Secondary prepares to drop curtain on Saints' aerial display
[img_r]http://media.jsonline.com/images/199*189/nick111708.jpg[/img_r]This Packers team can dwell on the options it has to defend against quarterback Drew Brees and his talented group of receivers and running backs rather than trying to figure out how to patch up weaknesses.
"There is no arrogance about it whatsoever," secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer said. "We have hard-working players. We understand the quality of players we play against and know they're capable of doing good things against us as well. We have to work hard in practice, we have to prepare hard and we have to study and be ready when we go out there every week."
There's no question the Packers have benefited from facing quarterbacks like Chicago's Kyle Orton, Minnesota's Gus Frerotte, Seattle's Charlie Frye, Tampa Bay's Brian Griese and the Vikings' Tarvaris Jackson. But they also did a reasonably good job against Dallas' Tony Romo (82.6 rating), a terrific job against Indianapolis' Peyton Manning (46.6) and a solid job on Tennessee's Kerry Collins (62.9).
In the Packers' 37-3 domination of the Bears Sunday, the pass defense was superb again, limiting a hobbled Orton to 13 of 26 passing for 133 yards, good for a passer rating of 65.1. Backup Rex Grossman completed 4 of 7 for 26 yards and a 65.2 rating.
What made the performance significant was defensive coordinator Bob Sanders' decision to put cornerback Charles Woodson on tight end Greg Olsen and play the Bears with five defensive backs. It was a gamble given how much the Bears like to run the ball, but the way Woodson is playing, along with the faith the coaches have in nickel back Tramon Williams to cover receivers, there wasn't much hesitation to do it.
"Whatever we have to do (we'll do), from all positions back there," Schottenheimer said. "We take great pride in playing the run, playing the pass, playing match coverages, zone coverages, man-to-man. Guys are playing with confidence."
The success of the pass defense isn't just that the Packers have three cornerbacks in Woodson, Williams and Harris who can play man-to-man coverage, it's that safety Nick Collins is playing at a Pro Bowl level, backup safety Aaron Rouse has been able to offer unique features to the defense with his size and linebacker Brandon Chillar has been better than advertised in coverage.
If the Packers ever get safety Atari Bigby playing at the level he did before injuring his hamstring in Week 2, they will have no one who can be picked on. At this point, options like putting Woodson on a tight end or Bigby in the box or Chillar on a running back are plentiful.
It would also seem as if the Packers could devote more help to their run defense or pass rush knowing that things are secure in the secondary, but coach Mike McCarthy said it doesn't necessarily work that way.
"We're not going to just change to change, or try to go wholesale and just overload (or) scheme people to change up," McCarthy said. "People change from week to week. Everybody does self-scout, everybody is trying to anticipate tendencies of their opponent and that's really the chess match that you are playing."
It is notable, however, that the Packers will have several directions they can go in covering Saints running back Reggie Bush, should he return from a knee injury this week. Bush was functioning more as a receiver than a runner before he got hurt, totaling 42 catches for 366 yards and three touchdowns in seven games.
They must also worry about receivers Marques Colston, Lance Moore and Devery Henderson, as well as tight end Jeremy Shockey, all of whom contribute to the Saints averaging 411.5 yards per game. New Orleans has not been unstoppable, but this match-up will be on par with the one the Packers faced against Dallas in Week 3.
About the only element missing from the Packers' pass defense lately has been consistent pressure on the quarterback. The defensive line has only four sacks in the last four games and that needs to improve, especially facing a team that has given up just eight sacks in 398 passing attempts this season.
"The effort those guys have played with on the back end (has been good)," Sanders said. "We haven't had as many sacks as we're accustomed to, but we've tipped a couple balls and hit the quarterback a couple times. We had fairly decent pressure (against the Bears), but the effort those guys are playing with on the back end is huge to our success."