Packers D - How are They So Good?

“This is a week by week thing,” safety Adrian Amos said. “We have to
go out there next week and play very well against another great team.
And that’s when we can say it, at the end of the year. You can’t say
you’re the best in the middle of the season. We gotta say it at the end
of the year.”

Early on this season, the thought of Green Bay’s defense ranking with the NFL’s elite was laughable.

The Packers were dreadful in a 38-3 loss to New Orleans in Week 1.
And new defensive coordinator Joe Barry — who failed in that role in
both Washington and Detroit — was under heat.

In the nine games since, though, the Packers are allowing just 15.7
points per game. And the defense is the biggest reason Green Bay is
currently 8-2 and sitting atop the NFC.

“We got guys all over the place,” cornerback Kevin King said. “That’s
the thing about this team. We have some great personnel guys who got
some very quality, elite players on this team, starters and two deep,
three deep, all the way down. We got great players who are ready, come
in and get this job done. Really go out there and do what they’re
supposed to do.”

Green Bay’s last three games has certainly put this unit on the map. Here are the highlights:

• Arizona — The Packers intercepted Murray twice,
didn't allow a touchdown pass and held the speedy quarterback to just 21
rushing yards on six attempts (3.5).

• Kansas City — Green Bay held Mahomes to just 4.49
yards per attempt, the lowest of his career. Mahomes also threw for just
166 yards, his fewest in a game that he finished since he became the
starter in 2018.

• Seattle — Wilson completed just 50.0% of his
throws and averaged only 4.0 yards per attempt. Wilson also threw two
interceptions and no touchdowns.

“I mean, the last three games, playing against three stud
quarterbacks holding Arizona to 21 (points), Pat (Mahomes) and the
Chiefs to 13 and then shutting out Russell (Wilson) and the Seahawks,”
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “It's an amazing three-game
stretch.”

Things won’t get any easier. Five of Green Bay’s final seven games
(Minnesota twice, Baltimore, Los Angeles Rams, Cleveland) are against
offenses that rank in the top-12 in football.

But who would have thought the Packers would slow the Cardinals,
Chiefs and Seahawks to a crawl? And who would have thought Green Bay’s
defense would be discussed among the best in football?

“We’re just focused on being the best defense that the Green Bay
Packers can be,” King said. “That’s trying to be better than what we
play last week and the week before that. If we do that every week, then
I’m not too worried about what other defenses are doing. If a team is
playing better than we playing, that’s fine. We’re still getting dubs.”

Something has been off with Mahomes and KC this year and Seattle just sucks.  Maybe there is something about the packer D that contains the mobile QBs, but that isn't where Kirk fits.  

GivashitIdont

Overrated. They've just gotten teams at the right time.

I kinda like the timing of this game though. It seems like the Vikings have "figured something out." We haven't really (take away the Bynum sack and the ridiculous back-foot prayer Cousins threw for a TD on 4th down and the Charger game could've ended much differently), but just the fact that it seems like we did is something we can build upon. 

Packers are nowhere near as good as their record and that will show up on Sunday. Biggest worry? Below...no team gets away with the kind of shit the Packers do. Vikings got called for a lot of iffy holds and PI's in LA. You can expect that to double this Sunday. It's just part of playing the yellow team. 

We've played some of the best teams in the NFL to last minute missed kicks and bad "fumble" calls.

Yes, it'd be a big win...but it's very possible.

I thought the Packer D would suck this season.  They have a new defensive coordinator and a bunch of starters out, but yet they shutdown high powered offenses and are ranked overall at #3 in the NFL.
I'm not saying they'll stay ranked that high at the end of the season, but I'm honestly surprised.  Their offense has carried them recently, and the last thing we need to see is a dominant GB defense.
I hope you guys are right and it's just a mirage and they're not for real.  I still don't feel confident about this Viking team ending the season with a winning record, but a win on Sunday sure would change my view.
We shall see - Skol!

The Packers have been the beneficiary of 12 defensive pass interference calls so far in 2021. That is -- Green Bay's opponent has been called for DPI 12 times.

That is the most in the NFL thru 10 weeks.

— Dustin Baker (@DustBaker) November 17, 2021

@"MaroonBells" said: https://twitter.com/DustBaker/status/1461020895217082370?s=20

It is amazing that year in and year out they are the least penalized team.  And teams playing them are among the most penalized.

@"greediron" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: https://twitter.com/DustBaker/status/1461020895217082370?s=20

It is amazing that year in and year out they are the least penalized team.  And teams playing them are among the most penalized.

