Tag: run defense

Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard could be a bad matchup for soft Saints run defense

Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard could be a bad matchup for a soft Saints run defense. New Orleans has gotten gashed in recent weeks:

It’s taken some time for the Carolina Panthers to figure out what they have in Chuba Hubbard — the young running back was a non-factor when the New Orleans Saints took down the Panthers back in Week 2, totaling just two carries for 16 yards on the evening. But he should be in line for a heavier workload during Sunday’s rematch, which is bad news for a soft Saints run defense.

Hubbard just put up 104 rushing yards with a pair of touchdown runs on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ top-10 run defense. A week earlier, he ran for 45 yards and another touchdown while gaining 47 receiving yards. He’s emerged as Carolina’s top option in the backfield.

And that could be a problem for New Orleans on Sunday. Look at some of the performances the Saints have allowed to running backs after coming out of their bye week:

  • Jahmyr Gibbs: 8 carries for 60 rushing yards
  • David Montgomery: 18 carries for 56 rushing yards and a touchdown
  • Bijan Robinson: 16 carries for 91 yards and a touchdown; 3 catches for 32 yards and a touchdown
  • Tyler Allgeier: 10 carries for 64 yards

Those are just some of the highlights. Dennis Allen’s defense has gotten pushed off the line of scrimmage far too often, not just in the last two games but in the last few years. Their run defense was once known for strong anchors and quick reaction speed to plug gaps and force teams to pass. But it’s been eroded over time and now opposing offenses don’t have any fear when dialing up a run. It’s a big problem.

While the Saints may be favored to defeat the Panthers this week, Hubbard’s rise to prominence and the porous New Orleans defense in front of him gives Carolina an opportunity to at least keep it close, if not try for an upset on the road. The Panthers may have just one win this season but they aren’t an opponent the Saints can afford to overlook. Watch out for No. 30 on Sunday.

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Packers run defense puts together second consecutive strong outing vs. Rams

The Packers consistently stuffed the run game of the Rams and Vikings over the last two weeks.

The run defense for the Green Bay Packers has made a drastic turnaround over the last two games.

Against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, the Packers held ball carriers to only 2.6 yards per rush, and even that figure was bolstered by quarterback Brett Rypien scrambling for 19 yards on three attempts. The week prior, the Minnesota Vikings averaged only 2.0 yards per carry as a team. Between the two games, the Packers allowed just one explosive run of 10 or more yards.

Prior to these two game, the Packers ranked 25th in run defense, allowing 4.5 yards per carry, including two games with over 200 rush yards allowed. In total against Minnesota and Los Angeles, however, they surrendered only 2.3 yards per rush attempt.

By no means are the Rams or Vikings among the top rushing teams in the NFL. The Rams entered Week 9 ranked 17th in yards per carry at 4.0 and Minnesota 27th at 3.7. But nonetheless, credit where credit is due. The Packers defense did its job and held both opponents well below their season averages—something that hasn’t often happened against the run.

“At the end of the day,” said Kenny Clark after the Rams game, “it’s just a mentality and everybody knowing exactly what run gap they’ve got and understanding that’s what teams are going to want to do. When it’s a close game and it’s back and forth, all teams are going to try to do is continue to run the ball on us and try to shorten the game. We’ve got to understand that as a defense and keep playing to that style and fit the run. We’ve been doing a really good job.”

Overall, there haven’t been any drastic changes made by Joe Barry to help facilitate the Packers’ current level of play. There may be times where depending on the situation, they have more defenders closer to the line of scrimmage, and the defense still continues to use pre and post-snap movement, something they’ve done for much of the season.

However, what we have seen is improved play from those on the field. TJ Slaton has been a force inside the last few weeks, generating consistent push and eating up space. The edge defenders were particularly good against the Rams, not letting the ball carrier get outside and funneling everything back towards the middle. The return of De’Vondre Campbell at linebacker has certainly been a factor, and the elevated play of Isaiah McDuffie on Sunday in place on Quay Walker was a contributor as well.

