In presumptive final meeting between Rodgers and Brady, Packers defense takes spotlight
The week leading up to Sunday's Packers-Buccaneers showdown focused on Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, but Green Bay's defense made the plays that mattered most.
Good morning!
On Sunday, the Green Bay Packers survived the Florida heat and a late comeback attempt by Tom Brady to escape with a 14-12 victory. The game provided a showcase for the Packers defense, raised some questions about the offense, and improved the team's record to 2-1.
Today's edition of The Leap attempts to unpack the win, examine the highs and lows, and assess where the Packers stand entering October.
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On Sunday, the Packers had their strongest defensive performance of the season so far. Do you give more credit to the unit or the absence of the Buccaneers' top receivers?
Jason B. Hirschhorn: While the impact of the Buccaneers' dearth of pass catchers cannot go unmentioned in this discussion, the Packers defense still deserves the lion's share of the credit. When Aaron Jones' goal-line turnover opened the door for Tampa to score just before the half, Green Bay came up with a play to close the door.
That theme continued throughout the game. Rashan Gary and Kenny Clark ended a drive each by sacking Brady on third down. Keisean Nixon, who had a stellar showing on defense and special teams, forced a turnover as the Buccaneers approached midfield in the third quarter. In all, Tampa Bay didn't reach the red zone until after the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter.
The stellar performance only appears more impressive when you consider that Jaire Alexander left with a groin injury on the game's opening drive and did not return. While a shutdown corner might not have mattered as much Sunday as it would have in other situations, Alexander's departure forced Rasul Douglas to move to the boundary and force Nixon off the bench and into the slot. That on-the-fly transition has the potential to derail a defense that relies so much on communication, but such problems never materialized.
And, of course, All-Pro linebacker De'Vondre Campbell came up with the play of the game, sealing the victory for Green Bay.
All told, the defense made impact plays when they had to, issuing Brady an L in what might prove to be his final game against the Packers.
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Peter Bukowski: I agree with what Jason is saying, but let me add something I think is crucial, at least in the regular season: Joe Barry showed the ability and willingness to adapt his game plan for circumstances.
Last year, one of my biggest criticisms of Barry was in games the Packers could have been aggressive and pressed mediocre (or bad) offenses into oblivion, Green Bay was all too content to play passively, stick in their two-high shells, and let quarterbacks like Tyler Huntley dink and dunk their way to long drives.
Against Tom Brady, teams have to be willing to play man coverage, disrupt receivers and creative pressure by any means necessary. Green Bay did just that, showing the exotic blitzes we hadn’t seen all season, and at least until the final drive, playing more tight coverage than they did against the Vikings in Week 1. The Packers defense should have dominated this matchup. Doing so it’s exactly celebration worthy, but how it happened just might be.
What do you make of the Packers' series-by-series rotation of David Bakhtiari and Yosh Nijman?
JBH: The Packers' plan for David Bakhtiari certainly doesn't have an obvious precedent. While putting a player on a "pitch count" happens -- the team limited Bakhtiari to 27 snaps during his only appearance last season -- rotating left tackles between series creates some questions.
Clearly, the Packers wanted to keep Bakhtiari available into the fourth quarter and managed to do so. In that sense, the approach worked, with All-Pro left tackle holding his own in pass protection and clearing paths on the ground when the team opted to run in his direction. At the same time, it put additional pressure on left guard Jon Runyan Jr. to adjust to changing linemates throughout the game. The plan also surely didn't help Bakhtiari or Yosh Nijman settle into a groove.
"Let's face it, it's hard to replicate what those guys had to play through today," LaFleur said when asked about the rotation during his postgame press conference. LaFleur added that Bakhtiari didn't love the rotation, but the team felt the veteran offensive tackle shouldn't immediately dive into a full workload given the three knee procedures he has endured during his recovery.
LaFleur also pointed out the Houston Texans rotated between Mike Brisiel and Kasey Studdard over a decade ago during his time on the coaching staff, so apparently an NFL team has tried this in the semi-recent past. Still, it remains unclear how long the Packers intend to keep Bakhtiari in a rotation before allowing him to handle the role on a full-time basis.
But while the rotation might have frustrated Bakhtiari, it does reflect how well the Packers think of Nijman, at least in part. The former undrafted free agent has developed into a bona fide starter, one that probably ranks among the five best offensive linemen on the team. Assuming Bakhtiari proves able to handle a full game, Green Bay's coaching staff needs to seriously consider finding a way to keep Nijman in the starting lineup.
"Yosh has done a hell of a job all season long," LaFleur said. "And even back to last year, he's done a great job."
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PB: Let’s face it, the players didn’t love it. Bakhtiari admitted as much after the game. But as Jason mentioned, the intent makes perfect sense: Why spend the 30 or so snaps for Bakhtiari all in the first half? Leave him fresh for the second half and fourth quarter if necessary. It wound up being the opposite of an MLB All-Star Game where the best players are in the first inning and by the ninth it’s utility players you’ve only vaguely heard of if you’re in deep AL-only keeper leagues.
