Packers dominate trenches on both sides of ball v. Bears

Oftentimes, in the NFL, whichever team is able to better control the line of scrimmage wins the game. And that’s what the Green Bay Packers did on both sides of the ball on Sunday against the Chicago Bears.

Following the game, when speaking with Larry McCarren on the Packers radio Network, Matt LaFleur said that the Packers’ ability to protect Jordan Love and to get after Justin Fields on defense was probably the difference in Sunday’s victory.

According to ESPN, Love was sacked just one time and hit on only three total occasions on 30 total dropbacks. This time in the pocket afforded Jordan Love the ability to go through his progressions to find the open man, and by not being rushed, he didn’t put the ball in harm’s way either. The Packers were also very good on third and fourth downs, moving the chains on 10 of their 18 attempts, which, on passing plays, often started with the play up front giving Love the time he needed.

"“The O-line as a whole,” said Love after the game, “the protection was great. There was a couple times I was able to go through my whole read and there was no one around, and I was able to kind of look around. An area that I can clean up is just being more comfortable back there, being able to not get out of the pocket on a couple that I tried to, but the protection was great.”"

On the flip side, a strength of this Packers team, the pass rush, was able to live in the backfield, putting pressure on Justin Fields constantly with a whopping 36 pressures generated, according to PFF. Green Bay also totaled four sacks and another six quarterback hits. Against a less dynamic quarterback, the Packers would have for sure had another couple of sacks added to that total. A number of players were able to make their way into the backfield, but Devonte Wyatt, Rashan Gary, and Kenny Clark did so the most consistently.

This was a Bears offensive line that was without Teven Jenkins and struggled at times last season in pass protection, not to mention that Fields oftentimes has held on to the ball for too long. So, the opportunity to get after Fields was there. However, as LaFleur mentioned earlier in the week, you have to earn the right to get after the quarterback by stopping the run on early downs, which the Packers were largely able to do.

While Fields was able to scramble for a few chunk plays – which seems inevitable – the Packers were able to contain the Bears’ run game, with Khalil Herbert averaging just 3.0 yards per carry, D’Onta Foreman 3.2 yards per attempt, and Roschon Johnson averaged 4.0. The Packers ended up recording an impressive seven tackles for loss.

"“We were definitely able to get pressure on the quarterback and be disruptive,” said LaFleur. “We’ve talked about it all offseason, our style of play, and you look around the league, teams that are playing winning football, are flying around to the football, and I thought our guys were playing physical, and they were flying all over the place.”"

Overall, this Green Bay defense was able to generate consistent push by shooting gaps. They looked much faster, and all 11 defenders did an excellent job swarming to the ball carrier for the tackle.

The Packers have the youngest team in the NFL this season, and there are still a lot of unknowns. However, the play in the trenches will often have a key role in determining who the winner is, and that’s an area where the Packers have the ability to be one of the best in football on both offense and defense. This should help keep them in a number of games, even if they aren’t firing on all cylinders elsewhere.

"“I think that was probably the difference in the game,” said LaFleur about the play in the trenches. “Our ability to protect Jordan and then get after Justin on the other side was probably the difference.”"