SEATTLE — Brenton Cox Jr. bull-rushed left tackle Charles Cross like it was nothing. The 2023 undrafted edge rusher manhandled the 2022 No. 9 pick all the way to quarterback Sam Howell, discarded him and whipped Howell to the turf as “Go Pack Go” chants filled the stadium 1,933 miles from Lambeau Field.
The Packers led 30-13 at the time with about four minutes remaining in the game. Cox’s celebration, as Seattle waved the white flag and trotted on its punt team from its 31-yard line, featured a meditation pose with his hands in prayer formation. That’s all the Seahawks’ offensive line could do on Sunday night — pray.
The Packers (10-4) finished their 30-13 win over the Seahawks (8-6) with seven sacks from six players and 12 quarterback hits from nine different guys. Only once in their prior 13 games did the Packers register as many sacks — eight against the Titans in Week 3 from seven players. Their 12 quarterback hits Sunday night tied their 12 from Week 3 as a season high.
“Our D-line came to play and they did a hell of a job and just got constant pressure,” head coach Matt LaFleur said.
We weren’t gonna go speechless in Seattle pic.twitter.com/GFn9Az8CNG
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 16, 2024
According to TruMedia, the Packers finished Sunday night’s game with a pressure percentage of 45.2, meaning they pressured Seahawks quarterbacks on almost half of their dropbacks. For reference, the highest team pressure rate in the NFL this season is 41.7 percent — the Browns are the only team over 40. Green Bay posted a sack rate of 17.5 percent against the Seahawks. The highest team sack rate this season belongs to the Giants at 9.4 percent.
Entering Week 15, the Packers ranked 21st in pressure percentage, 15th in sack percentage and 27th in blitz rate. When they didn’t blitz in their first 13 games (TruMedia counts a blitz as any rush with five or more players), the Packers had a pressure percentage of 29.1 percent (22nd in the NFL when teams don’t blitz) and a sack rate of 7.3 percent (eighth). Against the Seahawks, the Packers stayed true to their philosophy of not blitzing much, only sending five or more pass rushers on 9.5 percent of Seattle’s dropbacks.
Even so, the Packers registered a pressure percentage of 42.1 when not blitzing and a sack rate of 19.4 percent in those situations. All seven Packers’ sacks came on non-blitzes.
“Just winning our one-on-ones,” defensive tackle Kenny Clark said. “Got them in passing situations. Stopped the run for the most part. They had probably one big run. We get them in dropback situations, we’re able to pin our ears back and rush.”
Simulated pressures are a tactic that allows the Packers to get pressure. Those are when a defensive lineman drops into coverage while a non-defensive lineman rushes the quarterback.
“Trying to play a mind game with the O-linemen and the offense,” defensive end Kingsley Enagbare said of those plays. “It’s just different looks and pretty much try to confuse them and make them make the first mistake.”
Six players crowded the line of scrimmage on Green Bay’s first sack of the night, but Enagbare and linebacker Quay Walker dropped into coverage. Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper burst through the A-gap and took on running back Zach Charbonnet while Clark started on right guard Laken Tomlinson. Clark ran a stunt around Cooper’s left, so Charbonnet slid to Clark. By the time he did, Cooper was already past Tomlinson and taking down quarterback Geno Smith on third down to force a punt.
COOOOOOOOOP!#ProBowlVote + #EdgerrinCooper pic.twitter.com/NCIo7ur5Sf
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 16, 2024
Asked what the Packers saw on film from Seattle’s offensive line that made them think they could have a prolific night, Cooper said, “especially for those pick games, they had a lot of space in between ’em,” referencing plays like the aforementioned on which Clark looped around Cooper.
Entering Week 15, the Seahawks ranked 28th in pressure rate allowed and 21st in sack rate allowed. It was paramount that an inconsistent Packers pass rush exploited such a weakness and got Smith off his spot because, if they didn’t, he would be capable of dicing them up from a clean pocket.
It wasn’t just a couple of Packers wreaking havoc in the backfield. Everyone was invited to the pass-rush party. On third-and-2 early in the second quarter, defensive tackle Karl Brooks chopped past right guard Sataoa Laumea while defensive end Rashan Gary power rushed right tackle Abraham Lucas nearly into the quarterback. Brooks got to Smith first and threw his hands up, forcing Smith right into Gary’s path for a sack that held the Seahawks to a field goal.
Goodness, Rashan!#ProBowlVote + #RashanGary pic.twitter.com/dZ0Ud6YnBE
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 16, 2024
On third-and-9 from the Packers’ 12-yard line later in the quarter, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley sent six rushers and linebacker Eric Wilson breezed past Charbonnet while Brooks did so past the left guard Tomlinson. The rush sped up Smith, who lofted a jump ball into the end zone that cornerback Carrington Valentine intercepted.
Then on two plays in a three-play span to start the third quarter, defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt spun past Laumea to sack Smith for a loss of 9 yards before Clark beat Laumea and drew a holding penalty to push the Seahawks from first-and-10 at the Packers’ 36-yard line to third-and-29 from their own 45.
“We was just able to pretty much pin our ears back all day,” Enagbare said. “The offense was able to score early a lot, too, so kinda put ’em in a pass-first situation. So we just knew: stop the run on first and second down. We already know what time it is third down.”
Speaking of Enagbare, perhaps the most dominant sequence in the game came from the third-year defensive end late in the third quarter. On first-and-10 from the Seahawks’ 26, Enagbare beat Lucas to sack quarterback Sam Howell, who replaced the injured Smith midway through the third quarter with the Packers leading 20-3. On the next play, Enagbare worked across the offensive line before pursuing the scrambling Howell and tackling him for a gain of only 2 yards. On third-and-13, Enagbare switched sides and was stonewalled by Cross but continued chasing Howell to the right sideline before sacking him for a 3-yard loss.
It didn’t matter which Seattle quarterback was behind center, the Packers made his life difficult. But did Green Bay’s front feel Howell was more frenetic in the pocket or did the pass rush smell blood in the water no matter what?
“A little bit of both,” Clark said. “Regardless of who was in, just pressuring him. Once Sam got in, with our disguises and our blitzes and all that kind of stuff, it’s hard for a backup quarterback to come in and make plays like that. Especially early on, he started seeing stuff — you saw (Enagbare), he had three plays in a row where he just made plays. We had him confused back there for a little bit until they tried to figure it out.”
The Seahawks tried to figure out Green Bay’s pass rush, but try is all they could do. From their first drive until late in the fourth quarter, Seattle’s turnstile up front made life easy for everyone from pass rushers making $24 million annually to undrafted guys just getting their feet wet in the league.
The Packers’ pass rush has shown glimpses of dominance this season but struggled to maintain it. Sunday night’s rampage only matters so much. But if they can continue causing chaos in the backfield even close to how they did in Seattle, you’ll struggle to find anyone eager to face Green Bay’s defense in the playoffs.
(Photo of Rashan Gary sacking Geno Smith: Stephen Brashear / Associated Press)
