The Green Bay Packers defense has been playing its best football of the season as of late, and recently, that stretch has included going up against some of the game’s best playmakers at receiver, including Tyreek Hill and Justin Jefferson. That will continue this week as the Packers will now be tasked with slowing Detroit Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.
St. Brown has been targeted 130 times this season and has totaled 1,112 yards, the 11th most in the NFL, according to PFF. Although St. Brown certainly brings big play ability, he has rarely been utilized as a downfield target, with only eight passes coming at 20 or more yards. In fact, of his 130 targets, 95 have come within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. Instead, the Lions work to get him the ball quickly and in space, where his YAC ability can take over. This season, St. Brown ranks third in total YAC and 13th in average YAC among all receivers.
“This guy, he is a tough competitor,” Matt LaFleur said on Monday via Bill Huber at Sports Illustrated. “He is a dog. His ability to win his one-on-ones, to make tough catches, to get YAC, he’s a scrappy dude. I think he’s got a great rapport with Jared, and they’ve made a lot of plays together. You look at the supporting cast around him, it’s getting better and better.”
Despite going up against the likes of Jefferson, Hill, and Jaylen Waddle in the last two weeks, the Green Bay Packers defense was able to limit them – for the most part – especially over the last six quarters. Although the first half against Miami was littered with miscommunications and big plays given up, in quarters two and three, the Packers held Hill and Waddle to just 66 combined yards. Then this past week against Jefferson, he had just one catch for 15 yards.
Green Bay’s success during this stretch begins up front, with the pass rush getting more consistent pressure on the quarterback. This disrupts the timing, gets the quarterback on the move, and takes away longer developing routes, along with there being less time for the cornerbacks in coverage.
On the back end, the communication from the secondary has been much more sound. Defenders are in better positions to make plays on the ball, and even when a catch is made, there have often been multiple defenders in the area to limit YAC. On top of that, the tackling and overall urgency to swarm the ball has been better as well.
Defensive coordinator Joe Barry has also made major adjustments since the bye week that have clearly helped improve the play of his defense. As Daire Carragher of Packer Report would write, the Packers have been playing a lot more Cover-6 looks, putting additional defenders in coverage, and also providing additional safety help to one side of the field – specifically the side of the field where the biggest offensive threat is.
We saw this approach often against Minnesota with Jefferson, along with Barry also allowing Alexander to move to the side of the field Jefferson was on. There has also been more press coverage with the opportunity to jam the receivers at the line of scrimmage. Green Bay’s utilization of cover-2, in both man and zone, has gone up as well, to help limit the number of explosive plays by the opposing offense.
All of this has led to more turnovers by Green Bay, including 12 in the last four games and eight in total against Miami and Minnesota.
The Packers were able to keep the Lions and St. Brown in check the first time around. However, Detroit was without DJ Chark and Jameson Williams, two players who can stretch the field, which in theory, will give St. Brown more room to work with underneath as the defense is more spread out. This is a Lions offense that can put up points in a hurry, ranking fifth in points per game, and Jared Goff ranking sixth in yards per pass attempt.
While the Packers certainly don’t want to get predictable, so adjustments will be made for the Lions, one would think we see a similar formula this week to help limit St. Brown, another explosive pass catcher that can take over a game.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbxb1xg7g19wqdc player_id=01eqbvhghtkmz2182d image=]