Green Bay Packers: 5 Reasons Titletown will add another Super Bowl
4. Pass rush is capable of taking over
Knowing that their defense needed a boost coming into the 2019 season, specifically in the front seven, general manager Brian Gutekunst was aggressive in free agency to address the need. He spent big money to sign edge rushers Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith on the open market and that aggressiveness has paid dividends throughout the year.
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Za’Darius Smith has been one of the most dominant edge rushers in the NFL, particularly over the last few weeks of the regular season. On the whole, he finished the year with 13.5 sacks and 18.5 tackles for loss, submitting a dominant performance. While Preston Smith wasn’t as consistent, he still finished with an impressive 12 sacks on the year.
Coupling The Smith Bros with an impressive interior player in Kenny Clark, the front seven and the pass rush of the Packers has gone from a weakness to a strength in just one offseason worth of moves. That’s a game-changing reversal of fortunes for Green Bay as being able to generate pressure is one of the most critical components a team can possess in the postseason.
Getting timely sacks and potentially forcing either bad decisions or turnovers are the types of plays that can swing a game in an instant. The fact that the Packers now have the opportunity to make those types of plays with the guys they have up front is monumentally important. Don’t be surprised if The Smith Bros emerge as the postseason stars in Green Bay.