Green Bay Packers: 3 X-Factors Against Tampa Bay
By Paul Bretl
Green Bay Packers S – Raven Greene
Raven Greene would miss the first game of the season against Minnesota, and from there, the Green Bay Packers chose to work him back slowly. But on Monday night against Atlanta, we saw Mike Pettine cut him loose as Greene did a little bit of everything for this Packer defense.
Greene took 50 snaps against Atlanta with two coming on the defensive line, seven as the free safety, another 17 from the slot, and 24 in the box. He would finish the game with a sack, five tackles and allowed just 9.5 yards per catch.
This week while the cornerbacks, as well as Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage, likely have their handsful with the Tampa receivers, Greene can provide some help against a few other pass-catching options in Rob Gronkowski, Cameron Brate, Ronald Jones, and LeSean McCoy.
In the past, tight ends have wreaked havoc on this Packers’ defense, but Green Bay also didn’t have a healthy Raven Greene most of the time. This year, Gronk has hauled in 12 receptions on 20 targets for 140 yards, while Brate hasn’t seen much action, making only six receptions with a touchdown, but now that O.J. Howard is out with an Achilles injury; his playing time will skyrocket.
Meanwhile, running backs Jones and McCoy have been very involved in the Tampa passing game this season with 36 targets and 24 receptions between the two of them.
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Although Greene isn’t the flashiest player, with his physicality, versatility, and ability in coverage, he makes plays for this defense. He is someone who can provide help against the run and play a key role in limiting any one of these four players in the passing game.