‘We’re Stacked, Too’: Packers Eager To Face Vikings’ Offense

The Minnesota Vikings have a star-studded offense. The Green Bay Packers have a star-studded defense. Those units will clash in Sunday’s Week 1 showdown.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers think they have a really good defense. Potentially even great. They’ll find out on Sunday at the Minnesota Vikings.

With some elite playmakers, the Vikings have one of the best offenses in the NFL.

Kirk Cousins, as maligned as he is for his failure to get the Vikings to the playoffs on an annual basis, is an accurate and productive passer. In four seasons with the Vikings, Cousins ranks sixth in passer rating (103.5). As part of that, he’s fourth in completion percentage (68.3), fifth in touchdowns (124) and sixth in interception percentage (1.7).

Dalvin Cook has battled some injury issues but is one of the game’s best every-down running backs. He’s topped 1,100 rushing yards each of the past three seasons and has averaged 43 receptions the past four years. Since 2019, only Titans star Derrick Henry (4,978) has more scrimmage yards than Cook (4,955).

Receiver Justin Jefferson is one of the game’s great young players. He is the only player in NFL history with 3,000 receiving yards in his first two seasons, smashing Odell Beckham’s previous record of 2,755 yards by a whopping 261 yards. Only former Packers star Davante Adams (15) has more 100-yard receiving games than Jefferson (14).

And on it goes. Receiver Adam Thielen ranks third in the NFL with 24 touchdown catches the past two seasons. No. 3 receiver K.J. Osborn had 50 catches last season – more than any current Packers receiver, by the way – and scored seven touchdowns. Finally healthy, tight end Irv Smith could be a breakout star. Left tackle Christian Darrisaw and right tackle Brian O’Neill provide bookend protection.

This offense is stacked.

“We’re stacked, too,” safety Darnell Savage said.

He’s right. The Packers have a stud at every position group and not a single weak link – or even mediocre link – in the starting lineup.

“Our mindset is to be the best. And to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best,” Savage continued. “So, we’re just going to go out there and compete at the highest level we can. We’re trying to prove it to ourselves that we’re the best. We’re not worried about anything else that’s outside or anything else going on in the world. We know what we have in this room and in this group. So, line up each week, do our thing and I think we’ll be fine.”

To say hopes are high for Green Bay’s defense would be a massive understatement. After dominating the 49ers in the playoffs, general manager Brian Gutekunst re-signed linebacker De’Vondre Campbell and cornerback Rasul Douglas, signed defensive tackle Jarran Reed and drafted linebacker Quay Walker. Those are four massive transactions.

Along with the healthy return of cornerback Jaire Alexander, presumptive Year 2 development of cornerback Eric Stokes and the potential for outside linebacker Rashan Gary to have a massive breakout season, this is a defense that appears capable of making life miserable for every offense in the NFL.

“We finally get to put together what we’ve been seeing on tape for everybody in the world to see,” Gary said. “It’s a great feeling. We’re eager and ready for it.”

If the defense plays to expectations against a potentially great offense – one led by the latest member of the Sean McVay coaching tree, new coach Kevin O’Connell – it could be a tone-setter for the rest of the season.

“Absolutely,” Gary said. “I’d be lying to you if I said anything else.”

The defense appears to have the right mindset. Potential, depth charts and past production are irrelevant. All that matters is how that unit performs this Sunday and all the following Sundays.

“Our defense, at least on paper, is as good as it’s ever been,” defensive tackle Dean Lowry said. “Paper doesn’t mean anything, though, and we’ve got to go out and prove it for 17 weeks and then go and do it in the playoffs.”

Three Reasons for Optimism on Defense

The last time the Green Bay Packers finished in the top eight in scoring defense was 2010. Ranking second in points allowed, the Packers won the Super Bowl. The 2022 defense has that sort of potential. General manager Brian Gutekunst has assembled a defense without a weakness.

Bringing the Heat: Rashan Gary

On a defense filled with quality starters, Gary is one player who can change a game on any snap. His 9.5 sacks last season, while leading the team, weren’t especially impressive, but he finished second among edge defenders with 81 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. After a breakout season, Gary seems poised to hit full-fledged stardom this season. He was a constant menace during training camp, including during the joint practices against the Saints. Every offense’s game plan will start with finding a way to keep him out of the backfield.

“Rashan … has really made himself a game-changer,” Rodgers said on Wednesday. “In the two-minute drive today, our protection was ‘slide to his side’ just because he’s such a game-wrecker. Preston is a fantastic player on one side, but we’ve got to slow down ‘52’ and offenses are going to have to have a plan for him.”

“I need to be my best version of myself,” he said. “That comes from my conditioning and my hands, to the way I play my run and pass. I understand my standard, so just trying to play to my standard and trying to get better than what I was last year. That’s the goal.”

Locking It Down: Jaire Alexander

Green Bay finished 10th in opponent passer rating last season. That was without Alexander for most of the season due to a shoulder injury, Stokes learning on the fly as a first-round pick and Douglas not getting on the field until mid-October.

With Alexander back in the starting lineup and capable of locking down any receiver in the NFL, opposing quarterbacks are going to have a hard time finding any breathing room.

“It’s the best secondary,” Alexander said last month.

Why?

“You’ve got me on there, first of all,” he said. “And then you’ve got ‘Sul – that’s primetime pick man; he gets all the picks. And you’ve got Stokes – young, up-and-coming savage.”

According to Sports Info Solutions, Alexander is the only cornerback in the NFL to allow a sub-50 percent completion rate each of the past three seasons. He returns to action with something to prove.