@"Hawkvike25" said:

@"greediron" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: https://twitter.com/DustBaker/status/1461020895217082370?s=20

It is amazing that year in and year out they are the least penalized team.  And teams playing them are among the most penalized.

It's funny you mention this as in 2019 I joked about this with a buddy and we went back and added up penalty yards of their games. 10/15 games (1 game was the same amount) the Packers had less penalty yards than their opponent. The difference in penalty yards that year? 194...774 for Green Bay and 968 for their opponent. They always get calls

Vikes Off Holding leads league at 19  
GB -  7 tied for 4th fewest with 4 other teams

Vikes false starts - 11 
GB fewest at 5

@"minny65" said: Vikes Off Holding leads league at 19   GB -  7 tied for 4th fewest with 4 other teams

Vikes false starts - 11 
GB fewest at 5

Funny, watch the highlights of the Seattle GB game.  The announcer even called the false start but the refs didn't.  Twice in the highlight, the RT takes off way early.  No flag.

@"HappyViking" said:

I thought the Packer D would suck this season.  They have a new defensive coordinator and a bunch of starters out, but yet they shutdown high powered offenses and are ranked overall at #3 in the NFL. I'm not saying they'll stay ranked that high at the end of the season, but I'm honestly surprised.  Their offense has carried them recently, and the last thing we need to see is a dominant GB defense. I hope you guys are right and it's just a mirage and they're not for real.  I still don't feel confident about this Viking team ending the season with a winning record, but a win on Sunday sure would change my view. We shall see - Skol!

Smoke and mirrors. They're playing well, but they're not a great defense. It's like us last week. We played well on defense, shutting down Herbert with 6 starters out, but no one would call what we threw out there on Sunday a great defense. 

With Mercillus, Zaire Alexander and Zadarius Smith on IR, the Packers defense is basically Kenny Clark, Preston Smith, and a couple of decent DBs--the rest is replacement-level filler. 

The Vikings' 27-20 win over the Chargers on Sunday ended a two-game losing streak, kept the team in the middle of the NFC wild-card race and seemingly reinvigorated an offense that had been fuming at its own futility.
Wide receiver Adam Thielen also hopes it set a precedent.
"It was a good showing of what the formula kind of has to be to win games," Thielen said Wednesday. "It's a little bit different league nowadays. You have to be able to be aggressive, and you have to be able to convert in aggressive situations to win games, because there's just so much firepower, offenses can score points. Especially this offense this week, obviously. They're one of the best in the league, and they can score points like the best of them."
Minnesota's 381-yard performance in Los Angeles came after a week of internal discussions about being more aggressive on offense. It showcased Kirk Cousins' efforts to get Justin Jefferson and Thielen the ball after a cautious passing game cost the Vikings against Dallas and Baltimore. Cousins threw for 294 yards Sunday, with 208 of them coming on 14 completions to his two Pro Bowl receivers.
The next test of the Vikings' offensive assertiveness comes Sunday against a Packers defense that ranks third in the league against the pass, posted the fourth shutout of the season against the Seahawks on Sunday and held Kyler Murray, Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson to a combined 511 passing yards over the past three weeks.
Only two opponents have scored more than 27 points against the Packers this season, and none have posted more than 264 passing yards. Even without cornerback Jaire Alexander and pass rusher Za'Darius Smith on injured reserve, Green Bay's defense — so often a liability during Aaron Rodgers' time with the team — has been an asset to an 8-2 team.

"It's a credit to the depth they have, the scheme," Cousins said. "It's really a great team defense. When you look at some of the players, again, who I have a lot of respect for, who aren't playing, and then the production they have, it says a lot about their unit. Great challenge for us; we'll have to have a good week preparing to put a good plan together."
After their loss to the Buccaneers at home in the NFC Championship Game, the Packers replaced defensive coordinator Mike Pettine with Joe Barry, the Buccaneers' linebackers coach on Tony Dungy's 2002 championship team who'd most recently worked under Brandon Staley in the Rams' split-safety scheme that's inspired copycats around the league.

