The pieces of the puzzle are very much there for the Packers. We’ve seen them lean heavily on the run game and we’ve seen the passing game be lights out. On defense, we’ve seen Green Bay force turnovers, for much of the season, the run defense has been quite good, and the pass rush was trending upward prior to their most recent performance in Minnesota.

Yet what we’ve seen very little of against the NFC’s top teams, is all of those elements coming together, which is why the Packers haven’t been able to defeat Minnesota, Detroit or Philadelphia. As the NFC’s sixth or seventh seed in the playoffs, the Packers are going to have to likely go through two of those teams if not all three to get to the Super Bowl and do so on the road.

When it comes to putting together that complete performance time is running out. We are approaching the now or never point of the season as Green Bay navigates many of the same issues that have plagued them all season.

“That’s that’s going to be our reality,” said Love of going on the road in the playoffs. “And, you know, we’re going to have to find ways, when the playoffs start to go into those road atmospheres and win those tough games, but it’s only going to get tougher for us. So we know that, you know, we got to find ways to keep improving, keep getting better. Watch the tape, find ways to improve on the slow start and just the miscues we had today and take advantage.

“But we know we’ve got to come out and play our best ball, and everybody’s got to be locked in and play the best game they’ve played all season. So there’s no secret, you know, we’re going to have to find ways to win these games on the road. It’s going to be our reality.”

With that said, while all that may be true, just because the Packers haven’t yet come away with any wins against those top-tier opponents doesn’t mean that their belief in their ability to do so has wavered. And getting to that point begins with getting back on track this week as they prepare for the Chicago Bears and try to establish some positive momentum heading into the playoffs.

“I think absolutely,” LaFleur said when asked if there is belief that they can beat the top teams. “I think there absolutely is a belief that we can win one of these games. We’ve got to go do it, bottom line. And we’ve got to earn the right to play these guys (Minnesota) again. And it ain’t going to be easy. It’s going to be a tough road. But I think it’s a challenge that we’ll gladly accept.”

Packers defense picked apart over the middle by Vikings: What went wrong?

Paul Bretl | 12/31/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers’ defense was picked apart over the middle of the field by Sam Darnold and the Vikings’ passing game on Sunday — an area where we’ve seen other offenses have success against Green Bay and a problem with several contributing factors.

Overall, Darnold was extremely efficient, completing 33-of-43 passes for 377 yards with three touchdowns to one interception, with the bulk of that production coming between the numbers. According to NFL NextGen Stats, Darnold completed 85% of his throws for 289 of his total yards with two scores over the middle of the field.

So what went wrong for the Packers defense that resulted in such a big day for Darnold and the Vikings’ pass catchers in that particular part of the field? Well there’s a few factors in play.

“We’ve got to do a better job in coverage, for sure,” said Matt LaFleur on Monday. “I think your coverage is going to get better if you can get a better pass rush, as well, so it all goes hand in hand. The rush goes with the coverage. We’ve got to do a better job of trying to get pressure on the quarterback, moving him off the spot.”

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In recent weeks, the Packers’ pass rush had been trending in the right direction but they regressed towards their season long norm against the Vikings, struggling to get pressure with a four-man rush.

Darnold was under duress on only 31% of his dropbacks. For some context, compared to the rest of the NFL over the course of the 2024 season, that pressure rate would rank 32nd out of 42 eligible quarterbacks. From a clean pocket, Darnold was 26-of-30 passing for 315 yards with three touchdowns.

Even when the Packers blitzed in an attempt to drum up pressure, they were unable to get home and that left them exposed in the secondary. Against the blitz, Darnold was lights out, completing 12-of14 passes for 131 yards with a score. His average time to throw on such plays was 3.06 seconds, according to PFF, further illustrating that the designed pressures weren’t all that effective.

Another part of this equation, as LaFleur pointed out, was the amount of space that the Packers were giving up over the middle of the field.

“When we have opportunities – and there were some tight-window throws he made – we’ve got to keep depth,” added LaFleur. “There’s got to be depth on the second level. You can’t have these big discrepancies between your second and third levels. So, everybody has their hand in it, and then there’s some things we can do schematically better.”

Let’s rewind to the Packers’ Week 13 and 14 matchups against Miami and Detroit, where both Tua Tagovailoa and Jared Goff were extremely efficient over the middle of the field as well. In part, that’s going to happen when facing those offenses with two of the best in the game at picking apart defenses between the numbers. However, also not helping the Packers in those games is that they were without Edgerrin Cooper at linebacker.

With 4.51-second speed, he brings added coverage ability to the linebacker position with all of the ground he can cover. With that speed comes versatility and that provides Hafley quite a bit of flexibility when it comes to the game-plan he puts together and what he asks of Cooper, whether that be sending him as a blitzer or how he’s utilized in coverage over the middle.

With that skill set, there is also a positive trickle-down effect that it creates within the defense, with Cooper’s speed and ability to operate in space then impacting what is asked of other position groups, specifically the defensive backs, as Xavier McKinney highlighted after the Jacksonville game, because he can cover a lot of ground.

Upon his return against Seattle, the Packers middle of the field defense has been much more buttoned up the last two games, and overall, Cooper’s impact has been massive. But against Minnesota, and their top-flight offense, along with the splash plays, we saw a young player who is still navigating the growing pains that come with making the jump from college to the NFL.

“I thought he made a lot of splash plays, but there was a lot of plays that we gotta make that really hurt us as well,” said LaFleur about Cooper. “So I’d say it was a mixed bag. I think he’s so talented and I think the sky’s the limit for him and I love having him.

