Playoff Matchups: Jordan Love-Led Packers vs. 49ers Pass Defense

In the third of a series of stories previewing Saturday’s Packers-49ers playoff game, here is the matchup between Green Bay’s passing attack and San Francisco’s pass defense.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The heavyweight battle within Saturday’s Green Bay Packers-San Francisco 49ers playoff game will be quarterback Jordan Love against the Niners’ pass defense.

Love is the hottest quarterback in the game. He’s in the midst of an absurd stretch of 21 touchdowns vs. one interception. It’s Aaron Rodgers-esque domination of the most important position in football. The 49ers, however, have one of the best pass defenses in the NFL. With a powerful pass rush, rangy linebackers and playmakers in the secondary, they tied for the NFL lead with 22 interceptions.

Packers Pass Offense

Love might have failed to get a car out of a snowdrift but he buried the Cowboys under an avalanche of big-time passes. He almost made it look easy.

“It’s not easy,” Love said. “There’s a lot of work that goes into the background throughout the whole week. The process, the coaches giving us the plan, studying the plan, understanding what the defense is going to do.

“It’s definitely not easy, but it’s been easier as the season goes on, just getting into that flow, understanding the rhythm you get in and, obviously, as you get in some game reps, understanding the different looks you’ll get from the defenses. But it’s not easy.”

As shown by the numbers at Pro Football Focus, Love was incredible against Dallas. On throws 20-plus yards downfield, he was 4-of-4 passing for 126 yards and two touchdowns. When the Cowboys blitzed, he was 6-of-8 for 129 yards and two touchdowns. On those rare occasions when he was pressured, he was 5-of-7 for 152 yards and two touchdowns.

His total command of the offense and what the defense is presenting was on full display on the 20-yard touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks, when Love knew the blitz was coming, got the protection organized and fired a strike.

Love has gotten a lot of help from a diverse group of young weapons. The last three games have featured a different 100-yard receiver. Nine individuals have led the team in receiving yards. Jayden Reed, who finished as the team’s leader in receptions, receiving yards and total touchdowns in the regular season, had zero catches against Dallas; the offense scored six touchdowns, anyway.

Even without left tackle David Bakhtiari and with an unorthodox rotation at right guard, the Packers ended the regular season ranked fourth in sack percentage. Dallas, even with superstar Micah Parsons, had zero sacks and three quarterback hits. Love’s ability to keep himself out of harm’s way has helped, but the line has been an unsung hero.

49ers Pass Defense

This is a great unit, starting with the front four of Nick Bosa, Chase Young, Arik Armstead and Javon Hargrave, which is as good as it gets. All four can get to the quarterback in an instant. And the depth is preposterous.

Playoff Matchups: Packers vs. Purdy-Led 49ers Passing Attack

Bosa, the second pick of the 2019 draft, had 10.5 sacks this season after winning Defensive Player of the Year honors with 18.5 sacks in 2022. Young, the second pick of the 2020 draft, was acquired at the trade deadline and had 7.5 sacks between the 49ers and Commanders.

Armstead, the 17th pick of the 2015 draft, had five sacks this season and a career-high 10 in 2019. Hargrave, a third-round pick in 2016 by Pittsburgh and a Pro Bowler with Philadelphia in 2021, had seven sacks this year after a career-high 11 last year.

Clelin Ferrell, the fourth pick of the 2019 draft by the Raiders, Javon Kinlaw, the 14th pick of the 2020 draft by the 49ers, and Randy Gregory, a second-round pick by Dallas in 2015, come off the bench. It’s a relentless attack.

The 49ers finished only 18th in sack percentage, but that’s because quarterbacks don’t dare hold the ball for long. A lot of short routes mean a lot of short passes; the 49ers were first in yards allowed per completion and fifth in yards per attempt.

Linebacker Fred Warner was a unanimous All-Pro with four interceptions and 11 passes defensed. Linebacker Dre Greenlaw is no slouch. Along with former Packers player Oren Burks, they cover a lot of ground.

The secondary consists of Charvarius Ward and Ambry Thomas as the corners, Deommodore Lenoir in the slot, and Tashaun Gipson and Logan Ryan at safety. Ward had five interceptions and led the NFL with 23 passes defensed. Lenoir has three interceptions and 10 passes defensed.

The officiating will be key. Ward was flagged 12 times, tops among NFC corners, and Lenoir was penalized seven times.

So, how do the Packers win the game through the air?

Grant Cohn of SI.com’s All 49ers: Like a lot of defenses, they want to rush four and play zone coverage. It’s very tough to beat that. And their pass rush is phenomenal: Javon Hargrave, Arik Armstead, Chase Young and Nick Bosa are really good. It’s tough to stand in one spot and beat this team.

Also, a lot of teams, especially teams running this Shanahan-LaFleur-McVay offense, they want to attack over the middle – those play-action passes in that void over the middle. Well, the Niners have Fred Warner. It’s really not where you want to throw the ball against the Niners defense. He’s the best zone-defending linebacker in the middle of the field that I’ve ever seen.

It’s just a really bad idea to test them. So, they force you to throw underneath, toward the sidelines, deep. Really, the only way to beat the Niners is to get outside the pocket. If you try to beat them from inside the pocket, you’re going to lose. You’ve got to take the scramble lanes that they give you, because they’ll give them to you all day.

You don’t have to scramble; you just have to get outside the pocket and make throws. That’s what Lamar Jackson did. That zone defense breaks down as soon as the quarterback vacates, and they’ll give you those escape lanes. So, don’t try to be Peyton Manning against the Ninerss. You’ll lose.

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