The scheme, in effect, dares offenses to win by committing to the run or sustaining drives without the benefit of big downfield plays, and the Vikings did it against Staley's Chargers despite the fact Cousins attempted just three passes of 20 yards or more. They thrived on intermediate routes that attacked the second and third levels of the Chargers' defense, with Cousins connecting on four of his seven passes between 10 and 19 yards downfield.
"It's just kind of seeing that formula, and I think there's areas that we look at in the film where we could have been even more aggressive, so that's exciting," Thielen said. "But at the end of the day, you can say it all you want, and you can talk about being aggressive and how that helped, but you still have to execute. Because it can be aggressive play-calling or aggressive this or that, but you've still got to go out there and execute and win, which is tough in this league. But that's what good teams do."
Thielen has battled plenty with Alexander over the past few years, but won't see him Sunday as the Pro Bowl corner remains on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.
His influence, though, shows up on the film Thielen's watched of Packers cornerbacks like first-round pick Eric Stokes or Kevin King, who became one of the goats of Green Bay's NFC title game loss but has enjoyed a resurgent 2021 season.
" still brings that leadership to that group," Thielen said. "He's probably around there. You can tell that the rookies are playing very similar to the way that he does and bringing that same energy and that passion to the game. It's a tough task for us, and again, that's what you look forward to in the league."
Should the Vikings emerge with a win over the Packers on Sunday, they'd be back at .500 with a renewed belief they can wind up in the postseason.
If they can carry forward the offensive approach they used against the Chargers, they might have a template they can use the rest of the way.
"As frustrated as we all were, that was kind of a rallying point, to say, 'For how frustrated we all are, we're right there," Thielen said. "The important thing now is yeah, we gotta win, but we can't change our mind-set. We can't change what we're doing. So that's exciting, too, to see guys out here working this week, making sure that guys aren't just relaxing.
"No, it's attack mode. We've gotta go."
https://www.startribune.com/vikings-plan-for-handling-packers-highly-ranked-defense-aadam-thielen-kirk-cousins/600117948/

So its very on brand for the Vikings to surprise and beat LA on the road and then lay an egg Sunday against a divisional rival in Green Bay. And its also on brand for them to win Sunday then lose 2 straight. 

@"StickyBun" said: So its very on brand for the Vikings to surprise and beat LA on the road and then lay an egg Sunday against a divisional rival in Green Bay. And its also on brand for them to win Sunday then lose 2 straight. 

yup, that sums it up nicely

Packers aren't unbeatable. Their defense is a bit overrated. Vikings need to stop the run. Dillon brings a load and the Vikings aren't great at stopping the run. Vikings need to get off the field quick on defensive substitutions and not give Rodgers any free hail mary opportunities. The Vikings will have penalties so they need to not add stupid penalties to the mix.
The only penalty I wouldn't mind is laying the wood to Rodgers early. He doesn't like getting hit and plays differently after taking a big hit.
I believe the Vikings can win this one but not if they can't stop the run.

@"jargomcfargo" said: Packers aren't unbeatable. Their defense is a bit overrated. Vikings need to stop the run. Dillon brings a load and the Vikings aren't great at stopping the run. Vikings need to get off the field quick on defensive substitutions and not give Rodgers any free hail mary opportunities. The Vikings will have penalties so they need to not add stupid penalties to the mix. The only penalty I wouldn't mind is laying the wood to Rodgers early. He doesn't like getting hit and plays differently after taking a big hit. I believe the Vikings can win this one but not if they can't stop the run.

Yea and with Pierce on IR our only supposed run stuffer would be Tomlinson who has been a subpar signing.  Our rotation at DL consists of mostly 3T guys who hover around 300lbs - Richardson, Watts and James Lynch.  We will have to rely on Tomlinson as our run stuffer who has 5 solo tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 16 assisted tackles to date.  Let's hope he plays his best game to date!

@"minny65" said:

@"jargomcfargo" said: Packers aren't unbeatable. Their defense is a bit overrated. Vikings need to stop the run. Dillon brings a load and the Vikings aren't great at stopping the run. Vikings need to get off the field quick on defensive substitutions and not give Rodgers any free hail mary opportunities. The Vikings will have penalties so they need to not add stupid penalties to the mix. The only penalty I wouldn't mind is laying the wood to Rodgers early. He doesn't like getting hit and plays differently after taking a big hit. I believe the Vikings can win this one but not if they can't stop the run.

Yea and with Pierce on IR our only supposed run stuffer would be Tomlinson who has been a subpar signing.  Our rotation at DL consists of mostly 3T guys who hover around 300lbs - Richardson, Watts and James Lynch.  We will have to rely on Tomlinson as our run stuffer who has 5 solo tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 16 assisted tackles to date.  Let's hope he plays his best game to date!