3 important storylines to watch for Packers vs. Titans in Week 3

Green Bay Packers v Philadelphia Eagles
Green Bay Packers v Philadelphia Eagles / Brooke Sutton/GettyImages
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After an unlikely victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2, the Green Bay Packers are riding high, despite still being without Jordan Love.

This week, they travel to Nashville to face an 0-2 Titans team who are desperate for a victory.

Can the Packers pull off another unlikely win? And does Malik Willis get one over on his former team? Here are three things you should keep an eye on this weekend.

Do the Packers send the house against Will Levis?

Jeff Hafley’s defense has been relatively conservative in dialing up blitzes through two games. Per Next Gen Stats, the Packers have blitzed opposing quarterbacks on just 14.1% of dropbacks, the fourth lowest mark in the league. Hafley seems perfectly comfortable in relying on his front four to generate pressure.

However, the matchup against the Titans presents Hafley with an opportunity to adjust the game plan. Titans quarterback Will Levis has really struggled against the blitz, completing just 50% of his passes and averaging 4.8 yards per attempt when facing five or more rushers. He has also thrown two interceptions when blitzed.

So, will Hafley change things up? After all, both the Chicago Bears and New York Jets were able to bully this Titans front without blitzing regularly. Levis has been pressured at the third highest rate in the NFL, despite facing the fourth lowest blitz rate. Whichever approach Hafley takes will say a lot about how much faith he has in his front four.

Will the Packers edge rushers step up?

This is intrinsically linked to the previous storyline, especially if Hafley remains cautious with his blitzes. Through two games the Packers’ edge rushers have been quiet. Rashan Gary leads the group with just three pressures on 50 pass rushing snaps, ranking 58th amongst all edge rushers. Preston Smith and Lukas Van Ness both have two pressures each.

Dig a little deeper and the numbers are even more concerning. Van Ness leads the group with a pass rush win rate of 4.3%. That ranks 86th amongst all edges. Smith and Gary both rank inside the bottom 10 at the position and Kingsley Enagbare is one of just five edges with zero pass rush wins.

This is a far cry from last season, when Gary ranked 16th with a win rate of 17.2%. Perhaps this is simply the result of facing two of the best offensive lines in the NFL in Philadelphia and Indianapolis. This weekend’s test against a poor Titans offensive line should therefore be instructive. No starting tackle duo has allowed more pressure than JC Latham and Nicholas Petit-Frere. Another quiet game here, and the alarm bells may start ringing.

Can the Titans stop the Packers ground game?

More than anything, this feels like it will be the key to the game. With Jordan Love out again, the Packers will start Malik Willis at quarterback. We saw last week what a Willis-led offense looks like - a punishing run-first attack with a limited passing game. It worked to great effect against the Colts, with the team putting up 261 rushing yards, their best single game mark since 2003.

The Titans present a tougher challenge though. They have been efficient at stopping the run and particularly good at limiting explosive plays. So far they have allowed just five runs of 10+ yards, good enough for the eighth fewest in the league. They also rank 10th in yards allowed per rush.

They have managed to do this whilst playing primarily from light boxes too. Tennessee’s 58.7% light box rate is the ninth highest in the NFL, and they have played with eight or more defenders at the fifth lowest rate.

If they can stop the run, they can force the Packers into obvious passing situations, which is exactly where they don’t want to be. Malik Willis attempted just 14 passes in Week 2 and only seven of those were on true dropbacks (i.e. no play action, screen, or RPO). The Packers' ability to establish the running game will be crucial for their success against the Titans.

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