DeMeco Ryans and the Houston Texans are coming to Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers. The last time Green Bay went up against a Ryans-led defense, Ryans, then the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator, held them to only 10 points in the 2021 Divisional Round.
Ryans may lack a Nick Bosa-level player up front in Houston, but his defensive line is a dominating force. Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter have combined for 50 pressures and nine sacks through six games.
Hunter leads all edges on the team in pressures, sacks, and hurries. According to ESPN, he’s the eighth-best edge rusher in the NFL in pass-rush win rate. Anderson is also tied for the sixth-most pressures on true pass sets among all edges.
The Packers can set up their passing and rushing attacks by establishing a ground game that runs through Hunter. Last year, he had the worst PFF run-defense grade of his career. In 2024, his grade sits at 60.9, the second lowest in his nine seasons in the league. He also has a run-stop percentage of 4.4, ranking 68th among edge rushers with at least 50 run-defense snaps.
Green Bay must make Hunter hesitate by throwing all sorts of looks at him. From chip blocks to pre-snap motion, the goal is to make him second guess what he sees. The NFL is a copycat league, and Matt LaFleur may want to revise the game plan Kyle Shanahan used against Micah Parsons last year.
Shanahan used a lot of motion, often sending a fullback or tight end away from Parsons to create the illusion of a one-on-one matchup on the edge. However, the 49ers would then motion another player to Parsons' side to help the right tackle.
San Francisco effectively ran pass plays from typical run looks. They had Kyle Juszczyk motion to Parsons' side, only to shift back into an I-formation. Parsons thought he had a one-on-one opportunity. However, as Brock Purdy dropped back to pass, Juszczyk chipped him on Trent Williams' side.
In that game, Parsons recorded only two pressures on 29 pass-rush snaps, his second-lowest performance of the 2023 season. He also tied his season low in sacks, quarterback hits, and stops while registering his highest missed-tackle percentage of the year.
Green Bay faces a complex task.
Parsons stands at 6'3" and weighs 245 lbs.; Hunter is 6'5" and 263 lbs. Therefore, the Packers will need big bodies to move the ball effectively against him. This may be another week when Andrew Beck is elevated from the practice squad to provide additional support. We may also see a lot of 13-personnel featuring a tight end coming out of the backfield to enhance their blocking schemes.
The Packers may want to use more motion. A few weeks ago, they were the No. 1 team in the league in this category, exceeding 80%. However, now their rate has dropped to just over 60%.
Hunter is Houston’s only edge rusher with a pass-rush grade of 80.0 or above; no one else is above 70.
The Texans are also banged up, with Azeez Al-Shaair not practicing on Wednesday. Kamari Lassiter will miss the game, and Jimmie Ward is also trending in that direction. Among defenders for Houston with at least 15 snaps, Hunter is the highest-graded player on the team. If the Packers can neutralize him, they could enjoy a much lighter day on offense while taking advantage of a defense already dealing with multiple injuries.
According to PFF, the Packers are tied with the Seattle Seahawks for the best rushing offense in the league. They need to translate that efficiency into success against Hunter. Josh Jacobs has been effective running outside the numbers, averaging 4.4 yards per carry when attacking the B gap and 4.5 yards per carry when targeting the C gap to the right side. Moreover, by running to the outside, Jacobs will benefit from the blocking of Green Bay's best run-blocker, Zach Tom, who will most likely match up against Hunter.
Green Bay can't chip both Anderson and Hunter at once. While Anderson is Houston's best edge defender against the run, he has an average pass-rush grade of just 67.5. Rasheed Walker is tied for the 17th-most pressures allowed among offensive tackles with at least 70 pass-blocking snaps, so the Packers can trust him to handle Anderson one on one.
To improve their chances of success in the passing game, the Packers must neutralize Danielle Hunter. It begins by making him wary of the run. If Hunter becomes hesitant to rush Jordan Love, the Packers will have a better opportunity to win the battle in the trenches.
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