Packers Looking to Redeem Playoff Loss
Milwaukee, WI --- When the clock struck zero the score was 44-21, and the Green Bay Packers defense was less than a minor speed-bump for the high-powered Atlanta offense in the NFC Championship game.
MVP Matt Ryan dissected the Packers mangled secondary for 392 yards and four touchdowns. Julio Jones hauled in nine catches for 180 yards and two scores. The latter being a 73-yard touchdown which broke the backs of Green Bay's magical mystery tour, and sawed off a 31-0 run.
But that was last season, and any talk about what happened is a waste of time and energy. “Last year’s last year,” said Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy. “We’re more focused on what they did in the preseason and what they did against Chicago (in the 2017 opener).”
Words are wind. While focusing on what they have done recently is the main objective, learning from past mistakes is crucial to maturing as a unit.
The team's number one cornerback then was LaDarius Gunter, an undrafted free agent who snuck into the spot due to injuries to Sam Shields, Demarius Randall and Quintin Rollins. He was given the daunting task of covering Jones during the game, and, like most corners in the league, flopped.
Gunter dropped to the fifth spot on the depth chart due to Randall and Rollins rediscovering their rookie forms, and the signing of free agent Davon House and drafting Kevin King out of Washington. This made him dispensable, and he released this week, but was quickly scooped up by Carolina.
"Good football player and even a better teammate," coach Mike McCarthy said. "You talk about a young man, LaDarius, just the way he came in here, took full advantage of his opportunity and did everything right. When it was his opportunity to play, he practiced hard and played harder and was always available."
While the Seahawks averaged a meager 22.1 points per game last season, news had been circulating about their improved offensive line. The Packers obliterated the conspiracy, with Mike Daniels and Nicky Perry basically camping out in the backfield. They held them to a measly three field-goals and 225 yards of total offense.
The Falcons on the other hand, averaged 33.4 points per game. Ryan averaged a league record 9.26 yards per pass attempt. Translation: this was not a short-pass offense. This is an offense built for speed. The question is whether the secondary has improved enough to even put a dent in Atlanta's arial attack.
“It’s a different game for me,” said Randall, who was bothered by injuries last season. “That I can move around the way I want to, that I can tackle the way I want to, press the way I want to, that’s just a big, big difference in my game.”
“It’s a new year. It’s definitely a different mindset heading into this game,” Rollins added.
Defensive Coordinator Dom Capers used his "Nitro" package on 42 of the team's 49 plays last week. The "Nitro" is when the team uses a safety as an inside linebacker in their nickel package. With teams using fast running backs and tight ends to expand the passing game, defenses are forced to put their fastest players on the field.
Speed is an essential element to the Falcons' defense as well.
“Yes, they have excellent team speed," said McCarthy. "It’s a really fast football team. In particular, their linebackers are probably as fast of a group that you’ll see in the league."
Once Head Coach Dan Quinn arrived in Atlanta, he poised to create his own legions of fast playmakers he once coached in Seattle. It all started in the 2016 draft when he took Deion Jones, an undersized (6'1" 222 pounds) linebacker. His 4.45 forty-yard speed topped all the linebackers in the draft, and he responded immediately by leading the team in tackles (108), and all linebackers in the league in pass breakups (11).
Quinn wasn't done. He drafted linebacker De'Vondre Campbell out of Minnesota in the fourth round, 115th overall. His 4.56 speed was what caught his eye. And while he missed action due to injury, both him and Jones were dominate while on the field together for the last two months of the season.
Coverage is their specialty. Jones recorded four interceptions and returned them for 193 yards, a 48.3 average, and two touchdowns.
“They’ve got at least nine if not 10 of the players on the field, sometimes all 11, I’d say are pretty fast,” New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick said before the Super Bowl. “The stamp on the team, the thing that I notice most, is just the team speed that the Falcons have.”
"I think the backers are playing the best that I’ve seen them in the last two years," said McCarthy. "The speed is definitely very apparent especially on turf at home.”
One reason why they could be even better this year was the drafting of Duke Riley in the third round of this year's draft. He totaled six tackles in his NFL debut last week.
Riley ran a 4.58, and with former safety KeMal Ishmael converting to ILB, it seems Quinn isn't done super charging his defensive engine.
"Duke's off to a good start. We knew we had something there all the way back, in the spring," said Quinn. "He's making the mistakes that young players do sometimes, but I'm happy with his speed and attitude. He fits right into the style of defense that we play."
The Packers' offense and defense will have their hands full once again, even with the weapons they have and the battle they had just survived. Expect a shootout, especially if the Falcons resort to zone-coverage.
