Packers: Five players key to victory in Week 15 vs. Panthers
By Jesse Fry
4. Kingsley Keke
The Packers’ turnaround in run defense can be contributed to the play of Dean Lowry and Kenny Clark.
Both have been better the past few weeks in the run game as well as pass defense and are making life difficult for opposing linemen. Lowry in particular has picked up his game, recording a sack in back-to-back games.
Not far behind them has been the play of second-year lineman Kingsley Keke.
Against the Eagles, Keke added his third and fourth sacks of the season in the Packers’ seven-sack barrage, showing his explosiveness off the ball. He is developing into another weapon for the the defense to throw at opposing offenses.
The entirety of Keke’s sack production can be traced to only two games. Keke had two against the Saints and two against the Eagles but he has flashed disrupter ability in between.
The more threats the Packers can develop, the better. The Smiths and Rashan Gary will give quarterbacks all they can handle, and adding more pressure up the middle will make the Packers’ pass rush hard to beat.
It can’t be all pass rush for Keke though. He will need to keep getting stronger to hold up in the run game and he will get tested over the next three weeks of the regular season.