Paul Bretl | 9/12/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Keep the quarterback in the pocket or emphasize creating pressure? Oftentimes, teams can’t have both and need to pick and choose.
“That’s always a great question,” said Matt LaFleur on Wednesday. “I thought last week for 3 1/2 quarters we did a really good job of bottling up Jalen in the pocket…I think it’s a balance in terms of what are you asking to do and you’ve got to play that game in terms of what you think they are going to do and how they’re going to attack you as well.”
In the Packers’ Week 1 matchup against Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles, Kenny Clark mentioned post-game that it was their plan to keep Hurts in the pocket, which as LaFleur mentioned, the defense did well for much of the game. Hurst finished the game rushing for 33 yards on 13 carries with long of just eight yards.
However, in order to accomplish that, the Packers somewhat sacrificed the ability to create consistent pressure. By PFF’s metrics, the Eagles’ offensive line surrendered only nine pressures, with Hurts being under duress only 23 percent of his dropbacks. For some context, a pressure rate by an offensive line under 30 percent is a good day.
“A lot of our rushes were power rushes trying to contain him,” said Clark after Week 1. “Not try to get too crazy with our rushes and get too much up field. We limited probably until the fourth quarter. We still gotta get pressure on him in some kind of way.”
The Packers’ defense will face another test this week, taking on Anthony Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts. At 6-4, nearly 250 pounds, and able to run a 4.4-second 40-yard dash, Richardson brings a rare combination of size, athleticism, and arm talent to the quarterback position.
In Week 1 against the Houston Texans, Richardson rushed for 56 yards on just six carries and completed three passes of 50-plus yards as well–two of which went for touchdowns.
“I think he’s a big, strong, athletic quarterback that can beat you with his arm and his legs,” said LaFleur of Richardson.
If the Packers are going to take a similar approach as last week, where the focus is on keeping Richardson in the pocket, the defensive front better be able to collapse that pocket much more quickly than what they did against Philadelphia.
Although Green Bay was largely able to keep Hurts in the pocket, he had an average time to throw of 3.0 seconds, which when happening consistently, puts the secondary in a bind when having to routinely defend for that long.
Around Richardson is an offensive line unit that is returning all five starters from a 2023 unit that ranked top-10 in yards per rush and pressure rate surrendered. At receiver are the always-reliable Michael Pittman and Alec Pierce, who provide a vertical presence.
The team also added AD Mitchell in the draft, an explosive pass-catcher with a refined released package who can win at all levels of the field. Returning to practice on Wednesday for the Colts was Josh Downs, one of the more productive slot receivers last season–and, of course, we can’t forget about Jonathan Taylor either.
“I think they’ve got good wide receivers. They’ve got the back, they’ve got a tight end, I think up front they did a really nice job against, I think a pretty good Houston defense. So like I said it’s going to be a great challenge.”
An added wrinkle that the Packers will also have to contend with is how Colts’ head coach and play-caller Shane Steichen marries the run and passing games together through RPOs. This element, especially when paired with Richardson and Taylor, can really stress defenses horizontally–helping to create running lanes and opportunities in the passing game–and takeaway some of the bite from an aggressive pass rush.
Ultimately, when it comes to defending the Colts’ offense, the Packers may find themselves in a bit of a pick-your-poison type of situation. If their objective is to keep Richardson in the pocket, when they’re unable to get home, that could leave the secondary exposed. On the flip side, if the emphasis is pressure, that can create the opportunity for Richardson to get outside of the pocket to extend plays either with his legs or via a scramble drill.
There’s no perfect answer–and there never is in the NFL–but the Packers have to decide what the most important element is to take away and prioritize doing that. Then at that point, it comes down to execution.
“It’s a great challenge when you are playing a quarterback as athletic as Richardson is,” LaFleur said. “He’s going to stress you in a lot of different ways. He’s got the ability to pull it down and certainly, he had a, I want to say that was a touchdown run he had on the goal line.
“A couple of other runs he was able to get loose. Obviously they had some designed quarterback runs last week and they do a great job with him. I think Shane (Steichen) and his crew there do a great job of scheming and attacking defenses.”