As the Green Bay Packers prepare to take on a “complete” Philadelphia Eagles defense, as Matt LaFleur called it, the challenge ahead also includes facing a very aggressive secondary that has been excellent at creating turnovers.
Despite the Eagles’ offense being more turnover prone as of late, as a team, they still have the best turnover differential in the NFL, which includes the most takeaways and interceptions. Cornerbacks James Bradbury and Darius Slay are both tied for second in interceptions this season, with Bradbury also ranking fifth in pass breakups, while safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson leads the NFL in picks with six.
The Packers, meanwhile, uncharacteristically rank 27th in turnover differential and have the third most giveaways. The Packers’ defense is already going to have its hands full trying to slow the Eagles’ explosive offense, and if the Green Bay offense can’t protect the ball, they have little chance of overcoming those errors — they just aren’t good enough to do so.
This ability to create turnovers begins with the play up front by the Philadelphia defensive line. The Eagles have been incredibly effective at creating pressure and sacks this season, even though they primarily rush just four defenders. This allows Philadelphia to play with up to seven defenders in coverage at times, along with the cornerbacks and safeties being able to play aggressively, knowing that they won’t have to cover long with that pass rush.
“They play their scheme really well,” said LaFleur on Wednesday. “Obviously, they have the two corners on the outside, are a really good combo, and they know they can count on the pass rush getting home, so they can be a little more aggressive in certain situations, but that’s one of the reasons why they’ve had so many picks. Chauncey Gardner-Johnson has been a great addition to them.”
Past opponents, especially Detroit and Dallas, have really tried to challenge the Packers’ wide receivers by playing closer to the line of scrimmage and being physical with them. For the most part, the Green Bay pass catchers have had a difficult time overcoming this aggressive approach, particularly when the offense has been stagnant and receivers are expected to simply win their one-on-one matchups.
However, against Dallas specifically, Green Bay had one of their best offensive performances. There were several reasons for this, including a greater reliance on the run game and better execution overall, but the Packers also leaned heavily into several LaFleur concepts, which included motion, play-action, and bunch formations. This provided the Green Bay receivers, Christian Watson in particular, with free releases off the line of scrimmage, and he was able to get open with that speed of his on a pair of crossers that ended in touchdowns.
The emergence of Watson, in general, will help the Packers combat the Eagles’ aggressiveness because of his ability as a vertical threat. When Watson was speaking on Wednesday, he mentioned that there is the potential for the Packers to generate some shot-play opportunities with the Philadelphia secondary focused heavily on making plays — although the Eagles frequent usage of two-high could still make that a challenge.
Just like the Eagles’ secondary benefits from their defensive front, if the Packers’ passing game is going to find any success, it begins with the offensive line giving Aaron Rodgers time and Green Bay having a balanced run-pass mix. If not, this has the makings of being another long game for the Packers.
“They have a really sound scheme,” said LaFleur. “I think they do enough to keep you off balance and to keep you guessing from an offensive standpoint. But they’re able to generate pressure with four, or really whether they’re playing 5 down linemen or 4, they’re able to generate pressure that way, and that kind of opens you up a little bit. The more people you have in coverage, the easier it is to cover people up and to get those interceptions.”
