The defensive performance by the Green Bay Packers on Sunday has been picked apart, and rightfully so. However, a bright spot on that unit was the play of TJ Slaton, who played a key role in helping the Packers limit Saquon Barkley’s impact in the run game.
Barkley did have a 40-yard rush out of the Wildcat formation, but on his other 12 attempts, he tallied just 30 yards, averaging fewer than three yards per attempt. While many of us wondered how the Green Bay run defense would fare against Barkley, the unit held up well and didn’t let the Giants control the game on the ground.
As the nose tackle, Slaton muddied things up inside. He ended up playing a season-high 25 snaps with the Packers short-handed at defensive tackle and recorded one pressure, three total tackles, including on a few key running plays for New York, and a run stop, according to PFF.
Although those figures may not leap off the page, occupying the A-gap isn’t exactly the most glamorous role. Oftentimes, Slaton’s impact isn’t going to be felt on the stat sheet but rather by his teammates.
Rewatching the game, you will see Slaton generating steady push into the backfield and disrupting the rush attempts, even if he isn’t the one who makes the tackle. You’ll also see him taking on double teams, which creates opportunities for other members of the Packers’ defensive front to disrupt the play.
“He’s come a long way,” said Matt LaFleur on Wednesday. “He really had a nice game. He was disruptive, you guys could feel him, I’m sure, in the run game. He was splitting double teams, playing with great effort, great emotion, that’s the standard, and he put it out there, and that’s what we expect from him game in and game out. He’s come into a great room. I think Jerry (Montgomery) has done a great job with him. The vets in that room, Kenny (Clark), Dean (Lowry), have done a great job of showing him the way, so to speak, and I think he’s a guy that’s matured quite a bit in over a year.”
During his rookie season, Slaton played 23% of the defensive snaps, and while there were moments where his potential flashed, there were also plenty of times when he looked like a fifth-round rookie.
This summer, however, Slaton appeared to be “light years” ahead of where he had been the previous year, according to LaFleur. Just as we saw on Sunday against the Giants, Slaton spent training camp taking regular early down reps with the starters and making running between the tackles a challenge for the Green Bay ball carriers.
As LaFleur said, what we saw from Slaton this past week is the standard. For a defense that has had their ups and downs against the run this season, they’ll need him to continue playing at that high level.
This week, the Packers face Breece Hall of the New York Jets, who is averaging 4.9 yards per rush this season and has taken on a much larger role within the offense these past two games.
