5 Key things to watch for and final thoughts on Packers vs. Falcons
By Paul Bretl
The Packers’ run game vs. Falcons’ defensive front
Overall, it was a very good Week 1 performance from the Packers offense, but where they have to improve is in the run game. As a team, Green Bay averaged just 2.9 yards per rush against the Bears, with there being very few running lanes, and on several toss plays or outside zone runs, Chicago had a defender or two flying free into the backfield.
The Falcons’ run defense bottled up the Panthers’ run game for the most part in Week 1. Carolina generated a few chunk plays but primarily had little daylight to work with. Out of all 32 teams, Atlanta finished 10th in ESPN’s run-stop rate metric following the first game.
"“Atlanta has an excellent defense,” said offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich on Thursday. “Their defensive line is very good. Calais Campbell, Grady Jarrett, Oneymata, all those guys are really, really physical, established players in this league. ”So it’s going to be a huge challenge for us,” added Stenavich, “basically across the board. We just got to keep doing a great job of communicating. Keep doing a great job of executing and just making sure that when we get the opportunities to make plays we do.”"
As I’ve written about previously, consistent success on the ground feels like a near must for this young Packers offense. For one, it will keep Jordan Love out of obvious passing situations, but it will also open up the passing game as well as play-action. On the flip side, if they’re regularly bottled up on the ground, everything from the offense’s perspective becomes more challenging.
Which team can get more pressure on the opposing quarterback?
Following last week’s win against Chicago, Matt LaFleur said a key difference in the game was the Packers’ ability to protect Jordan Love while also getting after Justin Fields. The Bears, on the other hand, were not able to protect Fields very well nor pressure Love.
The Packers defense forced a whopping 36 pressures against the Bears, with Fields under pressure on over 50 percent of his dropbacks. This week, there will be the opportunity to again get after the quarterback, with the Atlanta offensive line allowing four sacks on just 22 dropbacks in Week 1, according to PFF. As a unit, the offensive line ranked 21st in pass-block win rate as well.
However, the struggle for the Packers could be the Atlanta quick passing game. As was previously mentioned, nearly half of Ridder’s passes didn’t go past the line of scrimmage, and almost all of them were within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. His average time to throw of 2.63 seconds was the ninth-fastest rate among quarterbacks.
"“The first thing is,” said Barry about defending the quick passing game as a pass rusher, “what always happens is it’s natural, especially for those rushers to get frustrated. Those guys want to pin their ears back and rush the passer and get after the passer. We talk about sacks and pressures and hits, and it’s hard to do that in the quick passing game. “You can affect the passer in many ways, even when the ball is coming out quick. You can get your hands up. You can tip balls. So it is frustrating, but as a pass rusher, you just have to keep playing, and when you do get your opp, you got to cash in.”"
This is why slowing the run game will be important for the Packers’ defense as a whole. It will put Ridder and the Atlanta offense in second and third-and-long situations, where they can’t be as reliant on the quick game, giving the Green Bay pass rush a little extra time to rush the quarterback.
On the other side of the ball, this is a Packers offensive line that gave up just two pressures against Chicago, but they will be up against a more challenging opponent this week. The Falcons were able to generate 28 pressures in Week 1, the sixth most in football. Time in the pocket for Love will give his young pass catchers additional time to get open against an aggressive Atlanta secondary.