With all due respect to Joe Tiller, Monday night’s showdown in New Orleans was the “Greatest Show on Turf†ever played by a team in black and gold.
Drew Brees put on a show for the Superdome crowd, tossing the ball all over the Packers secondary and amassing 323 yards and 4 TDs on 20-of-26 throwing the ball. Granted, Joe Tiller can still lay claim to this show since Brees, who engineered the aerial onslaught, is among the Tiller quarterback progeny that was nurtured in West Lafayette’s “Cradle of Quarterbacks”.
Going into Monday night’s game, all anyone seemed to be focused on was the matchup between Brees, the NFL’s leading passer who is on pace to break Marino’s single-season yardage record, and the Packers secondary who ranked tops in the NFL in every significant pass-defense category. Brees said before the game that his best was better than their best, and man-oh-man, was he ever right. Brees tore the Packers secondary apart like Charlie Weis attacking a New York style cheesecake.
So how did this happen? How was the Packers’ glaring defensive strength, and to this point their defensive identity, embarrassed on Monday night?
The answers will not be found in the secondary, which is still arguably the most talented unit on the entire team, but on the defensive line. On Monday night, Brees had more time in the pocket to find a receiver than Axl Rose had to write Chinese Democracy.
It’s no secret that this Packers defense has struggled to stop the run this season. After being torched by Dallas, the two-headed monster in Tennessee, and Adrian Peterson twice; the Defense was allowing over 100 yards per game on the ground. Due to this glaring ineptitude against the run, the lack of any legitimate pass rush at times this season had been one of the quieter deficiencies in the Packers’ Defense. If it hadn’t been for the Bears game, I am not sure if the Packers’ D-line would have a single commanding performance on which to hang their helmets.
It must be noted that the D-line has lost a lot since the 2007 season. Fan favorite and Packer veteran Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila was unceremoniously cut this season after only recording half a sack in seven games and Corey Williams was traded to Cleveland in the off-season. This has severely affected the depth that allowed Defensive Coordinator Bob Sanders to bring in fresh bodies on the line during the 2007 campaign.
Now, Aaron Kampman is virtually the only threat to put any pressure on the quarterback and is the only member of the unit to record more than 3 sacks. Following a 2007 season when they had one of the deepest and best defensive lines that gave opposing quarterbacks fits in the pocket and shut down the opponents’ running games, this season they have been blown of the line of scrimmage and seem to lack the swagger and agility they once had.
The secondary’s success is in their physical man-to-man style of play, altering routes off the line of scrimmage, and leaving their talented CBs and safeties on islands of coverage. That success is severely limited when the opposing quarterback has the time to find the rhythm and vision to pick that secondary apart like Brees did Monday night. I am worried the same problem will be exploited when the Carolina Panthers, and their resurgent passing game, come calling on Sunday. I can only hope that by then, Bob Sanders and the defensive coaching staff can find a way to regain control of the defensive line of scrimmage.
