+/- Packers vs. Cardinals

Top 5 PFF on Defense:

1. Evan Williams: 93.3 (Elite) 2. Karl Brooks: 93.0 (Elite) 3. Rashan Gary: 81.7 (High Quality) 4. Edgerrin Cooper: 81.0 (High Quality) 5. Jaire Alexander: 70.7 (Above Avg).

Williams forced a fumble, delivered a run stop on Kyler Murray on third down and allowed only one completion into his coverage, creating an elite grade. Brooks forced and recovered a fumble. Gary had three pressures, including a QB hit, and he earned the team’s top run defense grade. Cooper led the team with three stops, and he made six tackles without a miss. Alexander missed a tackle and was credited with giving up the lone touchdown pass, but he still earned an excellent coverage grade.

Bottom 5 PFF on Defense:

1. DE Lukas Van Ness: 30.0; 2. DL Kenny Clark: 44.0; 3. DE Preston Smith: 44.2;
4. LB Quay Walker: 49.2; 5. LB Isaiah McDuffie: 51.3

Van Ness didn’t have a pressure over 17 pass-rushing snaps and struggled against the run. Clark had two pressures and a fumble recovery, but he missed two tackles and earned a low run defense grade. Smith had only one hurry and one assisted tackle over 30 snaps. Walker tackled well, but he was credited with giving up a team-high nine completions against his coverage. McDuffie missed three tackles and gave up two completions.

@BrainDed posted:

He was supposed to.   He had the RB and Williams had the QB.  The two of them together played it perfectly and it was the perfect defense to defend that play.

LVN crashed and took away the RB option and Williams was there waiting for the QB.    Three great performances on the play, LVN, Williams, and Hafely.

Correct.  This is typically how the D assigns responsibilities in defending the QB option.

I didn't get to see the first half because I was travelling but I did get to see the 2nd half.   From what I see is that Love is really knocking that rust off and is starting to become the guy we saw last season.

Positives:  Any win in the NFL is a good win and an NFC win will come in handy if it comes down to tie breakers later on

I really like this young roster and if they can stay healthy the rest of the NFL better be watching.

Negatives? Can we please find a consisten kicker? Does anyone on X4 have experience kicking field goals?

@SteveLuke posted:

1. DE Lukas Van Ness: 30.0; 2. DL Kenny Clark: 44.0; 3. DE Preston Smith: 44.2;
4. LB Quay Walker: 49.2; 5. LB Isaiah McDuffie: 51.3

I like PFF but this might be a case where they struggle to grade without knowing the game plan. Pretty sure the pass rushers were asked to mush rush and keep Kyler in front rather than pressure and open up running lanes for him. I remember one play where a DL (couldn't tell who) stopped his rush up field and backed off, then forced Kyler out of bounds for 2 yards. If that DL rushes up field and goes past Kyler, he may run for 20. 

Kyler sucks in the pocket so pressuring him is secondary to preventing him from running. 7 rushes for 14 yards is a huge success for the front 7.

.@TuckerKraft hit "The Incredibles" reference at just the right time 😂 pic.twitter.com/Ox5zHCC5RX

— NFL (@NFL) October 14, 2024

@DH13 posted:

Correct.  This is typically how the D assigns responsibilities in defending the QB option.

It is, but we’ve seen Packers defenders fuck it up for years.

See Kapernick, Collin

@FLPACKER posted:

I thought Clark and Gary played better today. Consistently pushed the pocket.

From Mike Spofford on Packers.com:

@Herschel posted:

It is, but we’ve seen Packers defenders fuck it up for years.

That was more on Capers.  He had no idea how to defend a read option.  Got an OLB in space trying to cover two ball carriers.   I believe players said after the game that they never practiced for it either.  

@ammo posted:

From Mike Spofford on Packers.com:

Mike, the defensive linemen (in particular, Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness) have been criticized by fans and many in the media for their perceived lack of production (e.g. sacks) this season. Very unfair criticism in my opinion, due to the change in defensive scheme as well as the number of dual-threat QBs the Packers have faced thus far. It has to be very difficult to pressure the quarterback while simultaneously maintaining containment, and the DL did it extremely well against Arizona!

I thought so, too. I saw a pass rush Sunday that was very effective, and Murray rushed for 14 yards in seven tries. That's erasing his running game. Wes made a very astute comment to me late in the game, that the Packers had their best pass-rushing effort of the last three weeks with zero sacks. I totally agree.

Couldn't help but think of this watching the Jets last night. They consistently rushed past Josh Allen, which led to a number of big plays. I loved when Haffley said something to the effect "I'd love to get guys their individual stats, but the object is to win the game".

@BrainDed posted:

That was more on Capers.  He had no idea how to defend a read option.  Got an OLB in space trying to cover two ball carriers.   I believe players said after the game that they never practiced for it either. 

And defending the RO or RPO adds an extra level to defending the QB/HB option - they're not the same play.. It was fairly new when SF ran all over our D and defenses weren't really sure how to properly defense it.  I remember the following offseason the GB D spent some weeks with a college staff that taught them how to attack it.

...and they still f'd it up as I recall.

No, they actually played it pretty well after the RPO workshop that offseason.  But they didn't fix all the other holes in that D.  That might be what you are remembering.