“But it’s just the consistency of which you play. I mean, so you just gotta make sure you’re dialed in and we know he’s an incredible talent and he’s going to make some splash plays and he did. But I think there’s another level there that I think he can continue to take his game to.”

The Packers’ middle-of-the-field defense also suffered a blow early on in the game when Zayne Anderson exited with a concussion. This forced the Packers’ to make changes in the secondary, most notably, moving rookie Javon Bullard–who was in his first game back following an ankle injury–from the nickel to safety.

For any player, this can be a big jump to make within a game–I mean, it’s a completely different position. But the effects of that are magnified for a rookie, who is still a relatively inexperienced player. Throughout the week of practice, there is only so much time and so many reps to go around. So although Bullard is listed as a safety, in practice each week, he isn’t taking the safety reps–he’s preparing to start at the nickel.

“It’s more challenging, obviously, when you’ve got a younger player that doesn’t have as much time on task,” said LaFleur about Bullard moving positions.” It sounds like an excuse – I’m not trying to make an excuse by any stretch. We’ve got to play better. We’ve got to put our guys in a better position.

“But it is a challenge. You rep the nickel all week and now you’re getting moved back to safety and it’s musical chairs back there, which against a good opponent is less than ideal but it is the situation. Everybody deals with it every week, and we’ve got to be better – coaches, players, everybody.”

Without question, there has been a lot of good in Jeff Hafley’s first year as defensive coordinator. In a number of key metrics, the Packers’ defense ranks quite well this season. However, their middle-of-the-field defense is one area in particular where we’ve seen some high-powered offenses take advantage of this unit, and come the postseason, this is something that Green Bay must button up–and there are a few different ways to do so.

Packers’ pass rush falls flat vs Sam Darnold and Vikings’ offense

Paul Bretl | 12/30/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers’ pass rush, which had been trending in the right direction over the last several weeks, took a step backward on Sunday in Minnesota and fell flat as Sam Darnold threw for nearly 400 yards.

According to PFF’s metrics, Darnold was under duress on only 31% of his dropbacks. For some context, compared to the rest of the NFL over the course of the 2024 season, that pressure rate would rank 32nd out of 42 eligible quarterbacks.

From a clean pocket, Darnold was 26-of-30 passing for 315 yards with three touchdowns. He was particularly effective over the middle of the field, completing 85% of his throws for 289 of his total yards with two scores.

“As defensive linemen, guys that are pressuring, we definitely have to finish those plays because those plays change games,” said Kenny Clark. “We’ve got to get them behind the sticks. He (Darnold) did some great things moving or breaking tackles or whatever the case may be, whether it was an incomplete pass or completing something short, he did a good job of doing it.”

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Pressure, of course, is what every defense week in and week out is chasing. It leads to sacks, which puts the offense behind the sticks and in predictable passing situations, and it disrupts the timing and rhythm of the play, forcing the quarterback to speed up his process, which can lead to poor mechanics and mistakes.

But on the flip side, time in the pocket, especially for a Vikings’ offense that has as many weapons in the passing game as they do, can be too much for just about any defense to overcome as it puts an added burden on what was a shorthanded Packers’ secondary, forcing the defensive backs to have to cover longer.

In a game where the Packers were already without Jaire Alexander and Evan Williams, Zayne Anderson would exit the game early with a concussion, requiring Javon Bullard to move from the nickel to safety and Eric Stokes to then start on the boundary after some shuffling took place.

When it was all said and done, Darnold was extremely efficient, completing 33-of-43 passes for 377 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Four different Vikings’ pass catchers had at least five receptions and 68 yards, with Justin Jefferson leading the way with 92 receiving yards.

“They have some good plays,” said Xavier McKinney. “They’re a good football team. They’re gonna make plays. We can’t stop everything. But there’s just certain situations where we just gotta be better. We gotta be cleaner. But they’re gonna make plays. He’s a good quarterback. They got a good team. They got good offensive players who can make plays for them. So yeah, we just gotta be better.”

The Green Bay run defense continued to hold up well, as it has done for much of the season, with Minnesota averaging just 2.7 yards per rush as a team and totaling just 69 rushing yards. Oftentimes, this can be a precursor for defensive success as it puts the offense in long down-and-distance situations where the pass rush can pin its ears back. However, if the pass rush isn’t getting home consistently, then that advantage that the defense is supposed to have is negated to a degree.

As mentioned, the Packers pass rush, which has been inconsistent for much of the season, had been more productive as of late. Prior to the Vikings’ game, the Packers’ weekly pressure rate on opposing quarterbacks had ranked 12th or better in four of their last five games.

A key factor in that success was the complementary football component, with the Green Bay offense jumping out to early leads, making the opponent one-dimensional, which benefits the pass rush. But that element was missing in this game as it was the Packers who fell behind quickly.

So against one of the NFC’s best, we saw the pass rush regress to what we had seen for much of the season, which is a group that struggles to get after the quarterback regularly with just a four-man rush. The Green Bay defense currently ranks 26th in ESPN’s pass-rush win rate metric.

“You’ve got to get pressure against these guys, if they’re going to drop back that many times,” said Matt LaFleur. “If you don’t, it’s going to be a long day because it’s tough to go try to single-coverage a guy like Justin Jefferson, and then you’ve got Addison, then you’ve got Hockenson. They’ve got multiple players. Like I said, Nailor was making plays out there. They’ve got a lot of good players.”