“We’ve been doing a lot of movement up front, but that’s the same thing we’ve been doing all year, honestly,” Clark said. “It was good to have DC [De’Vondre Campbell] back. [Isaiah] McDuffie played a hell of a game with his [two] TFLs, with his [seven] tackles.

When a defense can slow the opponents’ run game, it makes the jobs of everyone on that unit easier to do—an important aspect with the Green Bay defense featuring two seventh round rookies in the secondary on Sunday. In second and third-and-long situations, the pass rush can pin its ears back and get after the quarterback without having to worry about defending the run. The defense as a whole is able to do the dictating by getting into favorable matchups, and the secondary is able to play more aggressively as well.

Against Minnesota, the Packers defense really struggled to get off the field on third downs, but it wasn’t because of their run defense. The Green Bay defense forced the Minnesota offense into third and eight or more yards on 12 occasions but the pass defense allowed seven first downs in those situations. This week against the Rams, however, the defense was able to come up with those stops, holding LA to just 5-of-16 on third or fourth down attempts.

As the Packers’ offense continues to try to find some sort of consistent footing, the defense is going to have to shoulder a lot of the burden and keep opponents off the scoreboard. Step one to doing that is to continue holding up well against the run. As we’ve seen, when that is accomplished, there is a positive trickle-down effect to the rest of the defense.

However, we’ve also seen the flip side – the Atlanta and Detroit games – which results in the defense playing on its heels for much of the game, dulling the pass rush and putting the secondary in difficult situations.

Bears’ underrated rushing attack could upset shaky Saints run defense

The Chicago Bears’ underrated rushing attack could upset a shaky New Orleans Saints run defense:

The New Orleans Saints built their team to lean on its strong defense, but the unit isn’t perfect — and the Chicago Bears could be a concerning matchup for them, at least in one respect. Chicago can’t throw the ball very well whether it’s Justin Fields or Tyson Bagent under center, but they’ve run consistently ran well this season. That explosive running game could be a problem for the Saints on Sunday.

Just one team has more rushing attempts of 10 or more yards than the Bears, who have done so 34 times (being the Baltimore Ravens, with 35). Two of Chicago’s top three running backs have posted success rates over 50%, with rookie draft pick Roschon Johnson (45.2%) closing in on Khalil Herbert (51.0%) and D’Onta Foreman (60.0%), who has gashed the Saints before.

The Saints’ run defense appeared to have improved over last year’s results (improving from 24th to 15th in rushing yards allowed per game) going into Week 9’s game with the Indianapolis Colts, but they benefited from a schedule missing many effective rushing offenses. Look at where each opposing offense ranks in rushing yards per game:

  • Tennessee Titans: 13th
  • Carolina Panthers: 24th
  • Green Bay Packers: 25th
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 30th
  • New England Patriots: 27th
  • Houston Texans: 23rd
  • Jacksonville Jaguars: 16th
  • Indianapolis Colts: 9th

Indianapolis was the best rushing team the Saints faced all season, and they ran for 164 yards against New Orleans (a season-high). Enter the Bears, who rank sixth-best, trailing the fifth-ranked San Francisco 49ers by less than one rushing yard per game. Chicago does a great job winning at the line of scrimmage and opening lanes for their rushers to knife through and pick up chunks of yards.

But they’ll be shorthanded on Sunday. Their top running back Khalil Herbert is out with an injury, as is quarterback Justin Fields, whose efforts on the ground have done a lot to keep the offense moving. That could make enough of a difference for the Saints to slow them down, but this isn’t an opponent they can take lightly.

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Studs and duds from Broncos’ 31-21 loss to Jets

Another Broncos loss. Here are the studs and duds from Week 5.

The hype surrounding the Denver Broncos’ matchup with the New York Jets was sky-high. The billed matchup between Nathaniel Hackett and Sean Payton was intense. In a disappointing result for Broncos fans, Denver ultimately fell to Hackett’s Jets, 31-21. Here are the studs and duds from the game.

