This was really the week that Green Bay wanted to show that they could count on the defense for a win when needed. Chicago’s current offensive attack of rookie’s Mitch Trubisky, Tarik Cohen & Adam Shaheen does little to strike fear in opposing defenses, and their group of journeymen receivers haven’t exactly torched defensive backfields.

Chicago has solid offensive tackles, Josh Sitton is still playing good football and there’s no doubting that Jordan Howard is a really nice running back but this is a below average NFL offense. I’ve seen people suggest this week that this was a turnaround effort for the defense. Many saw the disruptiveness inside by Daniels and Clark and the three sacks by Nick Perry and assumed things were looking up. Obviously holding any NFL team to 16 points is a solid effort but there was more than the scoreboard and the three sacks that need to be discussed.

There is no denying the disruptiveness inside of Daniels and Clark. They are doing A+ work inside and it’s going to be difficult for any team to really get going through the center of the field with those two playing at that level. Jake Ryan had a really nice week for the second week in a row and Kevin King continued to show progress on the outside. All of that being said we continued to see the same mental mistakes and communications errors on this defense that have plagued them for far too long.

If Chicago hadn’t fumbled out of the end zone to basically take away 7 points and had Trubisky been even an average NFL passer at this stage of his career Green Bay would have given up 30+ points in this game. Receivers continued to come open when they shouldn’t have and we just haven’t seen players make big plays when needed. Even Nick Perry’s three sacks were delayed and not the result of him beating his man one on one.

Green Bay will get another shot against another below average NFL offense this week. It’s time for the defense to step up and take some of the pressure off of Hundley and the offense.

No clue what the hell is going on here.. These coverage busts are f’n ridiculous.. This is like the 6th play of the damn game! Wtf! pic.twitter.com/cRcq8G74VR

— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) November 14, 2017

More on the defense from Michelle: https://cheeseheadtv.com/blog/green-and-bold-take-packers-defense-with-a-grain-of-salt-218

Top 3 Performers

Stout edge by Nick Perry but YOU ARE NOT REACHING KENNY CLARK! Nope. pic.twitter.com/61EH5Hhkgf

— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) November 14, 2017

Mike Daniels +1.90
Kenny Clark +1.10
Jake Ryan +0.65

Early 2ndQ.. Already 2nd time the Bears tried to wham Kenny Clark (with his get off, expect it every game)... but this is almost a freakyyyyy play. Most DTs can’t turn that corner..

That’s rookie Montravius Adams vs LG.. Eyes up!! pic.twitter.com/bbOCxq7eym

— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) November 14, 2017

Bottom 3 Performers

Josh Jones -1.30
Davon House -1.15
Dean Lowry -0.75

Defensive Line

Mike Daniels +1.9
Kenny Clark +1.1
Montravious Adams +0.35
Dean Lowry -0.75

4th Quarter, 4th down.. Last play of game.. No one cares, right. Game over?

42 snaps but watch the hustle by @Mike_Daniels76 here. He could have dogged it. He could have stopped. Nope. Flow to the football and FINISH!! pic.twitter.com/1eXEenNiol

— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) November 14, 2017

I’ve run out of amazing things to say about Clark & Daniels but once again I’ll simply say that it’s worth tuning in every Sunday just to watch their effort. If you haven’t yet, take your eye off the ball on defense and just keep an eye on their play inside. It’s worth your time.

I was encouraged by the progress of Montravious Adams this week. He took a big jump after looking lost earlier this season. On Sunday he looked much more aware and much stronger at the point of attach. If he can develop into a contributing defensive tackle Green Bay will be set on the interior for a long time to come.

Attaboy Adams!! Get you some QB!!! Welcome to the show! @Montravius1TGE pic.twitter.com/L4ORk7DDYl

— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) November 14, 2017

More on Kenny Clark from Zach: https://cheeseheadtv.com/blog/packers-question-of-the-day-kenny-clarks-rise-314

Edge

Clay Matthews +0.15
Nick Perry -0.05
Vince Biegel -0.05
Kyler Fackrell -0.45
Ahmad Brooks -0.65

I love seeing players set the tone on the first play of the game. Here Daniels walks the center right back into the rb while Matthews screams off the edge and forces the run back inside resulting in a tfl. pic.twitter.com/P8nynqnywA

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) November 16, 2017

While the numbers aren’t sexy, they are somewhat the result of the gameplan that was put in place for Chicago’s offense. It makes sense that Capers and the coaching staff would want to contain the run game and make everything go through Daniels & Clark. In this regard the edge did their job and funneled the vast majority of run plays inside. In the pass game it was a similar gameplan. Green Bay was happy to let Trubisky try to beat them from the pocket and once again focused their edge rushers on containing him inside. This containment along with solid coverage helped Nick Perry amass his three sack performance. That said, when Green Bay needed their rushers to get home one on one they had trouble beating Chicago’s tackles.