At the end of the day, the results are what matters most, but context is important and in a 4-3 defensive scheme, the front is at a numbers disadvantage, facing five offensive linemen. That numbers advantage then only grows for the offense if they use a tight end to chip or keep a running back in the backfield to help. Then, all of a sudden, it is six blockers versus four defenders. By PFF’s metrics, both Rashan Gary and Kenny Clark are among the most chipped and double-teamed defenders at their positions.

Now, this isn’t to say things shouldn’t be better or that there isn’t more opportunity out there for this pass-rush unit–both things are true. But it’s also not as if there are an overwhelming number of one-on-one matchups that this front is regularly seeing.

And when Jeff Hafley does blitz, particularly against Darnold and the Vikings’ offense, that pressure better get home almost immediately; otherwise, the back end of the defense is then the one at a numbers disadvantage. Against the blitz on Sunday, Darnold was lights out, completing 12-of14 passes for 131 yards with a score. His average time to throw on such plays was 3.06 seconds, according to PFF, further illustrating that the designed pressures weren’t all that effective.

“They’ve got two legitimate No. 1 receivers, and then they’ve got Nailor out there making play after play,” LaFleur said. “They’ve got a lot of weapons. Hockenson made some plays. So we just ultimately collectively as a unit, everybody’s got to play a little bit better.”

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the consistency and the effectiveness of the pass rush is going to determine the ceiling for this Packers’ defense this season. When there is a steady pass rush presence, every defender on the field benefits. However, when that element isn’t there, then the job of every defender on the field becomes more difficult.

Another slow start vs one of the NFC’s best dooms the Packers

Paul Bretl | 12/29/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Another game against one of the NFC’s best and another loss for the Green Bay Packers, who now fall to 0-5 on the season against Detroit, Philadelphia, and Minnesota.

“The margins in this league, especially against a good football team, are razor thin,” said Matt LaFleur after the game. “I don’t think we were at our best, but that’s a credit to them in our slow start and that’s me as much as anybody. So I gotta be better and we gotta get better. And we gotta learn from this and try to move on and get some momentum here.”

The final score won’t tell the whole story but behind a lack-luster passing game, the Packers dug themselves an early multi-score hole that proved to be too much to overcome. This, unfortunately, wasn’t uncharted territory either for Green Bay. In their four games against Detroit and Minnesota, they found themselves in a combined 89-13 deficit.

“You can’t get down against good football teams and if there’s a lesson there, that is the lesson because it’s tough to comeback,” added LaFleur. “I think our guys continued to fight and battle and scratch and claw but ultimately we just can’t just put ourselves in a hole like that. It certainly took us way to long to get going offensively and if that happens, then I mean, this is the result.”

As was to be expected against this Minnesota front, it was tough sledding in the run game for Josh Jacobs, whose longest run was just 13 yards. However, that element did provide the offense with some stability with the Packers averaging 4.3 yards per rush as a team over the course of the game.

However, the passing game couldn’t get anything going to complement the run game. So how bad was it for Jordan Love and the offense?

As we’ve seen from the Packers’ offense in previous games where they’ve trailed by multiple scores, they made a valiant comeback to make the game interesting, along with some help from two missed Minnesota field goals and a Sam Darnold interception. Perhaps that late success can be the catalyst behind improved play in a potential future meeting, but for now, it was too little too late.

“I feel like today we figured out a lot about ourselves,” Josh Jacobs said in the visiting locker room. “I don’t want to too much give it away what we feel like we figured out, but we’ll see. We’ll see how it plays out.”

When it was all said and done, Love finished the game completing 19-of-30 passes for 185 yards at an average of 6.2 yards per attempt. Through three-quarters of the game, however, Love had completed 10-of-18 passes for 64 yards at 3.6 yards per attempt. For some context around that figure, Bryce Young entered Week 17 ranked 35th in yards per pass with 6.1.

On passes of at least 10 yards, Love was just 4-for-10 for 77 yards, according to ESPN, with a 40% off-target rate on those throws. In addition to that, entering the fourth quarter, there were four different Vikings’ receivers who had more receiving yards than Love did passing yards.

“It’s obviously ended up being a close game, but we know it’s hard when you put yourself in a hole and are down early and just kind of shooting yourself in the foot,” Jordan Love said. “So there’s so much stuff to clean up and get better at but I think we’re still a really good team. We can put up points.

“But when you put yourself in a hole, it’s just it’s hard to climb out of that hole. And when it’s a good, a good team, like the Vikings it just makes it even tougher. So we’ve got to figure out ways to start faster and put up points.”

While still battling inconsistency and needing to put together a full four-quarter performance, Love and the passing game had been trending in the right direction over the last month. From Weeks 13-16, Love had completed 67% of his passes at 8.7 yards per attempt with six touchdowns to no interceptions.

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Yet even in last week’s blowout victory over New Orleans, particularly in the second half, we saw disjointed performance from the passing game for Green Bay, and that play rolled over into this week’s game against one of the most aggressive and stingy defenses in football.

Against a blitz-heavy Vikings’ defense, pressure on Love became a bigger issue in the second half. Those passing game woes then became magnified at this point of the game with time was running out and the Packers still trailing by multiple scores.

The trickle-down effect of this is that it then forces Green Bay to become pass-heavy, which played right into the strength of the Vikings’ defense, who continued to turn up the aggressiveness and pin their ears back as they often do.

With that said, the offensive line play wasn’t the main issue for Love and the passing game. According to PFF’s initial metrics, Love was pressured on fewer than 26% of his dropbacks, and when blitzed, he completed 62% of his passes.

