Much maligned over the first six games of the season, the Green Bay Packers’ red zone defense came up big in a 24-10 win over the Washington Football Team on Sunday at Lambeau Field. The Packers recorded stops on all four red zone possessions for the WFT, and it was the biggest contributing factor to Green Bay’s Week 7 win.
Through the first month and a half of the season, the Packers’ defense had approached historic levels, and not in a good way. The Packers had allowed touchdowns on all 15 of its opponents’ drives into the red zone, a streak of ineptitude that had no equal in recent NFL history. According to an ESPN article by Rob Demovsky, Green Bay had actually accomplished something that had likely not happened in a long, long time.
Not in at least the last 40 NFL seasons has a team failed to get even a single red-zone stop through the first six games of a season. It’s described as “in at least the last 40 seasons” because, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, play-by-play records only go back that far. It could actually be worse.
The Packers were by no means perfect on defense on Sunday. They surrendered 195 yards rushing, including 95 yards on 10 carries by the slippery Taylor Heinicke. (The final 13 yards of those were on a cowardly run at the end of the game instead of a Hail Mary, but alas.) Terry McLaurin had an excellent day at the office, with seven catches for 122 yards and a 40-yard score in the first quarter, a stat line befitting his rising stardom in the league.
Yet, finally, when push came to shove for Green Bay, they were able to capitalize on Washington’s errors, Heinicke’s in particular, picking up four stops inside the red zone, all of which came in the second half. It’s not the only reason that the Packers were able to win, but it was certainly the element that most dictated the trajectory of the game. Whether or not it’s a statistical aberration for Green Bay or a sign of better things to come remains to be seen, but Joe Barry and the Packers’ defensive unit certainly needed the boost, even if they weren’t wholly responsible for the stops.
The first stop came on the dive for the goal line in which Heinicke was ruled to be down just short of the end zone, a bizarre play in which it appeared that he could have taken a few more strides and easily broken the plane without diving. The call was overturned, the Lambeau Leap was all for naught, and the Packers were able to stuff Heinicke on the ensuing fourth-down play that sent the ball back to Green Bay and preserved a two-touchdown lead at 21-7 with just under six minutes remaining in the third quarter.
If Washington is able to score there and close the gap to 21-14, it’s a different ballgame, with a lot of time still on the clock. The ensuing Packers drive likely wouldn’t have begun with the rear side of the ball touching the goal line, but the WFT would have had an important answer to the touchdown drive that Green Bay opened the second half with. The Packers couldn’t do much with the possession, punting it back to Washington, who proceeded to drive right back down the field again. If that drive is to tie the game, and Adrian Amos doesn’t come up with a pass break up on 4th and 2 from the three-yard line, the 78,000-plus at Lambeau get a whole heck of a lot more nervous in the fourth quarter.
Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense did their part to pitch in, taking the ball 75 yards on nine plays, highlighted by a 25-yard dart to Robert Tonyan and a 25-yard pass interference penalty drawn by Davante Adams. Mason Crosby tacked on a 39-yard field goal to extend Green Bay’s lead to 24-7, giving them a three-possession cushion early in the fourth quarter. That forced Washington to press even more. With Heinecke throwing a really poor ball intended for Adam Humphries that Chandon Sullivan was happy to step in front of for the Packers’ third red zone stop of the day and hand deliver to his dad in the crowd in an awesome moment.
The final stop resulted in a 45-yard field goal by Washington kicker Chris Blewitt. But a big sack by Kingsley Keke on third down made it 4th and 27, giving Ron Rivera little choice but to try to cut it back to a two-score game with just over two minutes to play.
In his postgame press conference, Rodgers said that it’s a dream situation that the Packers’ coaches are in this week, having won the game but still having a bunch of things to correct. There’s certainly a lot that needs to be shored up as Green Bay heads into a primetime showdown with the unbeaten Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night. If Taylor Heinicke can run for 95 yards, Kyler Murray might be looking at twice that.
Yet, there were enough encouraging developments Sunday that certainly can be built upon. The internal pressure generated by Dean Lowry and Kingsley Keke was an excellent complement to Kenny Clark on the defensive line, and the linebackers, particularly Rashan Gary, were able to not only get pressure but get home against Washington.
Green Bay is more than happy to get off the schneid in the red zone stops category, and as any coach or player will tell you, it’s not easy to win in the NFL. Rodgers also said postgame that if the defense plays like they did today, the team will be tough to beat. If he could clarify, he’d probably add the “red zone” descriptor to the defense. The Cardinals and the other teams waiting for Green Bay in the upcoming mini-gauntlet (Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings, and Los Angeles Rams) will likely be a bit more competent than Washington was on Sunday.
