Was the performance of the Green Bay Packers offensive line against the Los Angeles Rams the outlier or a big step in the right direction? Well, Matt LaFleur and the Packers will find out Sunday when they face the Pittsburgh Steelers pass rush.
The offensive line is coming off its best game since Week 1 against Chicago. Green Bay rushed for 184 yards, while Jordan Love was pressured on only seven of his 31 dropbacks, according to PFF.
Because the Packers were able to lean on the run game and Love had time in the pocket, the first-year starter had an efficient performance, completing 20/26 passes at 8.8 yards per attempt with a touchdown. This also included Love completing six of his eight pass attempts of 10-plus yards.
As Love described after the game, success on the ground opens up downfield passing opportunities. It also keeps the offense ahead of the sticks and out of predictable passing situations. With time in the pocket, we saw a more decisive version of Love with improved decision-making.
Led by their edge rushers TJ Watt and Alonzo Highsmith, the Steelers defense will enter Week 10 with the sixth-highest pressure rate in football. Out of all edge rushers, Watt ranks ninth in total pressures and Highsmith 14th.
“TJ’s relentless,” said Matt LaFleur on Wednesday. ”He’s one of those game-wreckers I was talking about. Then on the other side, Highsmith, he’s a baller as well. Not to mention all the guys they got on the interior line. Obviously, (Cameron) Heyward has been doing it for a long time at a really elite level, and they just got him back last week. Their front is a problem. Not only by what they ask them t do, but they’re big, athletic, and just create a lot of issues, not only in the run game but in the pass game, obviously, for an offense.”
In regards to keeping Love clean, the onus is going to fall on the Packers’ offensive tackles: Zach Tom and either Rasheed Walker or Yosh Nijman. Tom has been Green Bay’s most consistent offensive lineman this season, but we’ve seen top-tier pass rushers Aidan Hutchinson and Maxx Crosby give him fits.
Walker, meanwhile, has been wildly inconsistent, which led to the Packers giving Nijman the start against the Rams, but he hasn’t been able to stay on the field. Utilizing bunch formations so that the tight ends can provide the Packers tackles with some help may have to be a key part of Green Bay’s game plan.
However, as good as the Pittsburgh edge rushers are, this has also been a defense that hasn’t been great against the run. The Steelers currently rank 26th in the NFL, allowing 4.5 yards per carry this season. A great way to neutralize a pass rush, especially from the edge rusher position, is by establishing the run between the tackles.
“It’s huge,” said Zach Tom on the importance of having a run game to lean on. “When you have the threat to run the ball, it changes the way defensive players play. It takes a little bit off their rush. It’s important for us to be able to establish the run early because when we don’t, you get into obvious passing situations, and defenses are able to tee off. So that’s the main focus.”
As Tom mentioned, failing to find success in the run game will play right into the strength of this Steelers’ defense. It will put Love and the offense in obvious passing situations where the defensive front can pin its ears back and really get after the quarterback. These specific situations have spelled doom for the Green Bay offense this season.
Even with an improved offensive performance against the Rams, it was still quite clear that the margin for error on offense for the Packers is quite small, and any potential success that this unit is going to have begins with the play up front.
