Looking ahead to the Green Bay Packers’ Week 2 matchup with the Falcons, the defense should be prepared for a heavy dose of both the run and quick passing games from the Atlanta offense.
Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder held on to the ball for an average of 2.63 seconds in Week 1, which was the eighth fastest average among all quarterbacks, according to PFF. When getting the ball out quickly, there isn’t going to be time for longer developing downfield routes to take place, which means a heavy reliance on shallow routes.
Of his 18 total pass attempts, Ridder had just four against Carolina that traveled at least 10 air yards—with only one beyond 20 yards. He also had eight of his total throws stay behind the line of scrimmage. In fact, of quarterbacks who played at least 20 percent of their team’s total offensive snaps Week 1, Ridder’s 18 pass attempts were the fewest, which also means there was a heavy reliance on the run game by the Atlanta offense, in addition to utilizing the quick passing game.
Falcons running backs Tyler Allgeier and rookie Bijan Robinson totaled 25 attempts between the two and averaged an impressive 5.3 yards per carry, with a pair of rushing touchdowns.
For the Green Bay defense, this style of play has some overlap with what they saw from the Bears this past Sunday. The Packers defensive front was able to dominate the line of scrimmage against Chicago, holding their running backs to under four yards per carry and generating an impressive 36 pressures. Overall, there is improved depth at both the interior defensive line and edge rusher positions. This unit also has looked extremely fast, and unlike last season, used a heavy dose of post-snap movement, specifically stunts, to wreak havoc on the Bears offensive line.
To counter it, what we could see from Joe Barry and the Packers is them trying to condense the field by playing closer to the line of scrimmage, which can make moving the ball both on the ground and through the quick game more challenging, in part because with more bodies near the line of scrimmage there is less space for the offense to operate within.
Slowing the Atlanta run game will put them in second and third and long situations, where the defensive front will be able to pin its ears back and the Falcons won’t be able to be as reliant on shorter routes that are often used in the quick game. Also, continuing to fly around and swarming the ball carrier with multiple defenders will be a critical factor as well, just as it was against Chicago. If a defense is able to limit yards after the catch, the quick game becomes quite ineffective.
To a degree, this would be daring the Atlanta offense to push the ball downfield, something that they could attempt to do with the players like Kyle Pitts and Drake London. However, that’s also not something we saw from the Falcons in Week 1 either. Until Atlanta shows that they are willing to take those shots downfield and convert them, the Packers should play more aggressively, something they’ve been doing more of this summer, and trust their secondary to be in position to make plays.
With Ridder getting rid of the ball as quickly as he does, it can make pressuring the quarterback more difficult. From a raw numbers standpoint, PFF credited the Panthers with only 10 pressures on Sunday. However, of those 10 pressures, six ended up as sacks. If the Green Bay defense can take away some of those quick passing outlets, the opportunity to get after Ridder should be there.
As is always the case in football, there are many factors that contribute to a team’s performance – whether it be good or bad – but the Packers play in Chicago on defense was in part sparked by their play-speed and aggressiveness. If they can carry those elements into Week 2 against Atlanta, helping to limit the run and quick passing games, they’ll have the opportunity to make things challenging for that offense.