“I got goals I want to accomplish in this league, so I’m always going to have something to prove,” Alexander said. “If you want to be the greatest of all time, the best, you’ve always got to keep that chip, like (Charles) Woodson.”

No quarterback knows the skill of those cornerbacks better than Rodgers, who faced that group throughout training camp. He rarely threw the ball at Alexander and compared Douglas to Woodson a couple times.

Alexander is great, Douglas’ greatness last season doesn’t appear to be a fluke and Stokes has a chance to be great.

“You got one of the top corners in the game in Rasul, who’s having a hard time getting minutes in base. That tells you how good they are on the back end,” Rodgers said. “Obviously, Ja has been a lockdown guy all camp and 21 [Stokes] keeps getting better. If he learns how to catch the ball, he’s going to be a perennial Pro Bowler for us.”

Swagger: Mind-Set of Defensive Dominance

It was startling to see the defense talking trash at the offense throughout the summer. That just hasn’t happened on a Packers practice field.

Or in the locker room.

“They can’t mess with us,” Douglas said. “They can’t mess with us. They’re not ready for us.”

Generally speaking, Douglas was correct. On more than one occasion, rather than trying to escape the pocket to extend the play, Rodgers just chucked the ball to the turf. On one such instance, Gary jumped up and down in front of Rodgers. It was like in-his-prime Muhammad Ali staring at some chump he had toyed with before beating him into submission.

“At the end of the day, this is practice,” Gary said when asked about that play. “We’ve got a big opportunity regular season first game against the Vikings. We’re just trying to make sure we’re taking the right steps by getting better at all phases day by day. We’re on each other about the small things.”

While Gary downplayed that moment, it showed a rare and growing swagger. For most of the last decade, the defense has taken the back seat to Rodgers and Co. With offensive-minded head coaches and an MVP quarterback, past teams had been built to score a lot of points on offense and force turnovers on defense. While Rodgers would take exception at the statement, these Packers are built on their defense.

“I know how good we can be but none of that means anything if we don’t go out and show it,” Campbell said. “We’ve just got to go and handle business, one game at a time.”

Three Reasons for Concern on Defense

The Green Bay Packers’ defense could be really good. But it wasn’t last year, and will have to prove it’s worthy of the hype this year.

Starting Point: Run Defense

When the Packers needed to stop the run, Deebo Samuel picked up the clinching first down. (USA Today Sports Images)

Green Bay’s presumed defensive superiority revolves around the combination of a strong pass rush and excellent coverage. That’s a winning recipe most weeks.

But not every week.

The Packers’ defense will dominate a game filled with third-and-longs. To get there, they’ve got to stop the run. In terms of yards allowed per attempt during the Matt LaFleur era, the Packers ranked 30th in 2021, 21st in 2020 and 24th in 2019. There won’t be many third-and-longs in a game when you’re giving up 4.5 yards per carry.

Judging run defense is difficult during training camp because there’s no live tackling and it’s often impossible to gauge whether or not the runner was stopped. However, it appeared the Saints ran the ball well during two days of joint practices. The Vikings, with Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison in the backfield, will provide an early litmus test.

“It just comes down to who wants it more when you’re dealing with a player like that,” linebacker De’Vondre Campbell said of Cook. Will the Packers’ defensive front want to stop the run, or will they be too preoccupied with attacking the quarterback?

Danger Point: Depth

Jonathan Garvin is the top backup at outside linebacker. (USA Today Sports Images)

The Packers entered training camp with depth concerns at outside linebacker, cornerback and safety. Not much changed over the past six weeks.

At outside linebacker, the backups are Jonathan Garvin, Tipa Galeai and rookie Kingsley Enagbare. Last season, Garvin and Galeai combined for 2.5 sacks in 306 pass-rushing opportunities. The Packers need much more, whether they’re in the game to give Rashan Gary and Preston Smith a breather or if they’re forced into the lineup due to injury.

“I think Jonathan and Tipa have really taken nice steps,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said. “And obviously Preston and 52 [Gary], they’re real-deal players. When Rashan and Preston come off the field, those other guys, they’ve got to hold their own, whether that’s on first and second down more in the run game, or if we need to spell them as pass-rushers.”

At safety, projected backups Vernon Scott and Shawn Davis were released due to injuries. The backups are Dallin Leavitt and Rudy Ford, two players coveted more for special teams than defense, and rookie Tariq Carpenter.

At cornerback, at least Shemar Jean-Charles and Keisean Nixon had strong preseasons.

As Mike Tyson famously proclaimed, everyone’s got a plan until they’re punched in the face. It will be interesting to see how the Packers react when injuries inevitably punch them in the face.

Hype: Buying Into It

De'Vondre Campbell (USA Today Sports Images)

A lot has been written and said about Green Bay’s potential greatness on defense. That’s fine, so long as the players aren’t drunk on meaningless praise.

For what it’s worth, the players are saying all the right things. To talk the talk, they’ve got to walk the walk.

“There’s not really much hype,” Campbell said. “We’ve got to go out and do what we do. We know how good we can be, but it doesn’t matter about he said, she said. We’ve just got to go out and show it.”

The Packers are the only team in NFL history with three consecutive seasons of 13-plus wins. That regular-season success was the equivalent of empty calories. For the team to take the next step, the defense must deliver in January and February against real quarterbacks and not the Jimmy Garoppolos of the world.

“Man, we’ve got talent everywhere. Talent everywhere,” Gary said. “Green Bay as an organization, we’re doing great putting pieces on the defense, drafting guys. You see the potential. Like I said, go back to our standard and understanding what it means to be a Green Bay Packer. Past postseasons, we ended how we didn’t want it to end. We’ve got to turn it up on the defense. Defense wins championships. That’s our mind-set.”

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