The bigger issue was the overall lack of rhythm and cohesiveness in the passing game. The Brian Flores’ defense does a terrific job of disguising coverages, and he threw a more man coverage-heavy gameplan at the Packers’ offense, which was something that they were not prepared for, and it showed.

“Credit to them they came out played a little bit more man than we were anticipating,” LaFleur said. “They had shown that a couple games, didn’t think we’d get it, so I think that’s part to our slow start is, we gotta be able to adjust quicker and have some plays that in there that can attack that coverage and that falls squarely on my shoulders.”

This has also been a Packers’ offense that has thrived off the explosive passing play but they didn’t have that ability in this game. Of course, not having Christian Watson available can impact that specific phase of the game, but a pillar of the Vikings’ defense has been taking away those downfield attempts, which then forced the out of sync Packers’ passing game to have to string together long drives.

“You gotta take the underneath routes and checkdowns,” said LaFleur. “You gotta have time to allow things to develop if you are going to try to take a shot. But they do a good job of keeping a lid on the coverage. That’s how they play. We knew that going in, so there was going to be minimal opportunities to push the ball down the field. You gotta be super efficient.”

In general, there were some off-target throws from Love, perhaps facilitated by the unexpected looks, and the Green Bay pass-catchers dealt with drops and, as Matt LaFleur said at halftime, they weren’t always where they were supposed to be within the timing of their routes, and overall, the fine details of the passing game were off.

Not helping things were the penalties on the offensive side of the ball. It was a bit reminiscent of the issues we saw on offense during the first half of the season.

You put all of that together, and add in the inability to lean on the run game, and you got a Packers’ offense that was too frequently playing behind the sticks and in predictable passing situations, where the Vikings’ defense thrives and has been one of the best units in football this season.

“You gotta stay on schedule because once they get you into third down that’s where they’re really good,” LaFleur added. “I mean, that’s one of the best in the league at third down, so you gotta stay in front of the sticks or stay out of third down in general.”

It was far from a perfect performance from the Packers’ defense, who didn’t get after Sam Darnold very well, putting more of the burden on their secondary. But they did contain the Vikings’ run game and kept the game within reach late so the offense could make that late push.

However, the lack of complementary football between the offensive and defensive units made the job of the defense all that much harder.

With the Green Bay offense sputtering, it led to multiple short possessions, resulting in Minnesota holding the ball for 11 more minutes than the Packers, and, at one point in the latter portion of the game, the Vikings had run almost 20 more plays than Green Bay. Up against an offense as high-power as the Vikings, that discrepancy in plays and in the time of possession battle would be a lot for any defense to overcome.

The Packers have a playoff spot locked up, so that isn’t the issue right now. And they’ve proven to be a good team this season. But what they haven’t shown is that they can beat the best teams in the NFC and that obviously can be a huge problem come the postseason.

“I want to say yeah but right now the story is we haven’t beaten those teams,” said McKinney when asked if the Packers were at the level of the NFC’s best. “So I can’t sit up here and say we’re on the same level if we ain’t beat them. In order to be on the same level, you gotta beat these teams. We gotta be more on our details. We gotta play cleaner. We gotta start faster. That’s just what it is.”

Packers’ defensive depth has shined but faces a new challenge vs Vikings’ offense

Paul Bretl | 12/28/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers are again going to be shorthanded in the secondary this week, the question is, how shorthanded will they be against a high-powered Minnesota passing game?

Javon Bullard is questionable after returning to practice this week and being a limited participant all three days. He has missed the last two games after exiting the Packers’ Week 14 matchup against Detroit with an ankle injury.

“He brings a physicality to the game, whether he’s playing nickel or safety, he’s good in the run game, he’s aggressive in the pass game,” Jeff Hafley said on Thursday. “I thought he was playing really good football and he’s one of our better players, so hopefully we’ll have a chance to get him back and get him going. But we’ve certainly missed him.”

While Bullard’s status is up in the air, we know that the Packers will be without Evan Williams as well as Jaire Alexander. Williams suffered a quad injury in practice last week with Matt LaFleur saying that they hope he can return by the playoffs. With Alexander, who is working through a PCL injury, his knee hasn’t responded as the team would have hoped.

Awaiting the Packers’ banged up secondary this week is a Vikings’ offense that ranks ninth in points per game this season. With Sam Darnold at quarterback, leading the way at receiver is, of course, Justin Jefferson, who’s totaled 1,387 receiving yards this season. But not to be forgotten about is Jordan Addison, who has 806 receiving yards of his own, and tight end TJ Hockenson.

“Obviously, they’ve got a ton of weapons – probably the best receiver in the game, one of the better tight ends in the game,” said Matt LaFleur. “And they’ve got multiple receivers – Addison’s great, as well, Aaron Jones. They’ve got a lot of weapons. I think they’ve done a really nice job.”

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One of the difficult elements that comes with defending the Vikings’ offense is that, individually, any of the receiving threats just mentioned can be a lot for opposing defenses to handle on their own. But when you have that talent and marry those passing concepts with the run game, it can really put a defense in a bind.

On the season, Aaron Jones has rushed for 1,046 yards–the 10th most in football–and he’s averaging 4.5 yards per attempt. Off of that run game success, the Vikings use a heavy dose of play-action, with the fifth-most pass attempts this season.

Darnold and the passing game have been lights out off play-action, with him completing 74% of his throws at 10.9 yards per attempt with 15 touchdowns to just three interceptions.

“They present a lot of problems with how they stress you in different ways defensively,” LaFleur added. “Their ability to run the ball and then come back with some play-action. Kevin’s a guy I’ve got a lot of respect for. You see each week, whenever we have a crossover game, you’re always looking at what they’re doing.”

