Sound Tackling at a Premium for Green Bay Packers v. 49ers
By Paul Bretl
Sound tackling is important every single week–it’s a must if a defense is going to be successful. But this week for the Green Bay Packers, who are up against a San Francisco 49ers offense that is very good at generating yards after the catch, tackling is going to be at a premium.
The tackling abilities of the Green Bay Packers will be stressed by this San Francisco offense.
As we all know, the Niners are a run-first team. Their lead running back, Elijah Mitchell, posted 963 rushing yards in only 11 games and was one of the more elusive backs to bring down. His 3.83 yards after contact average was the fourth-highest in football, and his 41 missed tackles forced — in only 11 games, might I add — was the 11th most.
Kyle Shanahan has also been using Deebo Samuel as a fairly regular ball carrier since Week 10. During that span, and including the Wildcard round, Samuel is averaging 6.3 yards per carry on 7.0 attempts per game. We will get to Samuel’s YAC ability as a receiver in a minute, but we are all well aware of what kind of damage he can do with the ball in his hands.
With Jimmy Graoppolo at quarterback, San Francisco attempts only 29.9 pass attempts per game, which was the fourth-fewest in the NFL this season. He also ranks 30th out of 39 quarterbacks in average depth of target–so it’s not as if Garoppolo is pushing the ball downfield either.
Yet despite the low number of pass attempts and the conservative approach, the Niners still finished the season with the highest explosive pass play rate in the game, according to Sharp Football.
How did they achieve that, you ask? Well, I have one word for you–YAC.
In addition to Mitchell and Samuel being difficult to bring down out of the backfield, this is a passing game full of playmakers, along with a play-caller in Shanahan who does a terrific job of finding ways to get them the ball in space.
Among receivers, Samuel’s 903 yards after the catch were the second-most in football behind only Cooper Kupp, and his average YAC per catch of 10.2 yards ranked first. At tight end, George Kittle finished second among his position group in total YAC with 470 yards, and he tied for sixth in average YAC.
"“It definitely adds another layer to their complex offense,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said via SI. “They do such a great job of formationing, motioning, giving very complementary plays. You’ve got to be very disciplined with your eyes and your rules and responsibilities. But Deebo, he is a dynamic player. He’s one of the more elite players in this league, and they find different ways to get him the ball, whether it’s handing it off, whether it’s reverses, in the passing game. He’s a physical guy. And I think it does present some problems when you just aren’t quite sure where he’s going to line up. Is he going to be in the halfback position and the halfbacks going to be out wide, or vice versa? He’s a guy we have to account for on every play.”"
Secondary target, Brandon Aiyuk, has also been very effective with the ball in his hands. His 371 total yards after the catch ranks 22nd — not bad for a third option in the passing game — and his YAC average of 6.1 yards ranks ninth among receivers. Jauan Jennings is averaging 4.3 yards after the catch, and that ranks 44th, according to PFF ($$).
This is going to be a tall task for a Green Bay Packers defense that has been trending downward as of late. As I discussed in my 3 Keys to Victory, in order to limit what this Niners offense does with the ball in their hands, it’s going to require gap integrity along the defensive front and a strong middle-of-the-field defensive presence. And oh yeah, some very good tackling as well.
The good news is that the Green Bay Packers have been one of the best tackling teams in football this season. By PFF’s grading system, Green Bay finished the season ranked second in tackling. For some added context, in 2020, they finished ranked 18th, in 2019, they were 19th, and in 2018, Green Bay ranked 25th in tackling by PFF’s metrics.
The Packers also missed only 93 tackles over the entire season, which was the fewest in football. In fact, the next closest team missed 106 tackles–so it wasn’t particularly close.
Against the run, it’s going to take Rashan Gary and Preston Smith setting strong edges while De’Vondre Campbell, Adrian Amos, and Darnell Savage are going to play important roles in the middle of the field. But truthfully, it’s going to take all 11 defenders keeping everything in front of them and swarming to the football to limit any YAC potential.
Tackling is one of the fundamentals of the game of football, but as we break down matchups each week, it’s also one of those things that can be forgotten about as well. However, when it comes to a defense’s success, it is oh so important–especially when you’re facing this 49ers’ offense and their YAC abilities.