The Packers Pass Rush Was Good, Just Not Good Enough

The Green Bay Packers only sacked Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold once in Green Bay’s 27-25 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday afternoon.

While that looks bad on paper, it would be easy to conclude that Green Bay’s pass rush was terrible. However, that was not the case. The Packers pass rush did an admirable job. They were just a little too late on a lot of the dropbacks.

Devonte Wyatt did this in only two quarters of play because he left with a concussion in the second half. Undrafted free agent Brenton Cox Jr. had the next-highest total with four, out-snapping former 13th-overall pick Lukas Van Ness in this game. The Packers rewarded Cox’s production, but there was just not enough pressure for the Packers to affect Darnold.

The Packers should have had more than one sack on Darnold, but Cox played one heck of a game. Still, Darnold broke his single-game passing yards record with 377 yards on 33 completions. He was efficient with the ball and made play after play. Even with the Packers getting pressure on Darnold, he’d still make tremendous plays like this:

Below is another example of Darnold moving well despite the pressure from Cox:

The Packers need more from Rashan Gary and Kingsley Enagbare. Their starting edge duo has been quiet these past few weeks, and Enagbare cannot make plays like this:

In the clip above, Vikings tight end Josh Oliver is covering Enagbare one-on-one. Pass rushers dream of situations like this. Getting to go one-on-one with a smaller, slighter player with more space to work with is a gift. However, Enagabre is on an island with a tight end and cannot do anything to him. With more time, maybe Enagbare can get there and disrupt Darnold. However, time is a luxury the Packers could not afford on Sunday.

Karl Brooks got the lone sack, but that was the only thing he could do in the pass rush that afternoon. Kenny Clark was also responsible for four pressures but no hits or sacks. While teams need production from their edge rushers, they also need contributions from the interior guys.

Below were reps where the Packers gave Darnold all day:

Even when the Packers blitzed, they only brought four, and the Vikings easily picked it up. Cooper came, and Van Nes dropped into coverage, but there was no pressure on Darnold, who could deliver easily.

Green Bay’s pass rush disrupted Darnold, but it wasn’t enough as the Vikings signal caller played a tremendous game against the defense. The Packers need to find a way to get home on some of these pressures, or quarterbacks will dice them up in the playoffs and the offseason will start sooner than they want.