It’s now or never for Packers struggling run defense vs. Raiders

The Packers have vowed to fix the run defense. Well, they face arguably the NFL’s worst rushing offense in Week 5. Now or never time vs. the Raiders.

If the Green Bay Packers defense can’t slow the Las Vegas Raiders run game in Week 5, then there might be little hope that this unit turns things around this season.

The Raiders are struggling mightily to run the ball this season despite having Josh Jacobs, who is averaging only 2.7 yards per rush on 62 attempts. As a team, Las Vegas is averaging only 3.0 yards per carry this season, tied for the lowest average in football with Tampa Bay. The offensive line unit ranks 23rd in ESPN’s run-block win rate metric. Overall, the Raiders rank 32nd in run offense DVOA.

Green Bay, however, has allowed 200-plus rushing yards in two of their last three games. In those games, Atlanta and Detroit bullied the Packers on the ground and ultimately controlled the game, dominating the number of plays ran and the time of possession in both instances. As a defense, Green Bay is allowing 4.5 yards per rush, which ranks 23rd, and they rank 29th in run-stop rate.

“That’s something I’ve definitely have gone back the last 72 hours and looked at,” said Joe Barry on Monday. “We had some time. I went back and looked at all four games and it’s not one thing that you can pinpoint. I just went back again this morning and watched all 42 runs from Thursday night and it’s not one thing. It’s one thing on this play, it’s another thing on this play. You have 30 runs that you play really well. It’s a number of things but we’ve got to correct it, we will correct it.

“We’re exploring everything right now. When we’re in one of those games, we have to put our foot down and stop it. It wasn’t obviously good enough Thursday night.”

Following the Packers’ performance against Detroit, Matt LaFleur said that they would look at everything when it comes to their struggling run defense. More specifically, LaFleur was referring to the team’s defensive philosophy and breaking away from the defensive shell they play with over the top to limit the explosive passing play.

At the end of the day, Joe Barry is responsible for the performance of his unit. In LaFleur’s words, the defense has to be less “rigid.” The fact that the same issues are still persisting with many of the same root causes after all this time is worrisome, to say the least. But with that said, the players have to perform better as well. There have been missed tackles, an inability to get off blocks, and running lanes not being filled.

“When you’re in the type of game like that, you do have to be able to do something structurally just from a system standpoint,” said Barry. “And we can and we will. When we’re in those situations, we have to do it. Those are all things we’re working through right now because every game’s different. You’re not going to defend 40 runs in every game, but when you’re in a game like that, you’ve got to be able to have an answer. It’s my job to give our players an answer, and we will moving forward.”

The added challenge that the Raiders can present the Packers is that Jacobs is not the only star player the defense has to worry about. Of course, old friend Davante Adams will be lining up at receiver. As a defense, you can’t take away both the pass and the run on the same play. You have to pick and choose.

For Barry, based on what we’ve seen during his tenure, his natural instinct as a playcaller may be to play with that cover-2 shell to try to limit Adams beating his defense downfield. However, that specific coverage is susceptible to the run. So does Barry try to limit Adams’ impact – a difficult task as it is – and trust his run defense against a poor rushing offense? Or does he make sure to take away Jacobs and live with what Adams might do in the passing game? This is the game of cat and mouse that offensive and defensive coordinators compete in each week.

“With Jacobs their back,” added Barry, “that’s what every offense is searching for. Someone that gives you an issue in the passing game, and then they can counterbalance with someone handing the ball off to. But that’s week-in and week-out life in the NFL. It’ll be a great challenge this week with two really good players.”

It’s really now or never for the Green Bay run defense. Coming off a Thursday night game, they’ve had extra time to diagnose their issues and prepare for this matchup that also happens to be against one of the least efficient rushing offenses in football. If they can’t slow the Raiders run game, then there’s likely little hope that they figure it out at any point this season.

