Green Bay Packers: The defense needs to get back to forcing turnovers
The Green Bay Packers’ defense has struggled to force turnovers the past few seasons. They need to get back to that in 2018.
The 2017 season may have been an outlier for the Green Bay Packers, but it was one of the few times in the last decade their defense failed to rank among the top-10 in interceptions. In fact, from 2006-2016 no team was better at taking the ball away than a loaded Packers secondary (229 total interceptions).
During this reign, free safety Nick Collins was roaming the middle, Tramon Williams was peaking at corner, and an all-time great in Charles Woodson was filling in nicely as a hybrid safety/corner able to make plays wherever he was needed. It also didn’t hurt that a young Sam Shields was starting to come into his own.
Williams is the only one on the current roster, but the Packers are willing to get this trend restarted with the help of new defensive coordinator Mike Pettine coaching a young secondary.
Collins’ career-ending neck injury in 2011 was only the beginning to what would be a major downslide to the depth chart of defensive backs in Green Bay. Williams and Woodson eventually walked away from a frugal general manager in Ted Thompson who wanted to get younger on that side of the ball.
Defensive coordinator Dom Capers was tasked to rebuild with Shields while also getting numerous chances to start over through the draft. This plan may have panned out had Shields not suffered numerous concussions, but only so many chances can be divvied out in a cutthroat business such as the NFL.
Now, the year is 2018 and Thompson and Capers are no longer holding onto to something that clearly wasn’t there. The Packers hired Pettine to not only bring attitude and accountability to the defense but also play-making.
The last time Pettine conducted a defensive unit was five years ago under head coach Doug Marrone in Buffalo. Pettine quickly turned things around after the Bills finished 20th in interceptions in 2012. They jumped all the way up to second finishing with 24 in 2013.
The Packers hope Pettine can find similar results with the roster he has now. Green Bay just used first- and second-round picks on corners to help nudge him along. First-year GM Brian Gutekunst also reunited him with defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson who played for Pettine as a New York Jet.
He will not have the excuse of lack of talent which was often cited as the reason for Capers’ undoing.
We are used to a 3-4 base defense, but Pettine is known for playing multiple-D that pressures the quarterback. The Packers defensive line could be the best group Pettine has worked with and that does not include outside linebackers Clay Matthews and Nick Perry.
“I really like the chemistry in that defensive line room,” Pettine said at the conclusion of OTAs. “Starting with coach (Jerry) Montgomery to Mike Daniels whose never afraid to speak up as you guys well know.”
The defense will be relying on an inside rush which in turn should create more hurried throws, and thus, more opportunities for interceptions. Many of Green Bay’s best intercepting defenses finished near the top of the league in sacks.
A returning, but aging, Tramon Williams is 11th in Packers history with 28 picks, but outside of him, safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix is the only guy proven to create turnovers with 11 interceptions in 64 career games.
It will be up to young players such as Kevin King, Jaire Alexander, and Josh Jackson to emerge as immediate contributors that can evolve into perennial playmakers. A tall task, but not inconceivable. At Iowa, Jackson showcased his natural ball-hawking ability after leading the nation with eight interceptions in 2017.
They will need to get help from the Packers pass rush who should aim for 40 sacks as a team this year. This should be an achievable goal and would likely produce anywhere from 15-20 interceptions. The end result will be more points and, of course, more wins.