Paul Bretl | 9/25/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers have navigated the last two weeks beautifully on offense, however, this week’s game against the Brian Flores-led Minnesota Vikings defense will present a very new challenge for Green Bay.
“I think he’s the only one doing it like this,” said Matt LaFleur of Brian Flores’ defense. “I think his defenses are very aggressive and it causes you a lot of headaches. He’s one of the most challenging guys to go against in this league. So, I’ve got a lot of respect for what he’s been able to accomplish.”
Through three weeks, the Vikings currently rank second in blitz rate this season, sending at least one additional pass rusher on nearly 40 percent of their defensive snaps. This has played a key role in the Vikings’ ability to pressure the quarterback as they currently rank fourth in pressure rate and first in sacks.
However, the challenge for the Packers isn’t just in the fact that the Vikings blitz. A lot of teams blitz, including the Tennessee Titans, who the Packers played last week. The challenge is in how Flores sends pressures, doing so from a variety of spots on the field, in the number of players that he sends, along with disguising well where those pressures are coming from.
“They do a lot of stuff,” said Jordan Love at his locker. “And I think their players are all pretty in-tune, where they can have different guys playing different positions and moving around on every play. So they make coverages look the same with guys in different positions, send different pressures and make it all look the same at the end of the day. I think they’re coached up very well, and they all have a great idea of where they need to be.
“I think at the end of the day, it just comes down to being able to decipher what they’re doing and then at the snap of the ball, trying to figure out, ‘Are they bluffing? Are they coming?’ Things like that. They do so much stuff that it is hard to have an idea what they’re doing pre-snap, so a lot of that stuff you’ve just got to feel it out.”
The name of the game in football is giving the quarterback time. With time in the pocket, it allows the quarterback to go through his progressions and throwing within the timing and rhythm of the play.
On the flip side, pressure means less time for the pass-catchers to get open, it can disrupt that aforementioned timing and rhythm, which ultimately can result in mistakes or sacks that put the offense in long down-and-distance situations. The Vikings will enter Week 4 having generated the third-most takeaways this season, and their ability to get after the quarterback has undoubtedly played a factor in that success.
When facing those second and third-and-longs routinely, it’s like a vicious cycle at that point, with the offense in an obvious passing situation and the defense able to pin its ears back and be aggressive when it comes to getting after the quarterback.
“That’s definitely a concern,” said LaFleur of the Vikings’ 16 sacks. “So we’ve got to do a great job in terms of our protection calls, making sure we get a body on a body and then you’ve got to go and actually block these guys which isn’t the easiest task to do either.
“So, I think they’ve got a lot of good rushers in there. I think they rush collectively as a unit as one as good as anybody. I mean, their pick games that they’re running, it causes a lot of carnage on the offensive line at times. And they’ve also done a great job, I mean shoot, it shows up all over the tape just getting free runners at the quarterback and sacking the quarterback.”
So far, the Packers’ offensive line has done well in protecting the quarterback this season, ranking second as a collective unit in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric. Successfully doing that begins pre-snap with the communication, specifically identifying where potential pressures could be coming from and then setting the correct protections based on that information. The quarterback also has the ability to make adjustments based on what he sees as well.
Of course, with the Vikings’ ability to disguise these looks, the set protections are likely never quite full-proof. And in the offensive line’s effort to be prepared for any blitzing linebackers or cornerbacks, not to be forgotten about is the Vikings’ defensive front. Edge rusher Jonathan Greenard is tied for fourth among his position group in total pressures. Interior defensive lineman Jihad Ward ranks 10th and Jerry Tillery is 23rd.
“They play fast, they play physical, they’re doing a great job of getting after the quarterback, the run game is a challenge to go against,” added LaFleur. “They give you a lot of different looks and I think much like we talk about the illusion of complexity where we like to give looks that are difficult on the defense, but simple for us, I feel like that’s what they do. They have a system in place that makes it easy for their players, or easier for their players to go out there and execute. But it makes it extremely difficult on the offenses they are going against.”
To combat the blitz, the Packers can use help from the tight end position and keep a running back in the backfield to pick up any defenders who make their way through the line of scrimmage. And speaking of the running backs, finding success on the ground will be pivotal to keep the offense ahead of the sticks and out of the aforementioned vicious cycle that teams can fall into when facing a pressure-heavy opponent.
That, however, is a task easier said than done against a unit that can quickly close-up running lanes with their aggressive approach at the line of scrimmage. While the Packers have been quite effective with the run game, the Vikings have been quite good at stopping it, ranking third in yards per rush allowed at just 3.6.
“There’s not many teams that look like this, that are doing it, just some of these personnel groupings, the amount of pressure,” said LaFleur. “I think it’s the only system out there. He’s not afraid to zero you, so you better have a plan for that. He just causes you a lot of headaches, a lot of your run game it can be problematic in the run game, you’re not always going to run it into some great looks.
“There’s going to be some dirty looks and you’ve got to do your best to gain as many yards as you can. So, like I said, I’ve got a lot of respect for how he’s able to create a whole lot of conflict for opposing offenses.”
In addition to all of that, this is also a week where we could see an emphasis on the quick passing game, and the Packers’ usage of pre-snap motion will have to remain high, forcing the defenders to move pre-snap or tip their hand when it comes to which players are coming with the pressure. But ultimately, whoever is under center for the Packers will have to be decisive–as Matt LaFleur has said in the past, “indecisive equals ineffective.”
Flores was the Vikings’ defensive coordinator last season, so it’s not as if what the Packers are up against is completely new–although there will be adjustments made by Minnesota, just as every team and unit does from one season to the next, and there have been some new additions this offseason on that side of the ball of well.
“You can tell it’s a bunch of guys that are in Year 2 of the system but I do think, when you look at the corners, I mean outside of Murphy they’ve got two new guys and, but, they all have learned it well,” said LaFleur. “I mean they’re veteran players, so I feel like they’ve picked it up quickly. Obviously Cashman and Greenard have been huge pick ups for them. I think both of those guys are outstanding football players. Got a chance to study them in free agency and they are really good players.”
The added challenge for the Packers potentially lies in having to prepare both Jordan Love and Malik Willis this week, with there still being some uncertainty around Love’s status. While Willis has shown he can handle a lot, still not even one month into being with the team, how the Packers ask him versus Love to handle this blitz-heavy defense will be different. On the flip side, there is some unknown for the Vikings as well, who will attack each of these quarterbacks differently.