Despite the injuries in the secondary for Green Bay, this is a unit that has been able to hold its own in recent weeks. Jeff Hafley mentioned that Keisean Nixon had one of his best performances of the season against New Orleans even though he had to move to the slot, which is not an easy task.

Rich Bisaccia discussed how Zayne Anderson, whether its special teams or defense, prepares like he’s going to start every single day. So the fact that he made a seamless transition to the starting role, even on short notice, doesn’t surprise him.

Carrington Valentine, meanwhile, like many of the Packers’ defenders, has become more confident in what he’s being asked to do within Hafley’s scheme, and that is resulting in fast and physical play on the field.

“I think the key is for us as coaches to not overcomplicate things,” said Jeff Hafley on the defensive depth. “So it’s like this ‘I get in the game and I have no idea what I’m’–no. We gotta make sure they can play fast, all these guys can play fast and that they’re ready to do it. And I think that’s a big part of it too.

“They work hard, they’re hungry, they get a long together and it’s not like the backups are just sitting there, no, they’re getting ready to play and we’re going to need that. We got a lot of football left but we’re going to need all those guys. We need to make them feel part of that too. I think that’s really important.”

But, as already highlighted, this week’s opponent brings a more difficult challenge than what the Packers have been up against in recent weeks. While the focus may be on the Packers’ secondary and how they match up with Jefferson, Addison, and Co., it’s going to take a complete defensive effort to contain the Vikings’ offense.

As already eluded to, with how well Vikings’ coach Kevin O’Connell pairs the run and passing games, containing Jones will be an important factor for the Packers. And to Green Bay’s credit, their run defense under Hafley may be one of the most improved aspects of this team, with the Packers currently ranking fifth in yards per rush allowed.

If the Packers can bottle up Jones consistently, that will put Darnold and the offense behind the sticks and in obvious passing situations. Coverage-wise, the defense has the upper hand in second and third-and-long situations, while the pass rush is able to pin its ears back to get after the quarterback.

Although pressuring Darnold won’t guarantee success, it’s much better than the alternative. From a clean pocket, he is completing 74% of his throws but that number dips to 53% when under duress. According to Pro Football Reference, the Vikings’ offensive line is allowing the fourth-highest pressure rate this season.

“It makes it hard with the ball distribution, whether it’s going to Jefferson or whether it’s going to Addison or whether it’s going to Jones, and now you have the tight end to worry about.” said Hafley.

“I think anytime in football you’ve got good wideouts and you have the element of the good tight end, kind of like we do, it’s a threat and you’ve got to be aware of it. Whether it’s in zone or man, who’s going to match up on him in man. There’s certain zones where you gotta get him (Hockenson) down, too.”

This complementary approach just described is already something the Packers’ defense is doing and it’s been a key factor in the aforementioned success that the secondary has had.

With Green Bay’s offense jumping out to quick leads along with the play of the run defense, it has forced the opponent to abandon their game plan fairly early on, and in turn, they become pass-heavy and one-dimensional.

The pass rush, which is picking up steam for the Packers, can then get after the quarterback, which often means less time in coverage for the defensive backs with the timing and rhythm of the play disrupted and potential mistakes coming their way.

“I think you gotta look at it, it’s not how the secondary’s done it, we’ve done it as a team and we’ve done it as a defense, and I think that’s the biggest thing that we’re stressing to these guys right now,” said Hafley. “When we’re defending the pass and Justin Jefferson and all these good wideouts and Sam Darnold, like it’s not just put it on the DBs, it’s what can we do as a defense to make sure that we’re playing well back there.

“We’re rushing well, we’re sending pressures, we’re running good games, we’re dropping into different zones, right? We’re taking a lot of pride in how we disguise things right now. The players are taking a lot of pride in that right now. So we’re doing it together and I think that’s the biggest key to it all right now.”

The Packers have already clinched a playoff spot, but whether they are fifth, sixth, or seventh seed in the NFC is still to be determined and the results of Sunday’s game could play an important factor in deciding where Green Bay ends up in that regard.

However, this game will also provide the Packers with a bit of a tune-up before the postseason arrives as they head to a hostile road environment and face one of the premiere teams in the NFC–something they’ll have to do on a few occasions in January if they hope to make a run. I imagine the hope in the coming weeks before the playoffs begin is that the Packers can get healthy in the secondary. But this week that won’t be the case and Green Bay will have to continue relying on their depth.

“I think a lot of these guys it just speaks I think to their football character,” LaFleur said of the team’s depth. “Being ready to go when you’re number’s called upon. I mean, we hit it all the time, you just gotta maximize your opportunities, especially if you’re not the lead dog. And I think if you are a starter, then you can never take it for granted because there’s always somebody that’s putting in the work, trying to take your job.”

Tough test ahead for Josh Jacobs, run-centric Packers’ offense

Paul Bretl | 12/27/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Led by Josh Jacobs, the run games has been a catalyst for the Packers’ success on offense over the last month-plus. However, this Sunday in Minnesota, it could be tough sledding for the Green Bay rushing attack.

The Vikings’ defense will enter Week 17 surrendering just 3.9 yards per rush, tied for the second-lowest average in football this season. By ESPN’s run-stop rate metric, Minnesota ranks fourth, and in expected points contributed, the Vikings’ run defense ranks second.

Individually, the Vikings have three defensive linemen who rank in the top 50 out of over 200 eligible edge rushers and defensive tackles in the total number of run stops.

Defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ willingness to blitz often helps to create some of those negative plays in the run game. But in addition to that, similarly to the pressure looks that the Vikings will give you, there is a lot of movement and disguising within the front seven that creates additional challenges for an offensive line.

“They have a lot of guys in the box and they kinda play from the front end to the back end as far as like they’ll still be in 2-high but they’ll have guys down at the line of scrimmage and then they’ll bail out, but in the run game they’ll be down there,” said offensive coordinator Adam Stenvich of the run defense.

“They do a good job moving up front. There’s a lot of movements that create advantageous looks for them or open guys and then the pressure, they bring guys from every direction so they can create a lot of negative plays if you’re mistargeted or if you don’t see a guy blitzing and you’re not ready for it.”

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For a Packers offense that struggled in the red zone and on third downs through the first half of the season, Jacobs and the run game has provided stability in those key facets of the game since the bye week as Matt LaFleur has leaned more heavily into that run game element.

Jacobs is currently fourth in the NFL in rush attempts this season and fourth in rushing yards. His ability to make defenders miss has made him one of the more elusive backs in football, which in turn, has led to him also being one of the best at generating big plays with the fifth-most rushes of 10-plus yards.

That ability to regularly move the ball on the ground does wonders for the rest of the offense. For starters, it keeps the offense ahead of the sticks and out of those pesky predictable long down-and-distance situations. Then when operating from those second and third-and-short situations, it opens up the entire playbook for Matt LaFleur, and opportunities in the passing game to be exploited with the defense having to defend the entire field and be ready for just about anything.

“That opens up just a lot of things that we can get to,” said Tucker Kraft of Jacobs and the run game. “We can get to play pass, and we got shots off the runs that we have. So just opens the playbook up even more. And we don’t even have to get to those plays. We just still rely on our backs.”

Particularly in the few games leading up to the most recent contest against New Orleans, we saw the Packers lean heavily on their gap blocking scheme, with Jacobs often being tasked with running between the tackles. While the offense found initial success doing that, with each passing week, opposing defenses seemed to respond more quickly and make the proper adjustments to slow Jacobs down.

Examples of this include the Detroit and Seattle games, where early success on the ground was met by some very tough sledding in the second halves of those games. This then had the opposite effect of what was described above with the offense more often operating from long down-and-distances and in obvious passing situations, where now the defense has the upper hand.

“There’s a few factors,” said Stenavich of the Packers’ second half struggles, “I think last game (vs. Seattle), it was just a matter of getting drives going. But yeah, that’s something we’ve got to make sure when we go out there we are still locked in, we don’t have those negative plays, and we’re doing a great job communicating. There’s a few busts, but that’s a focus thing we’ve just got to make sure we’re focused for four quarters, for sure.”

However, against the Saints, we saw the Green Bay offense showcase the versatility of their running game. Not only did nine different players carry the ball in that game, but we saw a heavier usage of outside zone rushing concepts, with the ball carriers getting outside the tackle box.

Putting those outside zone runs on film a week ago, could be something that also pays dividends this week against Minnesota. For starters, getting the receivers involved in the run game adds another wrinkle to the equation that defenders have to be mindful of.

These outside runs also serve as a reminder to defenses that while, yes, the Packers do want to run the ball, opponents have to be ready for both gap and outside zone blocking schemes. This is just another layer of unpredictability that’s then added to the Packers’ offense, with the defense having to be prepared for both running styles and forcing them to defend the entire field, helping to create space and potential running lanes to exploit.

“We wanted to run a little bit outside zone tonight and we did,” said Sean Rhyan after the Saints game. “That’s kind of our base, core O-line thing is we’re an outside zone team and we’ve been going to a little bit gap scheme these past few weeks. Tonight was really good because it let’s teams know that we still got outside. You can’t let those edges get soft now. It was real good.”

While it won’t come easy against this Vikings’ front seven, finding a way to lean on the run game, at least to some degree, will be important for the Packers’ offense, and accomplishing that could start and end with Green Bay’s ability to keep the Minnesota defense off-balanced, rushing both inside and out.

If that doesn’t happen, the alternative is becoming pass-heavy and one-dimensional, which plays right into the hands of this aggressive, blitz-heavy Minnesota defense.

‘Big challenge’ ahead for Jordan Love, Packers’ OL vs pressure-packed Vikings’ defense

Paul Bretl | 12/27/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Awaiting the Packers’ offense this week is a rematch with the Minnesota Vikings and their blitz-heavy defense.

The Vikings will enter Week 17 with the highest blitz rate in football, sending pressure on nearly 38% of their defensive snaps. But what can make this Vikings defense so devastating is that it’s not only that they are sending additional players after the quarterback, but it’s how they go about doing it through disguises and a willingness to blitz any player from any part of the field.

A product of that aggressive approach is a defense that has generated the fifth-highest-pressure rate this season, along with the fifth-most sacks as well.

“It’s definitely a big challenge,” said Jordan Love of facing the Vikings defense. “They do a lot of really good stuff on defense. They throw a lot of different looks at you, a lot of different personnel and a lot of different pressures. They make it hard for offenses, make you kinda have to study everything and be prepared for whatever they might throw at you.”

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Handling those pressures, or attempting to, begins pre-snap with the offensive line. It starts with center Josh Myers communicating blocking assignments and protections to the rest of the unit based on how the Vikings’ defense is aligned. From there, Love will have the autonomy to make protection adjustments based on any late movement from the defense.

Then, once the ball is snapped and as the Vikings’ throw different looks and players at the Packers’ offensive line, it’s about each individual offensive lineman operating within the scope of what their specific responsibilities are on a given play and knowing that the lineman next to them will do the same, creating a cohesiveness as defenders are passed off or as the protection needs to slide right or left.

