Green Bay Packers edge rusher Rashan Gary has 34 pressures on just 176 pass-rushing snaps and a pass-rush win rate of 25.6 — second best among edge rushers to only Myles Garrett — entering Week 11. There is no question that Gary, who recently signed a $96 million contract extension, has been a consistent winner and disruptor in 2023.
The Packers may need even more from Gary on Sunday against Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers, especially given the matchup Gary is expecting at right tackle.
Herbert has been excellent from clean pockets this season, completing almost 75 percent of his passes with 13 touchdown passes and only one interception when kept clean in 2023. If the Packers can’t disrupt him on Sunday, Herbert is going to be efficient and ruthlessly effective, especially considering the inexperience for the Packers in the secondary. Rookie seventh-round picks Carrington Valentine and Anthony Johnson Jr. are both expected to start.
Enter Gary.
Only one offensive lineman has allowed more sacks this season than Chargers right tackle Trey Pipkins, who will get Gary on the majority of pass-rush snaps Sunday. Pipkins has allowed six sacks, seven quarterback hits (fifth-most) and 31 total pressures (also fifth-most), per PFF.
Gary should win a handful of pass-rushes on Sunday. And when he does, he needs one or two to turn into game-changing plays. Think a third down sack. A pressure or batted pass causing an interception. A strip-sack. A hit creating an incompletion in a big spot.
This is a game Gary needs to wreck for the Chargers. How many times have the Packers — even in the late Aaron Rodgers era — played an opponent and lost because an edge rusher took over the game on the other side? Gary is just as capable of taking over as Nick Bosa, Khalil Mack, Aidan Hutchinson or Maxx Crosby.
Through nine games, Gary doesn’t have a forced fumble or a batted pass. He’s been disruptive, consistently, but his season lacks a take-over game. Sunday with Herbert in town is the perfect time for Gary to produce one.