Packers run defense ‘shredded’ by rookie RB Bijan Robinson and Falcons

The Packers gave up 211 rushing yards and 15 first downs via the run on Sunday against Bijan Robinson and the Falcons.

After a dominant performance against the run a week ago, the Green Bay Packers’ run defense was shredded by Bijan Robinson and the Atlanta Falcons, which ultimately was a key factor in determining the outcome of Sunday’s contest at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Against the Bears, outside of a few off-script runs by Justin Fields, the Packers limited their rushing attack, holding the Chicago running backs to just over three yards per rush. Green Bay bombarded the Bears’ offensive line with stunts and looked like an explosive unit shooting gaps, along with the defense as a whole doing a good job of swarming to the ball carrier.

However, this unit faced a bigger test this week against Atlanta and could not find an answer for Robinson. The rookie rushed for 124 yards at 6.5 yards per rush. He also totaled 48 yards in the passing game on four receptions as well.

“You guys saw it,” said Matt LaFleur after the game. “They shredded us. Consistently.”

Not only were there wide-open running lanes for Robinson to take advantage of, but his ability to make defenders miss was on display as well. As a defense, the Packers were able to record only one tackle for loss against Atlanta after totaling seven the week prior.

Early on, it felt like the Falcons were trying to go off-script and throw the Packers a curveball by leaning more on the passing game and trying to have quarterback Desmond Ridder push the ball downfield a bit–two things that Atlanta didn’t do in Week 1. Ultimately, once the Falcons got back to what they do best in the second quarter, which is giving the ball to Robinson, they were at their best and moved the ball much more consistently.

Atlanta’s ability to move the ball on the ground allowed them to control the game. They ran 78 plays to the Packers’ 47 and held the ball for nearly 13 minutes longer, further tiring out an already exhausted Green Bay defensive front. Their effectiveness also opened up opportunities in the passing game for Ridder and the Falcons’ pass catchers.

Conversely, while the Falcons dominated the Green Bay defense in the run game, the Packers offense was again inconsistent in moving the ball on the ground. While they were able to find some running lanes here and there, running to the boundary has been a disaster for the offense this season, and AJ Dillon often hasn’t been able to generate more than three or four yards on a rush attempt–and that’s if things go well.

The Packers’ inconsistency in the run game, and in general on first down, put them behind the sticks and in predictable passing situations, allowing the defense to do the dictating. This is also a LaFleur offense where the passing game builds off of the run game – as we saw on the second touchdown pass to Jayden Reed that began with play-action and ended with Reed in open space – so if that element isn’t there, moving the ball through the air becomes more difficult.

“We just have to do a better job of getting the drive started,” said Jordan Love. “That’s the end game for us, if we can’t get the ball started, get the drive started, and end up in third-and-long situations, we let them (the defense) get their packages that they want to get off in third-and-longs, and we just didn’t execute when we were in those situations. We’re just trying to get those positive gains on first and second downs so we don’t get put in that situation.”

For this Packers team, Sunday’s game, specifically the fourth quarter, was a display of uncomplimentary football and the demise it can create.

Obviously, getting David Bakhtiari, Elgton Jenkins, and Aaron Jones back will greatly help, but it’s not as if this offense was performing well in the run game last week against the Bears, either, averaging just 2.9 yards per carry.

Growing pains like the team experienced on Sunday are going to happen this season. It’s a young offense, and as GM Brian Gutekunst has mentioned this offseason, this group has to learn how to win. But with that said, with or without their star players, any consistent success that the Packers offense is going to have this season starts with the run game, an area that early on this season has to improve.

Cowboys, McCarthy look to ground Jets’ two-pronged run game: ‘Stop it and keep it stopped’

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Cowboys run D got off to a strong start vs Saquon Barkley, but Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook pose a serious home-run threat in Week 2.

Mike McCarthy doesn’t put much stock in year-to-year comparisons. Each NFL season brings new personnel, new coaches, new schemes, new tactics to every squad across the league. What a team did or didn’t do well one year typically has little bearing on what to expect the following season.