Where offensive line units get in trouble is when players overextend themselves and attempt to do too much. Adding to the complexity of it all is the noise that US Bank Stadium generates from the crowd, putting an emphasis on being deliberate and loud with that pre-snap communication, along with making sure the linemen catch some portion of Love’s cadence to get off the ball quickly.

“They do it on all downs,” said Josh Myers of the Vikings’ willingness to blitz. “Typically you hear teams say they blitz a lot it’s a lot of third down blitzes. First through fourth, they’re blitzing a lot. So it’ll just have to be handling that, communicating, and handling the environment, just communicating, and passing all of it off.”

While how the Vikings send pressure and the frequency of it differs from other defenses around the NFL, Love and the Green Bay offensive line is accustomed to seeing blitzes this season. According to Pro Football Focus, Love has been blitzed at the fifth-highest rate this season. But in terms of pressure, Love has been under duress on 21% of his dropbacks, the 12th lowest rate in the NFL this season.

“I think there’s been situations where we’ve done a really nice job with it,” said Matt LaFleur on handling the blitze, “and there’s been some instances like the first time we played these guys where we had an all-out look and didn’t get the right protection and then threw one up and they picked it off.

“So, I think there’s been moments where we’ve done a really nice job with it. I would say over the course of two years there’s been more good than bad but there has been some moments where we did not handle it up to the standard that we would like to handle it.”

Along with the offensive line play, contributing to the Packers’ ability to handle the blitz this season, particularly since the bye week, has been Love’s ability to avoid negative plays. This is going to be one stark difference between where Love and the Packers’ offense is at now, compared to the first time these teams met in Week 4.

“I can’t say enough about Jordan’s ability to avoid the negative play and making those drastic moves in the pocket and getting the ball out for positive plays,” said LaFleur. “I don’t think people understand–I think it’s overlooked. Just the value of what he’s able to do in getting the ball out of his hands and not taking sacks.”

That game was Love’s first since suffering a knee injury in Week 1 against Philadelphia. Not only against Minnesota but throughout the first half of the season while also dealing with a groin injury, Love’s mobility was hampered to varying degrees. This impacted the play-calling with the Packers going under center less often, which also meant less play-action, along with effecting Love’s ability to navigate the pocket and avoid pressure.

“Definitely it played a factor because it changes the way that we call our plays and things we want to do,” said Josh Jacobs of Love’s injury in Week 4. “Because he was limited, we didn’t want him to move around, running and things like that. We were trying to call quick things to get the ball out. At the end of the day, it’s no excuses. You gotta play through injuries and do certain things and that’s on both sides of the field.”

However, since the bye week, Love’s overall decision-making has improved, specifically knowing when to push the ball downfield and when to take what’s available, along with him being much healthier during this second half of the season as well, resulting in increased mobility, and he’s greatly improved against the blitz.

From Weeks 1-9 when under pressure, Love was completing just 59% of his throws at 6.4 yards per attempt with four touchdowns and five interceptions. But since Week 11, Love’s completion rate versus the blitz has sky-rocketed to 72%–the third-best mark during that span–while he’s averaging 9.9 yards per attempt with five touchdowns to no interceptions.

“As of late, I think he’s done a really good job making decisions,” said Adam Stenavich of Love’s play against the blitz. “He’s done a really good job creating time in the pocket, getting out of trouble and finding some plays down the field. So I think that’s probably attributed to anything is just his ability to move around and make some plays.”

Success in the run game and staying ahead of the sticks can help mitigate a team’s pass rush and take some of the bite away from their pressure packages. However, this is a Vikings’ defense allowing just 3.9 yards per rush this season, the second-lowest mark in football.

The beautiful thing about football is that behind any success or failure is that there are numerous elements at play driving that result. But with that said, how the Love and the offensive line handles the Vikings’ litany of pressures will go a long way in determining the outcome of Sunday’s game in Minnesota.

“Just at the level at which they are going out there and causing problems,” said LaFleur on the Vikings’ defense. “I mean you see it all the time, whether it’s getting sacks on the quarterback, getting hits on the quarterback, getting pressures, forcing the quarterbacks to make bad decisions.

“I’ve mentioned the takeaways already and they can do it out of a variety of different personnels and they could be out there in one personnel grouping and line up five different ways. It just, it’s the interchangeable pieces and the versatility of those pieces to go play many different positions, where it’s complex, it can be complex for us but it’s easy for them.”

Surging Rashan Gary leading Packers’ improved pass rush since the bye week

Paul Bretl | 12/26/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers’ pass rush has really begun to pick up steam in recent weeks, and leading the charge for the defensive front is the play of Rashan Gary.

Through the first half of the season, the Packers’ struggled to generate steady pressure on the quarterback with their four man front, and frequently, any pressures that were drummed up were created by defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley through blitzes or simulated pressures.

In total sacks and ESPN’s pass rush win rate, the Packers ranked in the bottom third of the NFL in both categories coming out of their bye week. That inconsistent play doesn’t fall on the shoulders of only one player–it’s everyone. However, from a production standpoint, the results for Gary weren’t there during that initial stretch of the season.

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Over the Packers’ first nine games of the season, Gary generated 20 pressures, ranking 38th among all defensive ends in that category. When winning his pass rush reps, Gary was converting a high number of those opportunities into pressures, but the consistency wasn’t there as he ranked 76th among defensive ends in win rate. In terms of his overall pass rush efficiency, Gary ranked 79th, meaning the number of pressures and sacks being generated given the amount of snaps being played weren’t aligning.

