Green Bay Packers must increase pressure on Russell Wilson
The Green Bay Packers insist that they are a different football team than the one that fell 36-16 to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1 of the NFL season. This will need to be true if the Packers hope to leave CenturyLink Field with a victory and a ticket to the Super Bowl on Sunday night. The Green Bay Packers strategy against quarterback Russell Wilson will be the most important piece of this puzzle.
Wilson is an elite threat to defenses not just for his running ability, which netted him 849 yards on the ground in 2014, but because he is equally dangerous in the passing game. If a defense plays him conservatively, scrambling opportunities lay everywhere. If the defense chooses instead to pressure Wilson, he lofts passes over blitzes with ease. In the NFC Championship Game, Dom Capers and the Green Bay Packers will be tasked with finding the appropriate middle ground.
Green Bay has the benefit of their opening-night loss, which certainly showed them the wrong way to go about handling Wilson. He completed 19 of 28 passes on the evening for 191 yards and two touchdowns and added another 29 yards on the ground.
The most important change that the Packers have made is the improved athleticism in their front seven personnel. A.J. Hawk and Brad Jones combined to play 110 snaps in Week 1, a number that puts my stomach in knots. Clay Matthews has since moved inside and we should see a heavy dose of Sam Barrington next to him. Each of these players will be much better suited to contain Wilson up the middle.
Along with outside linebacker Julius Peppers surging down the stretch, Green Bay’s defensive line has grown in leaps and bounds this past month. Mike Daniels is the ultimate high-motor player and as underrated as they come, while Datone Jones and Nick Perry have begun to add a secondary pass rush. Veteran free agent signing Letroy Guion may be the most important of the group as he has shaken off his early-season rust to not just fill in but excel on the interior of the line.
Solidarity along the line should allow for the Packers to pressure Wilson without a hole in their boat. An inside rush can be trusted with Clay Matthews due to the presence of Peppers, Perry, Neal and Daniels coming from the edges. Edge pressure can be trusted in the same way, with Matthews and Barrington waiting up the middle if Wilson chooses to scramble forward. Green Bay’s rushers must be very careful, however, not to overpursue and allow for Wilson to slip behind them.
This cohesive development has allowed Green Bay to record 13 sacks and 24 QB hits over the past three games. Granted, these have been against pocket quarterbacks, but I believe that the time is now for the Packers to ramp up their pressure on Russell Wilson.
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An early lead would help the situation, of course, but that’s far too much to assume against a team as strong as Seattle’s. The Packers should rush Wilson intelligently in this game, doing so at opportunistic moments and without over-committing. Dom Capers has the responsibility of pulling the trigger at the right time, and when he does, his ammunition is versatile and talented. Capers has the ability to bring one of several options on a blitz depending on the offensive play call and blocking scheme.
The necessity for increased pressure is also brought about by the need for an impact play from the defensive unit. An injured Aaron Rodgers will be facing the league’s toughest defense at the wrong time, and although I trust the unit to put up more than 16 points this time around, Green Bay will be hard pressed to win without an interception or fumble recovery to swing momentum.
This can’t be an all-out attack, though. In the same way that Aaron Rodgers picks apart an over-eager blitz, Russell Wilson can do the same thing. Let us not forget about Marshawn Lynch, either, who rushed for 110 yards and two scores against the Packers in September.
Green Bay’s collective improvement will allow them to bring one more blitzer when they choose to pressure Wilson, especially given the confidence they have in their secondary. It will be a mistake to simply “contain” Russell Wilson and play the style of defense that he dictates. In this NFC Championship Game, the Packers must bring the game to Wilson and bring him to the ground.