For the Green Bay Packers defense, finding a way to put some form of consistent pressure on Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins will be a must on Sunday.
Cousins is coming off his most impressive performance of the season, where he completed nearly 80 percent of his 45 pass attempts at an impressive 8.4 yards per attempt with two touchdowns and did so against a very good San Francisco defense.
“I think Kirk Cousins is playing outstanding football right now,” said Matt LaFleur on Monday. “He’s a guy, you guys know, I go way back with him in his rookie year in Washington, and he’s a guy I’ve had the utmost respect for. I feel like he’s always been severely underrated. I think he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the game, and he’s playing like it.”
When Cousins has time in the pocket, he is completing 75 percent of his pass attempts at 7.2 yards per catch with eight touchdowns with a turnover-worthy play rate of only 0.9 percent, according to PFF, the second-lowest rate in football. When under duress, Cousins is still relatively efficient, with the fifth-best completion rate in those situations, but it is still a 20-plus percent decrease from when he has time, and he also ranks 10th in turnover-worthy play rate.
Blitzing Cousins hasn’t worked out well for many defenses, so if the Packers are going to disrupt him and get him off his spot, it’s going to be up to the defensive front to generate that pressure. This is a Vikings’ offensive line that has allowed the eighth-highest pressure rate this season, according to Pro Football Reference, so the opportunity to get after Cousins could be there. However, the big question right now is, can the Packers capitalize on those opportunities?
Outside of Rashan Gary, the Packers have been a below-average defense in that regard. While Gary leads all edge rushers in win rate this season, as a team, Green Bay ranks 18th in total pressures this season. The next highest-rated edge or interior defender in pass rush win rate is Devonte Wyatt at 47th, followed by Kenny Clark at 131st overall.
“We’re getting a lot of what we call max protection,” said pass rush coordinator Jason Rebrovich prior to the Raiders game. “The Raiders had ‘21’ personnel and chipping with every back, every tight end. And they’re doing that a lot on the edge, which is allowing the interior players to actually have some impact. You know, 97 (Kenny Clark) is showing up, 94 (Karl Brooks) is showing up.
“That pass rush has to work together. So, if someone is getting chipped or someone has been neutralized, lack of a way of saying it, in a pass-rush situation, you are going to have to have other guys to make impact plays. You are creating one-on-one opportunities.”
Even without Justin Jefferson, who is on IR and will miss Sunday’s game, the Vikings have an impressive pass attack. Rookie receiver Jordan Addison has emerged as a big play threat, catching almost 70 percent of his targets at 13.8 yards per catch with six touchdowns. At tight end is TJ Hockenson, who did not practice on Wednesday and has been a go-to option for Cousins. Hockenson trails only Travis Kelce in total receiving yards this season.
“He’s a guy,” said LaFleur of Addison, “just studying him coming out of college that everybody was pretty excited about. He’s a dynamic threat down the field, and he’s proven that. I think some of the plays he’s made throughout the course of the season.
“The ball he ripped away from Ward the other night, those are impressive plays. He’s been a big deep threat for them, and obviously, he’s developed a pretty good rapport with Kirk (Cousins) relatively early in the season.”
The cornerback position for the Packers is also surrounded by some unknowns right now. Eric Stokes was placed on IR on Wednesday, and while the Packers are hopeful Jaire Alexander can play on Sunday, that remains to be seen. To bolster the depth at that position, Green Bay signed Corey Ballentine to the 53-man roster from the practice squad and signed Robert Rochell off the Carolina practice squad.
At safety, the Packers are also going to be without Darnell Savage, who was also placed on IR, which presumably means Jonathan Owens will be in his place, starting next to Rudy Ford. Not to mention that situationally, members of the secondary haven’t been in place to make plays on the ball all that regularly. The Packers rank 28th in takeaways this season, and that is one area where LaFleur emphasized that this unit has to improve.
This is a Vikings offense that wants to pass the ball. They are averaging just 3.9 yards per carry this season and rank last in rush attempts per game. If the pass rush is unable to get Cousins off his spot and out of rhythm it could be a long day for a banged-up Packers secondary if they routinely have to defend the Minnesota pass catchers for an extended period of time.
“It’s important to try to apply pressure to him,” said LaFleur. “Make him move around in the pocket and you’ve got to have sticky coverage on the back end. It all works hand in hand. But Kirk is a guy that he can make any throw. He’s proven it and he’s done a great job. I think he’s playing as good as anybody right now.”