But the Cowboys coach knows that until his defense demonstrates they can shut down opposing rushers on a week-in, week-out basis, it will be seen as an exploitable vulnerability, just like it was in 2022.

So despite the Cowboys defensive front having a strong showing in their 2023 season opener, seeing Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook come to town is a focal point of this week’s prep.

“You’ve got to stop the run and, really, the action passing game, too, because of the big-play opportunities I’m sure they’re going to try to challenge us with,” McCarthy told reporters at a Thursday morning press conference at The Star.

“We know that’s how people are going to come after us.”

Last year, the Cowboys were in the bottom third of the league in rushing yards allowed, giving up 129.2 yards per game, on average. Sunday’s season opener against was statistically better; the Giants gained 108 yards on the ground. The Cowboys’ 3.9 yards allowed per carry, if stretched out over last season, would have had them tied for third place overall.

That’s encouraging.

But Hall also showed out in Week 1, compiling more rushing yards than anyone in the NFL except Christian McCaffrey. Yes, most of the speedster’s 127 yards came on one 83-yard scamper, but that’s precisely what McCarthy wants to prevent.

“Both these backs can take it to the house,” the coach explained, “so that’s definitely a focus for us.”

Cook was held to a pedestrian 33 yards against Buffalo, but the longtime Viking has typically performed well against Dallas, averaging 90.5 rushing yards per contest over four career meetings with the Cowboys.

Hall and Cook combined to add another 46 yards in the passing game in the Jets’ overtime win over the Bills, and the Cowboys defensive front will be charged on Sunday with keeping that contained as well.

And now with Aaron Rodgers sidelined, Gang Green may lean even more heavily on a backfield-based attack than originally expected, even with backup Zach Wilson having a full week with the first-stringers and his coaches having ample time to sift through their offensive playbook to find the pass plays best suited to him.

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While the 24-year-old passer could certainly rise to the occasion after an emotional win on Monday, the Cowboys’ best chance of keeping the Jets offense in the hangar starts with enforcing a full ground stop against their one-two attack at running back.

“It’s important to stop it,” McCarthy said, “and keep it stopped.”

That would also go a long way in announcing to the rest of the league that this year is indeed different in Dallas.

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Brian’s Column: Auburn needs its linebackers to play better in week two

The Auburn Tigers run defense struggled in week one. This week they go up against a Cal team that had 357 rushing yards a week ago.

The Auburn Tigers are coming off a great 59-14 win over UMass in their home opener last Saturday. The offense was efficient, the special teams nearly broke multiple returns, and the defense was solid enough.

That defense relied heavily on their talent and size against the UMass Minutemen. While that worked against an inferior team, Auburn’s defense, specifically the linebackers, is going to have to play more fundamentally sound football if they hope to move to 2-0 after the dust settles on Saturday.

That means the quintet of [autotag]Cam Riley[/autotag], [autotag]Jack Levant[/autotag], [autotag]Robert Woodyard Jr.[/autotag], [autotag]Wesley Steiner[/autotag], and [autotag]Larry Nixon III[/autotag] are going to have to step up against a Cal running attack that just gashed North Texas for 357 yards on the ground.

So what went so wrong for this group in week one and how do they fix it?

It all starts with knowing and staying with your assignments in order to avoid runs like this.

This run by UMass quarterback [autotag]Taisun Phommachanh[/autotag] is one of those plays Auburn defensive coordinator Ron Roberts will want to show to his team once and then burn.

The minutemen run a simple counter. Defensive end #33 [autotag]Mosiah Nasili-Kite[/autotag] gets sucked into the misdirection, creating a need for the filling linebacker, #13 [autotag]Cam Riley[/autotag], to keep outside contain.

Instead of doing that, Riley shoots the c-gap, leaving him in no man’s land next to Nasili-Kite.

