The Green Bay Packers are 8-3-1 going into Week 14 and have everything out in front of them in terms of making the playoffs. They need everyone to put their best foot forward to get this done, and safety Evan Williams is a player they are going to lean on.
Williams has been a stable force in the secondary, but with the final stretch of the season coming up, the Packers will need even more from him going forward.
Packers Need Even More from Evan Williams to End the Regular Season
Over the next four weeks, the Packers will face off against the Chicago Bears (2x), the Denver Broncos, and the Baltimore Ravens. Chicago is second in the NFL in rushing offense (153.8), Baltimore is fifth (136.8), and Denver is 14th in run offense (119.3).
All of these teams love to get the ground game going, which will only force the Packers to slow that down. Fortunately for them, Williams has been quite solid in that area. According to Pro Football Focus, Williams has a 72.7 overall grade, 76.9 run-defense grade, and a 68.4 coverage grade.
Williams was thrown into the starting lineup, where he's started in 11 of the 12 games this season. The more reps he's gotten this season have led to him improving as a run defender (64.5 to 76.9). Going into Week 14, Williams is tied for fifth in the NFL in run stops (14).
And this isn't something that should be surprising, considering how Williams loves to be effective in that area.
"I take a lot of pride in that. I feel like the casual fan kind of looks over those type of plays, but when you look back at it, that's a good 60-70% of the game are those run plays that a lot of people look over. I want to be the complete player that I think I can be, it definitely starts with being stout in the run game."Evan Williams
And the way that Williams has attacked this season has caught the attention of head coach Matt LaFleur. When talking about Williams, LaFleur said, "He's always been a pretty aware player. He's got great instincts but now just his knowledge of what we're trying to get accomplished, and then his ability to disguise and hold things and then on the snap, trigger... The physicality that he's brought to our defense has been pretty impressive."
It's very apparent how Williams has brought more juice to this defensive unit, but the Packers will need him to do even more as they close out the season. The weather will be colder on game days, which means teams will need to rely on the ground game even more. And that's clearly an area where Williams can make an impact, and the Packers will need him to play his best to wrap up the campaign.