Green Bay Packers: 5 X-Factors for a Deep Playoff Run

Blake Martinez

Once again, Blake Martinez has put together another solid season where he rarely missed a snap and racked up a bunch of tackles. A career high of 155 to be exact, and that is after seasons of 144 and 142 in 2018 and 2017, respectively. However, fans will let you know that he comes with his limitations as well.

While he makes a lot of tackles, instead of being around the line of scrimmage, they are often five or so yards downfield. Not to mention that he is also limited in coverage. But with that said, Martinez plays an important role on this team and while he isn’t going to become a game-changer in coverage by any means, if he can be reliable against the run, that will go a long ways in helping this defense.

For much of the season we saw the Green Bay Packers struggle against the run, but over their four game stretch from New York to Minnesota, they were much better and so was the defense as a whole. Well, that was until the game in Detroit when the Packers gave up over 170 rushing yards.

With most of the damage being done in between the tackles it is vital that Martinez can break free from any blockers and be there to make plays. Far too often once Martinez is engaged with a blocker, he can’t break free and for a Packer defense that plays smaller with a lot of nickel formations, if Martinez isn’t there to make a play after the defensive front, the runner will likely pick up a good chunk of yardage.

We’ve seen how truly good this defense can be when the opposing offense is one-dimensional and Green Bay’s defensive front – led by Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, and Kenny Clark – can get after the quarterback. But that all starts with stopping the run.