The Green Bay Packers’ struggling offensive line and offense in general will have to be prepared and have a game plan for the very blitz-heavy Minnesota Vikings’ defense this Sunday.
Under new defensive coordinator Brian Flores, the Vikings lead the NFL with a blitz rate of 56.4 percent this season, according to Pro Football Reference. The next highest rate is New England at 42 percent of the time. A product of this aggressive play style is that Minnesota ranks fifth in quarterback hurry rate this season.
“They’re doing an outstanding job,” said Matt LaFleur on Wednesday. “Coach Flores, who’s got a very aggressive scheme, it seems like they’re starting to get their footing more and more the more they play.
“They’re not afraid. Sometimes, it’s going to look like a punt rush, and you’ve got to have a plan for that and go out there and execute that plan, but it does present a lot of challenges. Those guys are fast. They’re physical. So they’ve got a lot of pieces, and they do a good job schematically, and they want to apply pressure.”
One of the many issues that the Packers have been facing as of late is the play of their offensive line. Over their last three games, Jordan Love has been pressured on nearly 40 percent of his dropbacks, which is the ninth-highest rate in the NFL during that span. During the Denver game, the Broncos were too often able to create pressure with just a four-man rush, allowing them to have seven defenders in coverage.
When bltized this season, Love is completing 53.6 percent of his passes, which ranks 31st, at 6.8 yards per attempt – although he does have three touchdowns and no interceptions. If that pressure gets home, Love’s completion rate drops to just 42.9 percent and 5.1 yards per attempt with two touchdowns to three interceptions.
“We haven’t really faced a defense like Minnesota, the way that they run it,” said Love on Wednesday. “It’s something you’ve got to have a good plan for going into it. You’ve got to have a good week of practice. Understanding the plan. Understanding what they do—bring those blitzes. There’s certain looks. Just go out there on game day and execute. But really, it’s about getting the ball to our playmakers and letting them make plays. Just getting the ball out quick, it is very important.”
Utilizing the quick passing game is going to be a must for the Packers in this game in an effort to get the ball out of Love’s hands. This is going to require him and the receivers being on the same page, specifically, the receivers being in the right place at the right time, along with being able to win their routes fairly quickly–a few things that have not regularly happened this season.
As LaFleur said on Wednesday, “indecisive equals ineffective,” and that rings even more true when facing a blitz. A quarterback must know where they are going with the ball.
In addition to the quick passing game, running back screens and jet sweeps can be other ways to try to combat a blitz, although the Packers have been unsuccessful for the most part running those types of plays. Trying to get the ball outside in the run game on toss plays can be another tactic if the pressure is coming up the middle, but again, Green Bay has struggled there as well.
With this blitz-heavy approach, the Vikings are allowing only 3.6 yards per carry this season, the sixth fewest in the NFL. If the offensive line can handle the initial wave of defenders, the opportunity for a big play is there, with the running back having the opportunity to get to the second level where there will be fewer defenders than normal. However, even against four or five-man fronts, Green Bay has not been able to consistently create running lanes this season.
If the Love is taking sacks or the Packers are unable to pick up a handful of yards on first down consistently, it’s going to put them right back in the vicious cycle that they’ve been living in for the last month. Second and third and long situations have all but doomed Green Bay this season, and the potential impact that the Vikings can have blitzing the Packers only grows when constantly in those predictable passing downs.
“Their system is a lot different than your normal defense,” added Love. “It’s pretty much a unique system that they have.
”It’s different, but it’s all things we do. Like I said, when you’re playing a defense that does a lot of different things, you have to change a little bit of what you do. You want to stay in your system, but there’s just not normal looks we haven’t seen that we are seeing this week, and we’ve just got to have a plan for, and I think we do have a good plan for.”