Green Bay Packers’ Defense Shows Signs Of Life

The Green Bay Packers don’t need their defense to perform like the 1985 Chicago Bears. They don’t need it to play like the 2000 Baltimore Ravens or the 2015 Denver Broncos.

What the Packers can’t have is their defense playing like one of the poorer units in the league.

That’s why Sunday was so encouraging.

In Green Bay’s 35-20 win over Houston, the defense more than held its own. The Packers took away the Texans’ running game, made key red zone stops and forced their first turnover since Week 3.

“Our defense rose to the occasion and made the most of it,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “We’re really fortunate that those guys were able to come through for us.”

That hasn’t been the case throughout much of 2020.

Three of Green Bay’s first five opponents exceeded 30 points, and the Packers ranked a disappointing 20th in scoring defense through six weeks (27.8). Green Bay had just three turnovers through five games and was on pace for only 170 pressures after posting 304 last year.

That changed against a Houston team with a terrific dual threat quarterback in Deshaun Watson and a high-powered passing attack.

“It’s very frustrating,” Houston wide receiver Brandin Cooks said. “Your defense goes out there and does exactly what you want them to do, and we just couldn’t come up with something, every single one of us. So, at the end of the day, it’s frustrating.”

Watson agreed with Cooks.

“We could’ve made a run,” Watson said. “You know, the biggest thing is, of course, try to get points, regardless of if it’s a touchdown or not. We just didn’t do enough.

“Defense did a good job of getting us those opportunities, but we just didn’t do it as a whole, as a whole team. We just didn’t capitalize on it, but you gotta give the Packers credit, and that’s a very good defense over there, and they did their part of keeping us out of the end zone.”

They sure did.

The Packers — playing without starting cornerback Kevin King and safety Darnell Savage — held Houston to five first downs in the first half. The Texans had just 135 total yards in the first half and Green Bay raced to a 21-0 lead at the break.

On a bevy of second half occasions, Houston had a chance to make things interesting — but the Packers’ defense had other thoughts.

First, with the Texans in a 28-7 hole early in the fourth quarter, they drove to the Packers’ 8-yard line. On third down, though, Green Bay safety Adrian Amos sacked Watson for a 12-yard loss and the Texans were forced to settle for a field goal.

“When you get down there, it’s almost a guaranteed three,” Amos said. “You just gotta prevent them from getting seven. Those times are important.

“You gotta be great down there in the red zone and we haven’t been up to par to where we want to be in the red zone. So it was important to get those stops and we gotta continue to grow in that.”

On Green Bay’s next possession, Houston blocked JK Scott’s punt and recovered at the Packers’ 22-yard line. Five plays later, the Texans faced a third-and-8 from Green Bay’s 8.

Watson flipped the ball in the left flat for running back Duke Johnson, but safety Vernon Scott dumped him for a 3-yard loss. Houston had to settle for another field goal that left Green Bay with a comfortable 28-13 lead.

“Yeah that was huge, that was huge, especially with a team kind of up against it there,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “It’s such a tall task to have timely stops, but there’s a lot of guys playing really good football on that side of the ball.”

Houston had one more chance to make things interesting, driving to its own 47 with 7 minutes left. On fourth-and-1, Watson ran an option play to the left, but Packers outside linebacker Preston Smith sniffed it out and dumped Watson for a 1-yard loss.

The Texans got a late touchdown, but by then, Green Bay’s defense had left its mark.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Packers had a season-high 13 pressures.

Green Bay had three sacks and a forced fumble late in the game by Henry Black that Amos recovered.

And the Packers’ defense proved it could pull its weight against a solid offense.

“I feel like overall we contained them,” Amos said. “We contained the vertical passing game. They may have had a couple things on a couple of the drives, but I think for the most part everybody that came in played well.”

And offered plenty of hope for the future.

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