Seahawks Priming for ‘Different’ Packers Squad

Though they play in different divisions, the Seahawks and Packers has emerged as one of the NFL’s best rivalries over the past two decades.

Playing in countless instant classics, including Seattle’s historic NFC Championship comeback in 2014, the rivalry has been taken to another level since Russell Wilson arrived in 2012. Since he was drafted in the third round out of Wisconsin, the two teams have played every season except 2013, with the home teams going a perfect 7-0 during that span.

But as the Seahawks and Packers prepare to rekindle their rivalry at Lambeau Field in Sunday’s divisional round, there’s a surprising lack of familiarity for two franchises that have played against each other in five straight seasons and counting.

Shortly after Seattle beat Green Bay 27-24 during the 2018 season, the Packers fired long-time coach Mike McCarthy and hired former Titans offensive coordinator Matt LeFleur as his replacement.

LeFleur, who previously served as an offensive coordinator for the Rams in 2017, comes from Mike Shanahan’s coaching tree. While working under Shanahan with the Redskins, he was part of a coaching staff including current Rams coach Sean McVay and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan.

With LeFleur serving as the play caller, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll sees a much different offense than the one coordinated by McCarthy, starting with greater emphasis on the run game with star running back Aaron Jones.

“The commitment to the running game is different. I think that’s what’s different. Not that they didn’t run it before. Matt is from the Shanahan tree. That makes Alex Gibbs’ tree. They run that principle of the running game and feature it. They’re really committed to it. They’re a zone team basically. Outside and inside. It’s just the play of Aaron Jones that’s made them so well-balanced and difficult to deal with. That’s what’s different.”

While Aaron Rodgers put together another outstanding season with 26 touchdown passes and only four interceptions, Jones has been the engine for Green Bay’s offense. Along with rushing for over 1,000 yards and 16 touchdowns, he caught 49 passes for 474 yards and three additional touchdowns, becoming one of the league’s most dynamic play makers.

“He’s been a huge, huge factor. I think that has changed them as much as everything. Schematically, they’re different, too, though. Matt [LaFleur] runs a different offense. There are a lot of things that look the same, but it’s not coming from the same notebook necessarily.”

As it did with McCarthy at the wheel, Green Bay still primarily uses 11 personnel with three receivers, one running back, and a tight end. But LaFleur had added some new wrinkles, mixing in more two-back sets and dialing up far more zone runs. Under center, the Packers are running zone 81 percent of the time and out of shotgun, 57 percent of run plays are zone concepts.

The Packers didn’t simply make offensive changes, however. LaFleur shook up most of the coaching staff, but he did retain defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, who has made some substantial adjustments in his second season.

Unlike a year ago when Green Bay used man coverage more than 60 percent of the time, Pettine has switched to using primarily zone coverage this year while rarely bringing additional defenders. The Packers have blitzed on only 21 percent of opposing drop backs, the fifth-lowest total in the league per Pro Football Reference.

Curbing another Packers tradition, general manager Brian Gutekunst was aggressive in free agency, dishing out lucrative contracts to edge rushers Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith in free agency. The two players have combined to produce 25.0 sacks in 2019, allowing Pettine the flexibility to rarely blitz and drop seven in coverage.

Praising both defenders for their stellar seasons in Green Bay, Carroll was especially complimentary of Za’Darius Smith, comparing his versatility and skill set to Seattle defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.

“He’s really hard to block. I mean, seriously, he’s hard to block. He’s very aggressive. He’s a penetrator. He and JD Clowney are very similar in the style that they play. They’ll mix him up. He’ll be rushing inside on different guys. They’ll match him up with different people and all of that, as well as the outside pressure that he can bring. He’s a very explosive player.”

Adapting to the modern game, Pettine’s unit has been in a dime package with six defensive backs on the field 74 percent of the time this year. The polar opposite of the Seahawks, the Packers have been in base defense less than 10 percent of the time with stopping the pass as their main focus.

As a result, Green Bay ranks near the bottom of the league in most major advanced stats defending the run. Even with Seattle's injury situation along the line and in the backfield, that could open up opportunities for Marshawn Lynch and Travis Homer to break some big runs on Sunday.

But the trade off? The Packers have been one of the better pass defenses in football in most metrics and rank 10th in DVOA, which could bode well trying to slow down Wilson and his top two receivers Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf.

With so many changes across the board from a personnel and coaching standpoint, Carroll admitted Sunday presented a “fantastic challenge” for the Seahawks. A road team hasn’t won a game in the series since the Packers won 48-10 at CenturyLink Field in 2009, the year before his arrival.

But if there’s a time Seattle can win at Lambeau Field for the first time in 20 years, Carroll’s current squad would be the one built to do it. Coming in with an 8-1 road record, he’s hoping their immense success in other venues will continue in frigid, snowy Green Bay.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for us to show that we know how to travel again. The fact that we have been successful doing it is important to us knowing that this is as difficult of venue that you can play in. They’re great at home this time of year, all that stuff… The Packers will be ready. We know that. We got to get ourselves ready to get ready to play football on the road and do a good job again.”

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