To put it simply, the Green Bay Packers were bullied in the trenches on both sides of the ball the last time they played the Detroit Lions in Week 4. But this time, it was the Packers who won the line of scrimmage on offense and defense during a 29-22 win on Thanksgiving.
“I think the game was won upfront today on both sides of the ball,” said Matt LaFleur post game. “I thought anytime you drop back against Detroit or throw 30-plus passes and come away with zero sacks. And then conversely what we were doing up front on the other side of the ball, that was really the difference.”
In the first matchup earlier in the season, Jordan Love was pressured on roughly 48 percent of his dropbacks. And it’s not just the frequency at which Love was pressured that disrupted things, but also how quickly it often happened as well. When it was all said and done, Love was sacked five times and hit 11 in that game.
Especially early on in Week 4, the Packers lived in long down-and-distance situations because of the pressure on Love and the overall lack of execution in the passing game. This led to quick three-and-outs with Green Bay running just 11 plays on offense by the time Detroit had put 24 points on the board. Green Bay never even had the opportunity to fully get into their game plan before the game was out of reach.
However, this time around, Love had the time that he needed in the pocket, for the most part. The Green Bay offensive line didn’t allow any sacks and Love was hit just four times. This afforded him the ability to go through his reads, finding the open pass-catcher, and it allowed the Packers receivers additional time to create separation.
Along with Detroit having players up front like Aidan Hutchinson, Aliem McNeil, and others, schematically they throw a lot of eye candy at offensive lines through blitzes, stunts, and different personnel packages to cause chaos and confusion. But the Packers offensive line was much better prepared this time around and handled it well.
“I think the story was the offensive line,” added LaFleur, “just to provide the protection for him. They kind of got after us the first time we played them. That’s a really good front led by Hutchinson, but you’ve got McNeil and a bunch of other guys in there that are are really good football players and they do a good job of stressing you in different ways, bringing timely pressures, whether it’s a nickel or a safety. It’s a really good defense with good players that presents a lot of challenges for an offense.”
It was still tough sledding in the run game for the Packers, which was to be expected, given that they were short-handed at running back and up against a very good Lions defensive front. But the fact that they were playing with a lead allowed them to stick with it, and what I will say is that they were mostly able to avoid negative plays on the ground. At the bare minimum, this at least prevented Green Bay from playing behind the sticks.
Led by Rashan Gary on the defensive side of the ball, Green Bay’s pass rush did an excellent job of getting after Jared Goff. In total, the Packers sacked Goff three times – all of which were produced by Gary – and hit him 12 times. That pressure also led to three fumble recoveries by the Packers defense, one of which turned into a scoop-and-score for Jonathan Owens.
PFF credited the Packers defense with 33 total pressures, with Goff under duress on 52 percent of his dropbacks. Gary and his play stood out the most, but it was an impressive performance by the entire edge rusher room, along with Kenny Clark, Karl Brooks, and others creating push up the middle.
“RG (Rashan Gary) had a big day,” said LaFleur. “That was huge for him to come back to the place where, obviously last year it was a pretty emotional experience. Then he experienced a different kind of emotion today to have three sacks. Just really happy for him and our whole locker room.”
Pressuring the quarterback is always the name of the game but it is a must against Goff. His performances are night and day when under pressure versus playing in a clean pocket. With time, Goff has picked apart defenses, completing 75 percent of his passes at an impressive 8.2 yards per attempt. Conversely, when under duress, Goff’s completion rate drops to 53 percent and his yards per attempt to 6.1.
Green Bay’s run defense was far from perfect, allowing Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery to average 4.8 yards per rush. But the key was that Detroit did not dominate and control the game on the ground. Thursday’s performance was a far cry from the 211 rushing yards the Packers allowed in Week 4.
In part, this was a product of the Packers having a multi-score lead for a large portion of the game, forcing Detroit to rely more heavily on the passing game, but we also saw a more concerted effort from Joe Barry to play closer to the line of scrimmage and to devote an additional defender to the box in an effort limit the Lions’ effectiveness on the ground.
The game of football has changed a lot over the years, but many games are still won and lost in the trenches. In most instances, if you can control the line of scrimmage, you can control the game, and that is what the Packers did on Thanksgiving.
“The O-Line balled out,” said Love after the win. “You go into a game with no sacks against a really good D-Line. That front that they have is huge. It’s a testament to how dedicated that O-Line was in pass protection this week, and they balled out. I’m proud of those guys.”