Green Bay Packers: Raven Greene Provides Boost for Run Defense in Playoffs

Raven Greene has returned to practice and could provide the Green Bay Packers’ run defense with a boost in the playoffs.

While eight of the other NFL playoff teams will be competing this weekend in the Wildcard round, the 13-3 Green Bay Packers are able to rest up and get healthy on their bye week. And speaking of getting healthy, the Packers received some very good news as Raven Greene has returned to practice after spending most of the season on IR.

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If you recall, it was in the Green Bay Packers’ Week 2 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings when Greene injured his ankle and unfortunately, he hasn’t played since.

Greene’s role on this team is as the hybrid linebacker and for a team that runs a lot of nickel formations, he sees a lot of playing time. In his only full game of the season against Chicago in Week 1, Greene was on the field for 55 defensive snaps and totaled six tackles with a pass breakup.

However, with Greene sidelined it was quite evident that this Packer defense missed having him on the field, especially as a run stopper. With Kenny Clark often double-teamed, opposing running backs were getting to the second level on a regular basis where it was up to primarily Blake Martinez to make the play. But an area that Martinez struggles with is shedding blockers and once engaged, he is usually taken out of the play.

And as I mentioned above, this is a Packers team that plays a lot of nickel formations which means if Clark is double-teamed and Martinez is taken out of the play, it is up to someone in the secondary to bring down the running back that already has a full head of steam.

The results were what you’d expect, not very good. For much of the season the Green Bay Packers ranked in the 25 to 28 range in terms of total rushing yards allowed per game. But to their credit, they’ve been much better over the last month and we’ve seen how dominant this defense can be when they stop the run.

During their four game stretch from the New York Giants to the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay would allow only 92.2 rushing yards per game. This is nearly 40 yards less than what their season average had been up until that point. Not to mention that their stellar play against the run was a big reason that opponents were also scoring just 12.8 points per game over that span.

When the Green Bay Packers can slow the run, it makes the opposing offense one-dimensional, and we’ve all seen how good Mike Pettine is in those situations as a play caller. With more second and third and long situations that require passing the ball, it allows The Smiths and Clark to pin their ears back and get after the quarterback, which has created a number of big plays this season.

Around the middle of the season the Packers’ run defense got a boost when Ibraheim Campbell returned to action. Campbell is a physical player and a very good tackler that was able to line up next to Martinez and provide some much-needed help against the run.

Now with Greene back who can provide a similar presence down in the box as Campbell, Green Bay should be even better against the run. Which as we’ve seen, is a huge key to their success. And also, just in time for the playoffs.