What interests me most about this situation is how it manifests moving forward. The Packers got to play all five of their best linemen in the game, but they didn’t play them all together. Is there a way to make that work?
Elgton Jenkins will have to get paid this offseason and will no doubt want a tackle contract. Nijman played right tackle at Virginia Tech and Jenkins profiles as the better right tackle, but he’s also one of the best guards in the league and the mulleted Royce Newman looks like the clear weak link in a group that is, after all, a weak link system. Would they go to Bakhtiari and Nijman as the tackles with Jenkins sliding to right guard?
Probably not, but the fact we’re asking this question is both a credit to Nijman and a critique of Newman who should be fighting off Zach Tom for his job as early as this week.
What's your level of concern with the Packers offense after the unit failed to score beyond the opening two possessions?
JBH: A week ago, Peter and I asked ourselves whether the Aaron Jones/AJ Dillon-centric approach would keep the Packers offense afloat throughout the season. While I said the plan offered multiple ways to attack opposing defenses, the chances of the offense sustaining itself throughout on the running backs as the only real playmakers seemed low.
Sunday's game against the Buccaneers reinforced that notion in my view. After Tampa head coach and defensive play-caller Todd Bowles adjusted to the Packers' game plan, the lack of field-tilters at receiver became a glaring issue. Rookie Romeo Doubs made some plays and Green Bay will presumably lean on him more often after he turned eight targets into eight catches for 73 yards and a score. Still, he doesn't consistently generate easy completions the way a typical lead receiver would. The same applies to Allen Lazard. Had the Packers fallen behind by multiple possessions, they don't appear to have the requisite pieces to claw back.
Of course, that could change in the coming weeks. As I wrote for The Leap last Wednesday, the Packers have already looked into the veteran wideout market and will push to make an addition if the young members of the receiving corps don't demonstrate enough progress. Time remains for that development to occur, but the team can only practice so much patience with the group in a win-now season.
All of which to say, the Packers should feel concerned about the passing game. It hasn't reached DEFCON 1 by any means, but the shortcomings are hard to ignore.
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PB: Medium low. It’s like the temperature you turn the pan after you’ve flipped the grilled cheese and you want to get that nice melty cheese but don’t want to burn the other side of the bread.
Someone needs to tell Matt LaFleur he can throw play-action without the run game working, as Green Bay went away from some of their bread-and-butter concepts in the second half. Plays like Strike, where they get an in-breaker behind a play-action fake, worked with great success last week and also counted for at least one of the Doubs plays against the Bucs.
But Green Bay’s traditional drop-back game fell flat in the second half as they couldn’t create anything over the top until late when Rodgers found Allen Lazard on that slot fade. There was also the free play in which Rodgers had a chance to hit Randall Cobb wide open down the field but left the throw too far inside and it was picked off.
All that said, the Buccaneers had allowed two touchdowns in two weeks coming in. Green Bay posted two touchdowns in two drives and was on its way to a third before a fluke fumble on the goal line. To do that without two of their top receivers and a rotating offensive line showed the potential this offense has while also revealing how inconsistent it remains. It can be fixed.
Parting shots
JBH: After a preseason that did little to quell the anxieties of Packers fans worried about special teams, the units have looked more than competent through three weeks. Sunday provided the strongest showing yet, with a series of fantastic punt coverages that put the Buccaneers in difficult field position. The highlight came early in the third quarter when Nixon downed Pat O'Donnell's punt at the 1-yard line.
After the game, both LaFleur and Rodgers made note of the impact special teams played in the win. The quarterback even uttered coordinator Rich Bisaccia's "we-fense" term -- an awful, awful name, but I digress -- during his postgame press conference. Green Bay never talked about special teams this much in the past unless something went horribly wrong. No longer.
The Packers entered 2022 with a modest hope for special teams: don't be a disaster. So far, they've received much more from the much-maligned third phase.
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PB: It’s been a tale of last drives for the Packers in two straight games. Against the Bears, Green Bay allowed 104 yards rushing on the Bears’ last chance to score and make it a game. That’s not a misprint. A 10-yard sack and 5-yard penalty allowed Chicago to wrack up 104 yards on the drive that ultimately ended with a fourth-down stop.
A similar situation played out on the final drive, albeit far more consequential. The Buccaneers’ final drive, officially 89 yards, pushed the Buccaneers over the 200-yard mark for the game. In fact, it was roughly a 50% increase of the game’s total yards for their offense in one drive, a drive in which the Packers played and ridiculously passive two-high look with off coverage. You know … exactly the opposite of the defense that held the Bucs to under 200 yards through 58 minutes of play and hadn’t given up a touchdown in the game to that point.
If Green Bay and Joe Barry would stop playing so passively on these final drives, the defensive numbers would be even better and fans wouldn’t have to sweat out final possessions, although they weren’t doing that in the Bears game for the outcome, but rather for the aesthetic and vibes.
Even without Jaire Alexander, this team suffocated Tom Brady. It was impressive but would have been even more so had they not let up on the final drive. They were so worried about getting beat — rather than doing what they’d done all game — it almost got them beat.