Aaron Rodgers has seen it all. There's no blitz too exotic, no scheme too puzzling. He is always one step ahead.
The Green Bay Packers' defense must take the game out of his hands, but it requires defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley to be brave. To risk losing for a better chance of winning. To dare Rodgers to throw deep and not allow him to dink-and-dunk them to pieces.
Dak Prescott destroyed Hafley's conservative game plan in Week 4, and so will Rodgers if he's not careful. ESPN's Mina Kimes highlighted the Seattle Seahawks' approach versus Rodgers as the blueprint Green Bay must follow.
"Looking back at that game, the Seahawks had a 30 percent press rate, which is very high. The Packers don't press," said Kimes on The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny. "They're 27th in press rate, their DBs. I would advocate in this one, you cannot give Rodgers those easy-access throws underneath."
"You've got to disrupt the timing. Give Micah Parsons a chance in this one to affect the game, because that ball, I'm telling you, is coming out, boom."
Packers' Jeff Hafley must risk losing to win against Aaron Rodgers' Steelers
Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys put up 40 points on this defense. The Packers' pass-rushers got home, especially Micah Parsons, with PFF crediting him with 10 pressures, but Prescott got the ball out of his hands like lightning.
Hafley is making head-coaching shortlists, but it's under the brightest lights where he must prove himself. If he attacks with press coverage and Rodgers is simply too good, so be it — that's why he's a four-time MVP. But Hafley keeps relying on the same passive approach that belongs in the Joe Barry playbook Matt LaFleur tossed in the trash over a year ago.
Rodgers stands behind a shaky offensive line, one that ranks 28th in pass-block win rate, per ESPN. He is mitigating that by getting the ball out fast.
"Rodgers is particularly suited to put the Packers defense in hell with the paper cut approach team's have been utilizing against them," writes Aaron Nagler of Cheesehead TV.
Prescott and the Cowboys set the blueprint for evading the Packers' electric pass rush, and other teams are following. Rodgers knows it, and he will burn Hafley's unit with the quick-passing game unless they shift their approach.
Hafley must trust his corners to hold up in coverage and take away the easy completions. Let Parsons and the pass rush do the rest. If Rodgers hits one deep to DK Metcalf, fine. It happens. Force the Steelers to make something special happen.
Green Bay hasn't won in Pittsburgh for 55 years. That will only change if Hafley and Matt LaFleur play to win.
We saw LaFleur make a similar shift on offense a week ago. Often accused of being too conservative with his play-calling, LaFleur lived up to his "all gas, no brakes" mantra and dared to dream. He went for a gutsy all-or-nothing fourth down instead of kicking a field goal to tie the game, and it worked. The Packers' aggressiveness helped them steal victory late over the Arizona Cardinals.
Hafley has no choice but to follow his head coach. Rodgers is no stranger to facing a fierce pass rush, and he'll look to lean on the quick-passing game and find the easy outlets. Green Bay must trust its corners to win in press coverage and allow Parsons' crew to take over the game.
The warning lights are flashing. Ignore them, and for the first time, the Packers will be on the receiving end of an Aaron Rodgers masterclass.