What a difference a week makes. After quarterback Jordan Love faced an unrelenting onslaught of pressure against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3, he looked downright bored for parts of Week 4.
As the Packers are putting together their offensive line with scotch tape and bubblegum, the operation looked NFL-caliber on Sunday against a Bucs team that traditionally sits near the top of the NFL in pressure rate.
How did they do it?
Packers leaned on the X's and O's over the Jimmy's and Joe's
All of the following data was procured from Sumer Sports.
The book is out on Bucs head coach and defensive architect Todd Bowles. And Matt LaFleur read the book cover-to-cover. Bowles' defensive philosophy relies on four keys.
1. Stop the run early and force offenses into 3rd-and-long. Since Bowles arrived in Tampa Bay in 2019, the Bucs rank first in EPA/rush allowed and first in success rate allowed on designed runs.
2. Take away the deep pass. Since 2024, they have ranked third in limiting completions on targets of 20-plus air yards and seventh-best in yards allowed on such targets.
3. Create pressure on early downs to force negative plays. They are fourth in blitz rate on first and second down over the past three seasons.
4. Limit yards after catch. This is where the concept and the reality diverge. The Bucs are 24th in YAC/reception allowed, 31st in total yards after catch allowed, and 21st in missed tackle rate since 2024.
To achieve these goals, Bowles tries to send the house up front while playing his corners off. LaFleur knew it. And while his in-game management might have left something to be desired, he had the right schematic gameplan to attack Bowles' defense.
Jordan Love and time to throw
Because Bowles attacks offenses this way, the book on how to beat him has become simple and repeatable. Work the short, quick game to get the ball out before the pressure arrives, and keep the passes underneath the bail technique their corners play. From there, force them to tackle well.
Jordan Love executed the gameplan flawlessly. Sumer Sports has his time to throw in this game at 2.24 seconds. That's in the 96th percentile of individual game time to throw averages this season. And his 7.17 average depth of target was in the 39th percentile.
Twenty-three percent of Love's targets went to Tucker Kraft, the best yards-after-catch tight end in the NFL. All 42 of Kraft's yards came after the catch, as he forced two missed tackles while adding a touchdown.
Love was pressured on just seven of his 30 dropbacks. His 23.3 percent pressure rate was by far the lowest of the season, a full eight points lower than Week 2 against the New York Jets. And it gave Love, LaFleur, and Green Bay a much-needed reprieve, if just for a week.
The gameplan was the perfect Bowles beater. And LaFleur and Love implemented it to perfection.
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