Tag: pressure

The pass-rush helped the Green Bay Packers escape an upset bid from the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

Mike Pettine’s defense created 20 total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, including 16 from edge rushers Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith and Rashan Gary.

This was the type of disruption – especially late in the game and specifically on the final two drives – that GM Brian Gutekunst envisioned when he signed both Smiths and made Gary the 12th overall pick in 2019.

Both Smiths and Gary delivered pressures – including crucial sacks from Gary and Preston Smith – on the Jaguars’ final three plays, slamming the door shut on the upset-minded visitors and clinching Green Bay’s 24-20 win.

Gary led the team in pressures with seven. Za’Darius Smith had five. Preston Smith had four.

Jaguars rookie quarterback Jake Luton struggled mightily against pressure.

According to PFF, Luton was under pressure on 13 of his 38 dropbacks. When pressured, he took three sacks, completed just one of 10 passes and threw an interception. His passer rating? 0.0.

Gary played one of the best games of his young career. At the very least, it was the most productive. His seven pressures came on just 22 pass-rushing snaps. On the final drive, he beat right tackle Juwan Taylor twice, once for a sack and another for a pressure that directly resulted in Preston Smith’s sack.

Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith combined for nine pressures and eight stops, or tackles constituting a failure for the offense.

On the final play, Za’Darius Smith beat the right guard quickly and nearly had a game-ending sack. Instead, Luton escaped, circled around Gary as he pursued and eventually threw incomplete. The Jaguars quarterback never had a chance to look downfield or even throw downfield on 4th-and-26.

Interior defenders Kenny Clark and Kingsley Keke added three pressures, while rookie linebacker Kamal Martin blew up a passing play with a well-timed and explosive blitz in the first half.

The Packers’ pass-rush showed signs of life on the Jaguars’ second-to-last possession. After driving to near midfield, Luton threw three straight incompletions and the Jaguars punted. All three attempts were either affected or hurried by pressure. On third down, Luton had to step up to avoid Gary and Preston Smith, and Za’Darius Smith pushed the pocket from the inside against a double team, creating a quick throw well short of the sticks.

The Jaguars had an upset brewing at Lambeau Field. Late heroics from Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams erased Jacksonville’s lead, and the Packers’ pass-rush ensured no comeback was in store for Luton.

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers scored a decisive win along the line of scrimmage during Sunday’s showdown against the Green Bay Packers, fueling a one-sided, 38-10 victory for the Bucs over the previously unbeaten Packers.

As expected, pressure decided the winner. More specifically, the imbalance of the pressure was the deciding factor.

According to Pro Football Focus, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was under pressure on 18 of his 41 dropbacks (43.9 percent). He took four sacks. When under pressure, Rodgers completed just 30.8 percent of his passes, averaged 3.7 yards per attempt, threw the ball away four times and had a passer rating of 43.1.

Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady was hardly bothered by the Packers’ pass-rush.

Per PFF, Brady was under pressure on just five of his 27 dropbacks. When kept clean on 22 passing plays, Brady completed 68.2 percent of passes, averaged 7.0 yards per attempt and had a passer rating of 103.0.

The Buccaneers blitzed Rodgers without fear, and it worked. When blitzed, Rodgers completed 35.3 percent of his passes and tossed two interceptions. Three of his four sacks were the result of a blitz from Todd Bowles.

Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett combined for 11 pressures. Overall, the Bucs had eight players with at least two pressures. Five different players hit Rodgers.

The Packers, meanwhile, got little from their star rushers. Za’Darius Smith was on the field for all 27 of Brady’s dropbacks but created only one pressure. Kenny Clark, returning from a groin injury, had zero pressures on 18 pass-rushes. Kingsley Keke and Dean Lowry both went 0-for-13. Preston Smith led the way with two total pressures.

Coverage was certainly a factor. While Rodgers was stuck holding the football on many of his dropbacks, Brady got the ball out of his hands quickly and generally on time. Covering and pressuring often go hand-in-hand. Bowles and the Bucs did a better job disguising coverages and confusing Rodgers than Mike Pettine and the Packers did with Brady.

The Bucs protected their future Hall of Fame quarterback, both with scheme and execution. The Packers did not. The end result Sunday accurately reflected the imbalance of pressure.