Linebacker

Jake Ryan +0.65
Blake Martinez -0.15

So far this season the buzz at linebacker has really been around Blake Martinez’ improvement. While it’s not unwarranted, that same buzz is going to start to generate for Jake Ryan in the very near future. Ryan has been really good the past couple of weeks and his play continues to improve. I would go as far to say that I expect Ryan is the top graded inside linebacker, ahead of Martinez, by the end of the year.

While I am really enjoying Martinez’s improved play, it would be nice to see him make the big play when it’s available. This week he read the quarterback perfectly and had an opportunity to intercept a pass. It ended up as a nice pass breakup but if he really wants to take the next step he needs to find ways to make those type of plays.

Cornerback

Kevin King +0.2
Josh Hawkins +0.0
Damarious Randall -0.5
Davon House -1.15

Gorgeous by Kevin King... The length on the jam. Stays on top of WR... Squeezes, feels, finds ball on fade.. Then high point and compete for ball.. This is an awesome PBU... pic.twitter.com/xchBvWfApM

— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) November 14, 2017

It wasn’t a huge grade but overall I really liked what I saw out of Kevin King this week. This was the first week where I really looked at his play and thought he had the potential to be a legit number one cornerback as he continues to improve. The skillset is there and you can see the game start to slow down for him. When he can get his hands on defenders and be disruptive at the line he’s really, really tough to beat.

Safety

HaHa Clinton-Dix +0.2
Jermaine Whitehead +0.15
Marwin Evans -0.1
Josh Jones -1.3

No clue what’s happening here.. Who on Chicago is talking to HHCD, why he’s gesturing back.. And then you give up the catch on 3rd down?!! pic.twitter.com/RTXNj4oOdP

— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) November 14, 2017

It’s not time to panic yet but we should start being a little alarmed at the play of Josh Jones. I’ve said multiple times in my reviews just how ultra-talented he is and how his athleticism jumps off the tape. While those two things remain true, his play also continues to be below average. It’s tough to tell if he’s over thinking, not grasping the defense, or too aggressive but there is real reason for concern. At this point in the season it would be encouraging to see him learning from some of those mental mistakes and starting to fly around a little bit more. As the season has gone on that improvement simply hasn’t been evident. It could even be argued that he’s regressed. Hopefully Jones can play with a bit more consistently going forward and use his God-given ability to help turn this defense around.

To find an updated, running total of the grades throughout the season, click here: https://cheeseheadtv.com/blog/grading-the-pack-regular-season-totals-454

Note: In these articles I often add tweets from Ben Fennell, Zach Kruse & Dusty Evely. All have been gracious enough to allow me to do so and are phenomenal follows. Please make sure you are supporting and following each of them! Thank you!

How I Grade

• Each player starts by getting a zero or neutral grade on a play. If they performed as expected on a play, their grade stays at zero.
• For a slightly above or below average play, the player gets graded -0.1 or +0.1. The vast majority of grades on the vast majority of plays are graded -0.1, 0, or +0.1.
• The highest and lowest grades on an individual play are +2.0 and -2.0 respectively. These would be large, game-changing plays.
• I won’t grade a play negatively if I cannot tell which player was at fault.
• Most of the time it’s impossible to tell the play, so I’m not grading on the execution of the play call as an NFL coach would.
• The goal of this exercise is to grade every snap over the course of the season to get a long-term view of which performers are performing well and which are not meeting expectations. This is very similar to what Pro Football Focus tries to achieve. Is it perfect? No. But what you are getting is a consistent grader who is watching specifically Packer games and putting multiple hours into every week to breakdown film and assign grades.
• Grades are for offense and defense only (including two point conversions). Special teams does not factor in.
• Preseason does not have All-22 film which makes this exercise even more challenging than usual
• Bigger plays in the game such as a 4^th and 1 or a two-point conversion are weighted higher than say a normal 1^st and 10 play to start the game.
• Lastly, the grades do not necessarily reflect who the best players are on an overall basis. As an example, Morgan Burnett may grade almost two full points below Jermaine Whitehead. Does this mean that Whitehead is the superior player to Burnett? No. It means that given the opportunities each player was given, Whitehead performed at a higher level for this individual game.

Please feel free to ask questions or comment below!