Defense Turns Up Heat, Takes Another Step*

The Green Bay Packers' defense turned in one of its best performances of the season against the Eagles, with one obvious asterisk.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Last season, the Green Bay Packers’ unexpected run to the NFC Championship Game was spurred by a defense that allowed only 14.2 points per game in December, the second-fewest in the NFL.

If the Packers are going to make it back to the championship game – and take it another step – they will need a similarly dominant December.

Sunday’s 30-16 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles was another step in the right direction.

The pass rush was devastating, with season highs of seven sacks and 11 quarterback hits. The run defense was better than the statistics suggest, with 47 yards of quarterback scrambles bolstering the Eagles’ 117 yards and 4.7 average. Miles Sanders, who entered the game ranked second in the NFL among running backs with a 5.6-yard average, managed only 31 yards on 10 tries. After giving up a long touchdown on fourth-and-long, the Packers closed the game with back-to-back stops.

Za’Darius Smith, who is third in the NFL with 10.5 sacks after adding 1.5 vs. the Eagles, said the big performance came after he, Preston Smith and Kenny Clark visited defensive coordinator Mike Pettine’s office.

“We told him, ‘If we can keep it simple, man, we will get after the quarterback.’ And he did that for us, and as you can see, we had a field day today,” Smith said. “We’re getting much pressure on the quarterback and it’s starting to show for us.”

To be sure, the defensive performance comes with an asterisk. Philadelphia entered the game with three consecutive performances of just 17 points. Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz was by far the most-sacked quarterback in the NFL. The offensive line was on its 11th starting combination in 12 games. Wentz’s season-long struggles continued and he was benched in the third quarter.

Against that backdrop, the Packers needed a strong performance. And that’s what they delivered. With four games to go, Green Bay is No. 11 in the NFL in total defense (339.3 yards per game) and No. 14 with 24.9 points allowed per game.

Looking beyond those obvious indicators:

• Green Bay gave up a 30.7 percent conversion rate on third down against the Eagles, marking the fifth consecutive game of 40.0 percent or better.

• Green Bay gave up 4.71 yards per play against the Eagles, a fourth consecutive game of better than 5.70 per play. In the first eight games, it was No. 23 in the league with 6.0 yards per play.

• With Darnell Savage’s clinching interception, the Packers have six interceptions and nine takeaways in the last five games. In the first seven games, they had two interceptions and four takeaways.

With how Green Bay’s offense has played this season, the defense doesn’t have to be dominant. When the Packers allow less than 28 points, they are 7-0. What the defense needs to succeed is key stops and big plays by its big-name players. That was the recipe against the Eagles.

“It’s tough to be a defensive coordinator in this league, it really is,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “I was really proud of our defense. I thought they did a damn good job. Obviously, the fourth-and-18, nobody wants that, but I thought for the most part you could feel that rush getting after the quarterbacks. It sure felt like our defense was playing aggressive, was playing tight coverage. I know there were a couple plays where they had some guys wide open where we can’t have guys slipping out there. This is our homefield advantage.

“When I think of great defenses, I think of just the energy, the effort and playing with great emotion. I felt that tonight, and we’ve got to build upon that and keep getting better and better and better.”