Paul Bretl | 9/26/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — We’ve seen the Packers defense get after the quarterback. We’ve seen the Packers defense force turnovers. But one unknown still hanging around out there is how well this unit can consistently hold up against the run.
That Packers run defense will again be challenged this week by the Minnesota Vikings and an old friend in Aaron Jones, who will be making his return to Lambeau Field for the first time as a visitor.
“He’s a problem,” said Matt LaFleur of Aaron Jones. “He is, and he looks really good. I’ve been able to watch him a little bit. Certainly, he’s one of my favorite players that I’ve ever had the privilege to coach a guy like that just in terms of how he goes about his business. I’ve still got a lot of love for him.”
Collectively, the Vikings offense will enter Week 4, averaging 4.8 yards per rush as a team, which is the 10th-best rate in football. Leading the charge for them on the ground is Jones and his 5.4 yards per rush on 42 attempts. Jones would eclipse the 100-yard mark last week against Houston and came up just six yards shy of doing it in Week 1 versus the New York Giants.
Throughout Jones’ impressive career in Green Bay, we routinely saw the big play ability he brought to the offense and how difficult it was to bring him to the ground. Currently, those 5.4 yards per rush is the ninth-best average in football, along with being ninth in rushes of 10-plus yards and seventh in runs of 15-plus yards. Contributing to those figures is Jones’ ability to stay on his feet, ranking fifth in average yards after contact and seventh in missed tackles forced.
“Hard runner,” said Xavier McKinney of Jones. “A guy that can make you miss, a guy that we’re going to need more than one person to be able to bring him down. He’s been doing a lot of great things in this league for years. He’s got a lot of experience and, obviously, he’s one of the greats that’s been in this organization.
“Just playing against him, watching him play, I know he’s a one-of-one type of guy. We’ve just got to be prepared to make sure that we’re always getting to the ball and always making sure that it’s not just one person tackling him but it’s 11.”
The results from the Packers run defense through three games have been mixed up to this point. In Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles, Saquon Barkley finished the game with 109 rushing yards, while averaging 4.5 yards per attempt. However, those final numbers don’t quite tell the entire story either.
For much of the contest, the Packers were able to bottle him up. Outside of a 34-yard run by Barkley, he averaged 3.2 yards per carry on his other 23 attempts. This, of course, does not discount that long gain–I mean, it happened after all–but the point being is that the Packers run defense largely did its job.
The following week against the Indianapolis Colts, Jonathan Taylor ran wild on this front seven, totaling 103 rushing yards on just 12 carries. The fact that Colts’ head coach Shane Steichen didn’t lean on Taylor more was a massive help to this Packers defense.
Then, this past week against Tennessee, the Titans didn’t commit to running the ball whatsoever, with their running backs totaling just eight carries and 21 yards.
“Every week’s a new week,” said linebacker Isaiah McDuffie. “We always watch the tape and try to learn from our mistakes. Try to progress every week so we can get better.”
We’ve heard a lot this offseason about the attacking, get off the ball and go get the quarterback play style that the defense will have under Hafley–and saw it on full display in the second half of the Titans game. No defensive scheme is perfect, otherwise every team would be running the same style of defense. There are pros and cons to every system. In theory, the potential downside of getting upfield as quickly as possible can create running lanes for an offense to exploit or opportunities to get to the boundary.
To counter this, gap integrity will, as always, remain crucial, along with the ability to flow with the gap as it moves. In addition to that, the play of the defenders at the second level to fill any gaps that do appear will be paramount as well. There has to be order and a coordinated effort amongst the defensive front in how rush so running lanes don’t open up.
“Typically what we’re trying to do is get guys in the backfield to own their gap through their man,” said defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich. “So if they’re aligned as 3-technique on the outside part of the guard, it’s his job as you go through the outside part of that guard and own the B-gap in between the outside part of the guard and the inside part of the tackle.
“So wherever that gap moves he’s gotta move a along it and then that allows the guys behind it to obviously scrape, get over top, get downhill, and fill the gaps that they have to fill.”
In general, when an offense can find success on the ground, there’s a positive trickle-down effect to the rest of the unit. This creates short down-and-distance situations, opening up the entire playbook for the offense and forcing the defense to defend the whole field. On the flip side, struggles in the run game puts the offense in predictable passing situations where the defense has the advantage–both from a pass rush and coverage standpoint.
Behind a good rushing attack led by Jones, the Vikings rank fifth in play-action pass attempts this season. Quarterback Sam Darnold has been very effective on those throws, completing 68 percent of those passes at 11.8 yards per attempt with four touchdowns. Limiting the run can limit these big-play opportunities for the Vikings offense.
Naturally, all eyes will be on Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson. And while you may never truly stop him but instead are hoping to contain him, the Packers’ success–or failure–in the run game will play an important role in accomplishing that. Defending the passing game takes on completely different dynamic when it’s third-and-seven compared to third-and-one.
“I think Kevin and his staff have done a great job just putting him in great positions and ultimately, he’s going out there and executing,” LaFleur said of Darnold and the offense. “Obviously he has some good players around him, but ultimately you have to go out there as a quarterback, I think it’s the hardest position to play in all of sports, just to go out there and execute and he’s doing a heck of a job of doing that, getting the ball to the guys where it needs to be within the timing of the play and I think their office of line is doing a great job, as well. I mean, this is a well-balanced football team.”