The Green Bay Packers defense is going to have to walk that line and strike a balance between trying to take away what the Atlanta Falcons offense wants to do, which is run the ball and utilize the quick passing game, but also being mindful of the downfield potential that the Falcons have with wide receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts so they don’t get burned.
“I think when I watched him (Kyle Pitts) coming out of college,” said cornerbacks coach Greg Williams, “looking at DBs in the SEC, and I would always watch them against Kyle Pitts, and I think 50/50 balls are more like 90/10 balls for him when he was in college. I don’t think contested catches were his thing because he never missed.
Buy Packers Tickets“That’s going to be another challenge for all of us as we go, and where they line him up will determine where the matchup is going to be and who it’s going to be against. But everybody understands what his skill set is and understands that we have to step up to that challenge. So it’s going to be a tough one.”
Make no mistake about it–the Falcons want to run the ball. Running backs Tyler Allgeier and Bijan Robinson ran the ball a combined 25 times in Week 1 and averaged 5.3 yards per rush between the two of them and scored twice.
Quarterback Desmond Ridder threw the ball just 18 times, the fewest in the NFL last week, and of those 18 passes, only four traveled more than 10 yards, and eight didn’t even cross the line of scrimmage, according to PFF. Ridder’s average time to throw was the ninth-quickest as well.
In an effort to limit what we know the Falcons want to lean on, the Packers’ defense could try shrinking the field by playing closer to the line of scrimmage. With more defenders in a more compact area, in theory, moving the ball on the ground or through the quick passing game will be more challenging for Atlanta, thus creating third and longs, or predictable passing situations, and putting more of the onus on Ridder and the passing game. However, doing so could also make the defense more susceptible to getting beat for a big play by Pitts or London.
Against Carolina, Pitts and London played relatively small roles on the stat sheet. Pitts had two receptions on three targets for 44 yards, one of which was a 34-yard completion on a 50/50 ball that Pitts easily won. London, meanwhile, had just one target and no receptions. With the size, speed, and overall athleticism that both these players possess, even for a very good Green Bay cornerback room, they will present challenges in one-on-one situations.
“Drake, he’s another player who’s a top 10 pick and a heck of a player,” said defensive coordinator Joe Barry on Thursday. “I don’t know why or what happened. They won the game 24 to 10, so they had a good solid win. Again, on the stat sheet, he didn’t show up, but you need to know where No. 5 is all the time when you play against the Atlanta Falcons.
“He’s a big receiver that can do a lot of things. I have no idea how they’re going to use him or what they’re going to do with him but we absolutely know who he is and have to be aware of him.”
The Packers’ pass rush will play a key role in helping to limit London and Pitts’ production. Although the Falcons rely on the quick game often, any downfield pass attempts are going to require longer developing routes, giving the Green Bay defensive front more time to get to Ridder. The Atlanta offensive line did hold up well in the run game against Carolina but did look susceptible in pass protection.
With this combination that the Falcons have between their run game and playmaking at the skill positions, the Green Bay safety position, in particular, may be stressed the most by this Atlanta offense as they’ll have to juggle multiple responsibilities. Darnell Savage and Rudy Ford are going to have to play active roles in the run and quick passing games, just as they did Week 1, by flying around the field, willing to fight through blocks and make tackles while also being cognizant of Pitts and London in the passing game.
A must for Savage and Ford this week, and in general, is having disciplined eyes and properly reading their keys.
“Always in our approach,” said safeties coach Ryan Downard, “the first slide that I put up is the picture of a bald eagle staring right at them, and underneath it says ‘disciplined eyes.’ To me, you play safety in this league. That is one of the most important things, if not the most important thing. And so that shows up in these run, play-action teams. If you don’t properly key and have good tempo on those keys with your timing, you’re going to get hit for big ones. So you’ve got to be locked in on that run-pass and read our keys properly.”
In deciding how to go about defending the Falcons’ offense, keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be only selling out to stop the run with loaded boxes and blitzers. It also doesn’t have to be playing off coverage and sitting in a two-high shell all day either to prevent the big passing play. As I said initially, Joe Barry and the defense are going to have to find that balance, but the skill sets within the Atlanta offense do present a unique challenge.
In addition to the specific play design and gameplan that the Packers dial-up, they can affect Ridder and the rest of the Atlanta offense by what they do pre-snap, whether that be with different personnel groupings or late movement in the secondary, all of which could cause some confusion and either untimely or improper adjustments at the line of scrimmage by the Falcons.
“You always want the quarterback to make the judgement post-snap on what you’re in,” added Downard. “You also want him to have question marks in his mind pre-snap as to, are they spinning the safeties down to a single-high look? Are they playing split-safety shell? So that he can’t get into the proper run. So they can’t properly target the run and can to the opposite direction. Get from a run to a pass and vice versa. So yes, that is always important with our guys.”
With all of that said, I wouldn’t mind a more aggressive approach from this defense that leans towards slowing the run and quick passing games since we know that’s what the Falcons want to do, first and foremost. To a degree, Ridder should have to prove that he’s willing to take those downfield shots and that the offense can convert on them. Trust your cornerbacks, and if the offense connects on a big play, tip your cap and make adjustments as needed.