That leaves cornerback [autotag]Jaylin Simpson[/autotag] out on an island with Phommachanh, a matchup which the UMass quarterback wins with ease. From there, bad angles by the aforementioned Riley and weakside linebacker, #6 [autotag]Austin Keys[/autotag], allow Phommachanh to rumble for 31 yards.

Being out of position was a common theme for Auburn’s linebackers, even on simple play designs.

UMass runs a simple inside concept here, with the offensive line blocking straight up before the left guard comes off his double to the second level.

Again, [autotag]Cam Riley[/autotag] shoots the wrong gap, taking himself out of the play almost immediately.

Austin Keys is late to recognize the run, allowing UMass guard Marcellus Anderson to serve him up a fresh pancake. After Keys goes to the ground, Auburn is left with nobody on the outside, allowing running back [autotag]Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams[/autotag] to pick up a long gain.

Key’s and Riley weren’t the only Auburn linebackers that struggled in the opener.

The Tigers lose contain again on this run play, as [autotag]Elijah McAllister[/autotag] cheats too far inside, allowing [autotag]Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams[/autotag] to bounce his run outside for another large gain.

Again, the job of containment is passed on to a member of the secondary. Although cornerback [autotag]D.J James[/autotag] is a good tackler for his position and makes a nice read, he takes a bad angle and Lynch-Adams has an easy first down.

Bad reads, blown assignments, and missed tackles simply cannot happen often against a good Cal rushing attack. Auburn can’t rely on it’s speed to make up mistakes, as Cal running back [autotag]Jaydn Ott[/autotag] may be the best player on the field on Saturday.

The key for Auburn to win this game is simple.

The run defense just has to be decent enough to hold Cal to one or two big plays. If Jaydn Ott has green grass in front of him, he’s going to back up his trash talk and make the Tigers pay.

Saturday’s game should be a ton of fun, and it kicks off at 9:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.

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Nick Bolton focusing on stopping the run in Chiefs’ preseason opener

Linebacker Nick Bolton is focusing on stopping the run in the #Chiefs’ preseason opener against the New Orleans #Saints on Sunday. | from: @EdEastonJr

The Kansas City Chiefs linebackers have substantially improved their reputation over the past few seasons. They are a young group, led by Nick Bolton and Willie Gay Jr., and have begun to establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with for opposing offenses.

Bolton, in particular, has quickly become a consistent defensive presence with his stellar play that some believed should have earned him a Pro Bowl selection in 2022. The former Missouri standout led the Chiefs in tackles last year and has preached the importance of the defense being respected around the league. Bolton revealed his desire for the defense to focus more on stopping opposing running games while speaking with the media after Tuesday’s practice.

“I think we can come in and get a lot out of it,” Bolton explained of Kansas City’s first preseason matchup against the New Orleans Saints. “Tackling, for one, stopping the run, [the] run game hasn’t really been a huge thing in this training camp, we’re more pass-oriented. So, getting an opportunity to see how we compare against the run, get [defensive] linemen inside blocks, linebackers stack and shed getting off of blocks and tackling on the perimeter. I feel like those are big things, especially Weeks 1 through 5. As a defense, the kind of things we want to be on top of to help us out.”

The Chiefs’ defense ranked tenth against the run in 2022 after beginning the first four weeks on top in that category. Bolton sees potential for more as the team continues to build until the start of the new year.

Ranking the best running backs on the Saints’ 2023 schedule by PFF grade

The rebuilt Saints run defense is going to be challenged by some of the NFL’s toughest rushers in 2023. Ranking every opponent’s starting RB by PFF grade:

The New Orleans Saints’ schedule may not look too challenging at first glance, but they’re going to play against some of the best running backs in the NFL in the fall — as well as the two highest-drafted running backs in the 2023 rookie class. It’s going to be a serious test for a Saints run defense that didn’t quite meet expectations last year, and which the team has taken pains to rebuild by overhauling their defensive line in the offseason.

Here’s how Pro Football Focus graded and ranked every running back the Saints will face in 2023: