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News: Can Packers Handle Zeke And The Boys?
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/m/3242...237a3d8c20/news:-can-packers-handle-zeke.html
The Packers’ Run Defense Is Absurdly Good - But Can They Handle Zeke and the Boys? Danny Kelly, The Ringer Kelly turns his attention to the unstoppable-force-meets-immovable-object matchup between the Packers and the Cowboys. Capers and his run defense will set out to make Dallas one-dimensional on offense. They want to take the ball out of Elliott’s hands and task their other star rookie with carrying the load. Prescott has been extraordinarily efficient managing the game for Dallas while Tony Romo rehabs his back injury, but he’s still relatively limited as a passer and has thrown just four touchdowns on the season. On Sunday, we’ll see the mythological battle of Hector vs. Achilles reenacted ...
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/n...st-rush-attack-meets-the-packers-stout-run-d/
Let's start with that Green Bay run defense. Through four games, the Packers have allowed their opponents to run for only 171 yards, an average of 42.8 per game. That's the second-fewest ground yards per game any team has allowed in its first four contests since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970, per Pro-Football-Reference.
And it's not as though teams just aren't trying to run against the Packers at all. They're facing 21.5 rush attempts per game, which is below the league average, but 2.5 more runs than the Steelers and Eagles, who have faced the fewest average rush attempts per game. Those 21.5 runs just aren't actually going anywhere, as the Packers have yielded a disgustingly low 2.0 yards per carry. That's the single-best figure for a team in its first four games since the merger.
How are the Packers doing it? Well, they're mostly just straight up dominating opposing offensive lines in the trenches.
Green Bay has stopped 32 percent of its opponents' rush attempts in the backfield, per Football Outsiders, tops in the league. Only two other teams in the last 10 seasons (2006 Vikings, 2012 Buccaneers) have stopped over 30 percent of rush attempts in the backfield. Per Pro Football Focus, they have not given up more than 19 rushing yards before first contact in a single game this season. Their opponents are averaging 0.31 yards per carry before contact through four games -- the NFL average this season is 1.56 per carry.
Football Outsiders also has a statistic called Adjusted Line Yards (ALY), which essentially attempts to sort out how much credit the offensive line should get for the running game on a per-carry basis; basically, how many rushing yards per carry does the line create, before the running back takes it from there? Through Week 5, Green Bay (obviously) leads the NFL in ALY against, with an average of 2.16 yards per carry. Football Outsiders has been tracking the statistic since 1996; 2.16 ALY against would be the best figure the site has ever tracked, and it's not particularly close.
On the rare occasions where a running back has broken through the Green Bay line, the linebackers, safeties, and corners have done an excellent job of keeping them from snapping off long runs. The longest run any opponent has this season is just 14 yards. The Vikings are the only other team that has yet to allow a 20-plus yard run...
https://theringer.com/green-bay-packers-run-defense-90058a5bbf6d#.9iwe5zajq
Capers and his run defense will set out to make Dallas one-dimensional on offense. They want to take the ball out of Elliott’s hands and task their other star rookie with carrying the load. Prescott has been extraordinarily efficient managing the game for Dallas while Tony Romo rehabs his back injury, but he’s still relatively limited as a passer and has thrown just four touchdowns on the season.
On Sunday, we’ll see the mythological battle of Hector vs. Achilles reenacted on the football field. We all know how that played out the first time, but while Elliott and the Cowboys’ run game look invincible, if Green Bay can get to their heel and collapse their rushing attack, the Cowboys start to look pretty mortal. It comes down to the Cowboys’ offensive line against the Packers’ elite, run-stuffing front. Whoever controls the line of scrimmage controls the outcome of the game.
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/m/3242...237a3d8c20/news:-can-packers-handle-zeke.html
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/n...st-rush-attack-meets-the-packers-stout-run-d/
Let's start with that Green Bay run defense. Through four games, the Packers have allowed their opponents to run for only 171 yards, an average of 42.8 per game. That's the second-fewest ground yards per game any team has allowed in its first four contests since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970, per Pro-Football-Reference.
And it's not as though teams just aren't trying to run against the Packers at all. They're facing 21.5 rush attempts per game, which is below the league average, but 2.5 more runs than the Steelers and Eagles, who have faced the fewest average rush attempts per game. Those 21.5 runs just aren't actually going anywhere, as the Packers have yielded a disgustingly low 2.0 yards per carry. That's the single-best figure for a team in its first four games since the merger.
How are the Packers doing it? Well, they're mostly just straight up dominating opposing offensive lines in the trenches.
Green Bay has stopped 32 percent of its opponents' rush attempts in the backfield, per Football Outsiders, tops in the league. Only two other teams in the last 10 seasons (2006 Vikings, 2012 Buccaneers) have stopped over 30 percent of rush attempts in the backfield. Per Pro Football Focus, they have not given up more than 19 rushing yards before first contact in a single game this season. Their opponents are averaging 0.31 yards per carry before contact through four games -- the NFL average this season is 1.56 per carry.
Football Outsiders also has a statistic called Adjusted Line Yards (ALY), which essentially attempts to sort out how much credit the offensive line should get for the running game on a per-carry basis; basically, how many rushing yards per carry does the line create, before the running back takes it from there? Through Week 5, Green Bay (obviously) leads the NFL in ALY against, with an average of 2.16 yards per carry. Football Outsiders has been tracking the statistic since 1996; 2.16 ALY against would be the best figure the site has ever tracked, and it's not particularly close.
On the rare occasions where a running back has broken through the Green Bay line, the linebackers, safeties, and corners have done an excellent job of keeping them from snapping off long runs. The longest run any opponent has this season is just 14 yards. The Vikings are the only other team that has yet to allow a 20-plus yard run...
https://theringer.com/green-bay-packers-run-defense-90058a5bbf6d#.9iwe5zajq
Capers and his run defense will set out to make Dallas one-dimensional on offense. They want to take the ball out of Elliott’s hands and task their other star rookie with carrying the load. Prescott has been extraordinarily efficient managing the game for Dallas while Tony Romo rehabs his back injury, but he’s still relatively limited as a passer and has thrown just four touchdowns on the season.
On Sunday, we’ll see the mythological battle of Hector vs. Achilles reenacted on the football field. We all know how that played out the first time, but while Elliott and the Cowboys’ run game look invincible, if Green Bay can get to their heel and collapse their rushing attack, the Cowboys start to look pretty mortal. It comes down to the Cowboys’ offensive line against the Packers’ elite, run-stuffing front. Whoever controls the line of scrimmage controls the outcome of the game.