However, since Week 11, Green Bay’s first game out of the bye week, the pendulum has begun to swing in the other direction for Gary. After creating 20 pressures in the first nine games of the season, he’s already generated 22 over the last six games, which is tied for the 11th-most during that span. In that same pass-rush win rate metric, Gary ranks 11th and he’s tied for 10th in pass rush productivity.

“He just looks more comfortable and I think a lot of guys do because he’s playing faster and he’s thinking less,” said Hafley about Gary’s play. “And I think Rebs (Jason Rebrovich) and V.O. (Vince Oghobaase) and Wendel (Davis) are doing a good job of getting him in those positions where he can succeed. I think we have a better grasp of who he is and what he can do well, and I think he has a comfort level right now in what he’s doing. And he has played better and he’s gotten a lot of pressure.”

In the Packers’ most recent game against the New Orleans Saints, there were back-to-back pass rush reps from Gary that illustrate just how well he’s playing. Rushing from the defense’s left side, Gary used his power to drive the offensive tackle back into the quarterback’s lap. Then, on the very next play, with the offensive tackle bracing for power, Gary used his speed to warp around the tackle and again disrupted the timing and flow of the offensive play.

Even more impressive is that Gary is producing at his current level while still being one of the more higher chipped defensive ends this year, according to PFF.

Behind any success or failure in football, there are always a number of contributing elements. As Hafley mentioned, the coaches are doing a better job of putting Gary in positions to find success.

In addition to that, the situation and game plan needs to be taken into account as well. Early on in the season there were several games where the Packers’ defense faced mobile quarterbacks, which required a more controlled pass rush approach, where the emphasis for the pass rush was on control and keeping the quarterback in the pocket, rather than pinning their ears back.

There is also something to be said for consistency at the pass rush position. Even if the production doesn’t show up on paper right away, consistently winning your reps will eventually lead to it–as Gary’s recent numbers showcase. And collectively, as a defensive unit, with each passing week, there is added comfort in the new Jeff Hafley defense, resulting in fast, physical, and confident play, not only from Gary but the defense as a whole.

“I think we’re in a good spot,” said Jeff Hafley of the defense. “I do. I think where we’re at right now is our guys understand what we’re doing and they’re playing really fast and they’re playing really hard and they’re starting to make a lot of plays. And you can see it. Whether I sit up in the booth, or whether I put on the tape, they’re playing fast and they’re physical and they’re playing hard.

“So what that tells me is, they know what they’re doing. So therefore I think we’re in a good spot. And I give the coaches credit and I give the players credit for getting to that point. Because you could feel it. Like, if you turn on Week 1 to now, it’s a totally different speed and confidence.”

Pressures and sacks are always going to be what garners the most attention when discussing defensive ends, but defending the run is obviously a very important element as well. During that same six-game stretch, Gary has the sixth-most run stops of any defensive end in football and ranks third in run-stop rate as well.

Collectively, the Packers run defense has improved drastically in Year 1 under Hafley, entering Week 17 ranked fifth in yards per rush allowed, and as of late, includes some very impressive performances against several dynamic ball carriers.

“I think he’s done an outstanding job,” said Matt LaFleur of Rashan Gary in the run game. “I think that’s one of the areas that I would tell you that is most improved, and I think it’s gotten better as the season’s progressed, just our ability to come off the ball, set edges, get multiple hats at the football. I think all the guys have been doing an outstanding job.”

There’s a high level of selflessness that comes with a defensive end being an impactful and willing run defender–run stops are not what gets that position paid or recognized regularly among their peers. That play-style and mentality from Gary then carries over to the pass rush, where beyond his own production, Gary’s presence and willingness to take on double teams or set picks helps others to produce.

“He’s playing the run game better too, and that’s the sign of an unselfish player,” added Hafley. “He’s using his hands, he’s setting edges, he’s getting off blocks, he’s running to the ball. I mean even in practice today, and I keep going back to that but it’s fresh on my mind, there’s great examples of him just doing great things in the run game and then he had a great pick today in practice, which again, you’re picking for somebody to come around and its unselfish then all of sudden you’re the one to pop free. So there’s complete buy in right now which is awesome to see. And it’s a credit to him.”

I certainly do not think that it’s a coincidence that as Gary’s production has begun to take off, the Packers’ pass rush unit as a whole has begun to flourish as well. In recent weeks, we’ve seen New Orleans’ quarterback Spencer Rattler be under pressure on 52.6% of his dropbacks–the third-highest rate in Week 16. The week prior, Seattle quarterbacks Sam Howell and Geno Smith each ranked top 10 in Week 15 pressure rate, while in Week 13, Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa ranked sixth in dropbacks under pressure, and San Francisco’s Brandon Allen ranked 12th the week before.

“I do,” said Hafley when asked if the pass rush has found something as of late. “And it has to be. I think that we’ve created depth because we’re playing a lot of guys and I think towards the end of the game when teams have had to throw the ball we’re fresh and we look fast out there. And I think they’re getting better and if we’re gonna make a run at this thing we’re gonna have to be.”

The ceiling for this Packers’ defense is going to be determined by how effective and steady the Packers’ four man rush is. When a defensive front is able to get home regularly, every other position on the field benefits. Sacks lead to long down-and-distance situations, while pressure disrupts the timing and rhythm of the play, resulting in less time in coverage for the secondary and potential mistakes to capitalize on.

Accomplishing this on a consistent basis, particularly against the NFL’s best who the Packers will be up against in the playoffs, requires Gary to continue operating at a high level.