Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine has been around a lot of great defenses and a lot of great defensive players, but he couldn’t remember an individual performance as dominant as the one Za’Darius Smith produced on Monday night against the Minnesota Vikings.
Smith produced 3.5 sacks, five tackles for losses and five quarterback hits in the 23-10 win.
“Certainly not off the top of my head,” Pettine said Thursday when asked he remembered another similar performance. “It was, obviously, pretty special That’s a tribute to him. He prepared well. Thought we had a good plan for him. Played well around him. Guys freed him up in certain circumstances. He made plays.”
How special was the performance?
Smith became just the sixth player since 2006 to tally at least three sacks, five tackles for losses and five quarterback hits in a single game. He’s just the fifth player this season to produce 3.5 or more sacks in a game, the first to reach five tackles for losses and the sixth to get to five quarterback hits.
Pettine’s plan provided an assist. More and more, the Packers defensive coordinator is moving Smith all around the defensive front in an effort to either free up others or create one-on-one matchups for Smith, now the team’s leader in sacks with 13.5.
He beat every single position along the Vikings offensive line for either a sack, quarterback hit or pressure. On obvious passing downs, opponents are finding it increasingly difficult to double-team Smith, especially as Kenny Clark keeps emerging as a dominant force again.
After the game, left tackle David Bakhtiari pleaded with All-Pro voters to include Smith on the team. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers paid him the ultimate compliment, comparing him to former teammate and future Hall of Famer Julius Peppers.
After 15 games, Smith has 13.5 sacks, 17 tackles for losses and 35 quarterback hits.
GM Brian Gutekunst paid Smith $66 million to help revive the Packers’ pass-rush, but no one could have realistically imagined such a thoroughly dominant season from the newcomer.
Smith can crack the top-five in franchise history for single-season sacks with one on Sunday in Detroit. He’s also well within striking range of Clay Matthews’ record for tackles for losses (tracked since 1999), set at 18, and he’s already shattered the previous record for quarterback hits (tracked since 2006), previously held by Aaron Kampman (30).
One minute and 44 seconds showcasing Za'Darius Smith absolutely wrecking last night's game against the Minnesota Vikings pic.twitter.com/VZfTMfvVoe
— Joe Kipp (@JuhKipp) December 24, 2019