Packers Defense: Jonathan Gannon has a lot of answers

While former Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley called defenses with pretty predictable structures, as he mostly called in plays out of a 4-3 base and a nickel defense, we were promised a more diverse set of answers under Jonathan Gannon, who runs a 3-4 base. While it wasn’t enough to stop the Minnesota Vikings from scoring 39 points (Thanks, offensive line!), we did get a look at what types of answers Gannon has on defense last Sunday.

I want to break down these answers as two sets of families, because there are several defenses that have the same personnel groupings: the 3-4 family and the nickel family.

The photo above is the Packers’ typical 3-4 defense, with two edge defenders on the field, three interior defensive linemen (think 300-pounders) and two off-ball linebackers in the box. I won’t explain this one too much, since you guys are probably well familiar with how this defense works. It’s been around for decades, and it’s what 3-4 teams generally call against two-receiver sets.

One change-up that Gannon has is adding a sixth player to the line of scrimmage, which, in the Packers’ case, is Will linebacker Edgerrin Cooper. This is Gannon’s answer to heavier formations where the offense is in an obvious running situation. The screenshot above is from a situation where the Vikings had two backs and a tight end on the field and only needed three yards to move the sticks.

In this look, the weak-side edge defender (in this case it’s Dani Dennis-Sutton at the top of the screen) is “reduced” into a third defensive tackle role and Cooper drops down on the edge to replace him. In short, it’s a way for the Packers to clog up running lanes at the point of attack while not tipping off to the offense that they’re doing so, as they aren’t getting into a new personnel package — only the spacing is changing.

The photo above is nothing special; it’s just your run-of-the-mill nickel defense. There are two edge defenders (3-4 outside linebackers or 4-3 defensive ends, depending on the scheme), two interior defensive linemen (again, think 300-pounders) and two off-ball linebackers. The spacing is similar to a 4-3 defense, with the major difference being that instead of a strong-side (Sam) linebacker, that player has been replaced by a nickelback (in this case, it’s safety Javon Bullard at the top of the screen).

The Packers have different ways to get into different spacings out of this group, though. In the preseason, Gannon debuted his penny defense, which is essentially a 3-4 defense on the line of scrimmage with just one off-ball linebacker (generally, 3-4 defenses sub out the Will linebacker for the slot defender).

Gannon had a couple of new wrinkles for the regular season, though. Because Green Bay‘s Will (Cooper) is a player that the Packers want on the field full-time, they play him on the edge. So do the Packers sub out an edge rusher to get the nickelback on the field? No! Edge defender Lukas Van Ness (top of screen), who can hold his own on the interior, has been regularly kicking inside in these nickel subpackages, allowing Green Bay to sub out a 300-pound defensive tackle.

That’s how the Packers were able to play penny out of nickel personnel in this game. For what it’s worth, Green Bay used a true slot defender against the Vikings, a different look from their preseason set — when they played split safeties and then Xavier McKinney 15 yards deep in the middle of the field over the split safeties.

This formation is used when the Packers want to stop the run (with their spacing) against three-receiver sets, but still want to play coverage (with their personnel, by bringing a slot defender onto the field).

This is another nickel personnel subpackage that the Packers have. It’s similar to penny, in that Van Ness is kicking inside to a defensive tackle position, but instead of the team playing a five-down front with one off-ball linebacker, the team plays a five-down front with two off-ball linebackers.

To make the math work out of nickel personnel, Bullard, the slot defender, actually plays the edge defender position opposite of the true edge rusher (Bullard is at the top of the screen here). The Packers are using this against two-receiver sets (which usually demand a 3-4 base defense) in obvious passing situations. For example, the screenshot above comes from a 2nd and 10 when the Vikings played two tight ends and a running back.

The thinking is that a team in Minnesota’s situation would want to pass the ball, but is baiting the defense to get into their base defense to match their personnel. The Packers are comfortable enough with Van Ness inside (something he didn’t do at all in the preseason outside of rush packages) and Bullard on the edge to call opposing offenses’ bluffs.

This is the final package I want to talk about, and it was sort of a one-off. The Packers called this three-off-ball-linebacker set just one time, on a third and extra long against the Vikings. There’s only one interior defensive lineman on the field, the head-up nose tackle, while two inside linebackers are walked up over the guards and two edge defenders are outside of the tackles.

This is Green Bay’s answer to screens and draws: Taking off a 300-pounder for an extra off-ball linebacker, who in this case is Isaiah McDuffie, to help run and chase on a tackle.

There are a lot of different defenses that Gannon called this weekend, and they all have their own specific usage. For the most part, the team matches offensive personnel with defensive personnel — meaning two-receiver sets are matched with a 3-4 base and three-receiver sets are matched with a nickel defense.

Certain situations call for different options, though, which is why the Packers played it’s 6-1 against heavy personnel in run downs, penny against light offenses in run downs, mint against heavy offenses in pass downs and their three-linebacker set when a screen or draw was coming on an extra long down and distance.

So far, the Packers lead the NFL in yards per play on defense (Thanks again, offensive line!), so it’s hard to make the case that the plan didn’t work in Week 1. We’ll keep an eye on Green Bay’s defense week-to-week and let you all know if anything is changing with their plan.