The Green Bay Packers’ 17-14 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday was a vital one, bringing them back to .500 early in the season and hopefully serving as a righting of the ship ahead of a tough stretch of opponents.
Perhaps more importantly, it was a win for coaching, with playcallers Matt LaFleur and Jonathan Gannon reminding everyone of their credentials after some tough moments in recent weeks.
On offense, LaFleur had the answers to the downhill, attacking Buccaneers defense run by Todd Bowles, changing up the gameplan from the first few games.
Green Bay used play action on 30% of dropbacks, up from 18.2% in Weeks 1-3, and also ramped up the screen usage from 6.8% to 16.7%. With yet another new offensive line combination, LaFleur
used scheme to keep Tampa guessing. The result was that Jordan Love produced 0.62 expected points added (EPA) per play on play-action passes, which ahead of Monday Night Football, leads all quarterbacks with at least 25 dropbacks.
Although the Buccaneers’ pass rush was not formidable in the first three weeks, it was encouraging to see Green Bay’s pressure rate allowed drop from 45.5% in the first three games to 23.3% this week.
Overall, Love averaged -0.05 EPA per pass through three weeks compared to 0.15 on Sunday. It was a step in the right direction.
There was also a change in the run game, as Green Bay ran inside zone 36% of the time, up from just 14.6% in the first three games, with their man run rate dropping from a previous average of 33.3% to just 8% on Sunday.
That essentially meant rather than going mano a mano against a front boasting two behemoths in Vita Vea and A’Shawn Robinson and expecting the Packers’ linemen to win those matchups, LaFleur asked his line to block different gaps collaboratively, to mitigate the talent difference.
Tampa’s secondary is a big part of what has made their run defense so tight-fisted, so running inside zone also limited their ability to get involved by taking the fight up the middle rather than attacking the edges. Kaleb Johnson’s long run of 31 yards came from inside zone.
The offense left points on the field, but a lack of execution by players was more to blame for that, as drops by Bo Melton and Matthew Golden ended drives that could have scored points, Johnson fumbled right at the goal line and Love threw an interception while in scoring range.
There were also the usual penalties that left the Packers in 1st-and-20 far too often. Perhaps it should not be a surprise LaFleur was not jumping for joy in his postgame press conference.
A lack of execution is also a reflection on coaching, but on this occasion, the players have to take most of the blame for the scoreboard only having 17 points on it. LaFleur outcoached Bowles, who befuddlingly did not blitz nearly as much as usual despite Green Bay’s O-line issues.
Speaking of the offensive line, if LaFleur and the rest of his staff are going to be criticized when they get it wrong, they deserve credit for going with Travis Glover, who no one really expected to play and put in a very solid performance, along with the rest of the line.
Laken Tomlinson credited offensive line coach Luke Butkus – who has become public enemy No. 1 in Green Bay – for getting them ready to go this week, with Tomlinson only having one week of practice with his new team under his belt.
On defense, Jonathan Gannon paid no respect to backup quarterback Jalon Daniels or the Buccaneers pass catchers, and was proven right.
After not blitzing more than 34.7% of the time in Weeks 1-3, he turned it all the way up to 47.2% against Tampa Bay, and after a dip last week, their pressure rate was a season-high 41.7% as a result.
Gannon also used man coverage on 36.1% of plays, with the previous high this season just 13.3%. Against man, Daniels went 6 of 10 passing for only 35 yards and an interception.
Most importantly, Green Bay’s defensive coordinator did not back off late in the game. When the Packers needed a stop to seal the game, he kept bringing the heat, getting off the field to seal the win.
They also used nickel at an astronomical 93.4% rate on Sunday, having not been above 72.7% previously. Gannon backed his defense to stop the run with light personnel and was mostly vindicated, as Bucky Irving’s EPA per rush of -0.07 was worse than his prior average of -0.01.
Losing Edgerrin Cooper is a huge blow, and will make life tougher for the Packers defense going forward, but at least they have a coach who has shown he can be creative, change his game plan based on the opponent and get the most out of what he has.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: LaFleur and Gannon prove their worth in Packers win over Buccaneers
