Green Bay Packers' Pass Rush Key to Beating Denver Broncos

At first blush, there are plenty of engaging storylines surrounding the Week 8 matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the Denver Broncos.

Both teams are undefeated at 6-0; one team will emerge with a blemish on its record. 

The game features two of the best quarterbacks in the league and two almost certain future Hall of Famers in Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning.

But perhaps the most interesting aspect of this matchup is not each team's offense, but its defense. 

To start, neither team has been playing at an unstoppable level on offense, which has been somewhat uncharacteristic for both. But Rodgers is missing multiple important weapons, and Manning is struggling behind a leaky offensive line in a new offensive system. 

The defenses, on the other hand, have bailed out each of these offenses time and time again, and they will be the key component of the matchup. Specifically, Green Bay's pass rush will be one of its most important units on the field in terms of the Packers coming away with their seventh win of the season. 

Green Bay's pass rush has been the heart of its defense this season. Its successes in disrupting the quarterback have allowed other defensive units, such as the secondary, to perform at a higher level. 

Heading into Week 8, the Packers are second in the league in total sacks with 23, despite only having played six games so far. Incidentally, they are second only to the Broncos, whose defensive line and linebackers have been ferocious. 

The Packers have seen their sacks become fairly well-distributed among their defensive talent, which is always a positive situation. Those players and their pressure totals appear in the table below. 

	Sacks	QB Hits	QB Hurries
Julius Peppers	5.5	5	11
Clay Matthews	4.5	8	14
Nick Perry	3.5	0	8
Mike Daniels	3.0	3	15
Jayrone Elliott	2.0	1	2
Mike Neal	2.0	2	6
Datone Jones	1.0	4	7
Joe Thomas	1.0	0	1
B.J. Raji	0.5	0	9
TOTAL	23 (2nd NFL)	23	73

Defensive coordinator Dom Capers likes to mix up personnel groupings, operating out of base and nickel sub-packages more than the base defense, and using the four-linebacker NASCAR package to really turn the heat up on opposing quarterbacks. 

That's precisely what he'll need to do against Manning. Denver's signal-caller has already shown this season that he's uncomfortable behind his line and that he makes mistakes under pressure—weaknesses that the Packers will seek to exploit. 

Just how poorly has Manning performed under pressure this season? To start, five of his league-leading 10 interceptions have come when he's been pressured, per Pro Football Focus.  

The goal is to pressure Manning not just into getting the ball out quickly, but also forcing him to make a bad throw that can result in an interception or simply sacking him and not allowing him to get the ball out at all.

Despite his struggles this season, Manning is a seasoned veteran, and he has learned how to perform under pressure. His completion percentage of 62.5 on the 76 dropbacks in which he has faced pressure in 2015 is actually higher than his overall season completion rate of 61.6 percent, per Pro Football Focus. 

Manning has one of the fastest releases in the league, a tactic offenses can rely on to slow an opponent's pass rush. If the quarterback can get the ball out before the linemen or linebackers can get into the backfield, pressures will be minimal.

The Broncos no doubt observed on the film how much success the San Diego Chargers and Philip Rivers were able to have against Green Bay in Week 6 by focusing on short, quick-strike passes to limit the pass rush. For the most part, San Diego succeeded.

Then again, Rivers has better weapons. 

Manning's average time from snap to attempt so far this season has been 2.24 seconds, per Pro Football Focus, the sixth-fastest among qualifying passers. 

Green Bay will have to work against that ability by dialing up the blitz and getting defenders into the backfield before Manning releases the ball, which is no small task.

However, the Packers could be working with their best pass-rushing group ever, argues Mike Spofford of Packers.com.

The group, which is on pace to break franchise records for sacks, boasts veteran stars Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews, solid interior rusher Mike Daniels and former first-round draft pick Nick Perry, who was putting together an impressive season before he injured his groin. 

The group missed nose tackle B.J. Raji in Week 6 against the San Diego Chargers, his absence underscoring his importance to the team. When he's not getting pressures himself, he's eating blocks and freeing up other players, like the linebackers, to get into the backfield. 

But Perry and Raji returned to practice in pads on Monday, per Weston Hodkiewicz of Press-Gazette Media, a sign that Green Bay's pass rush could be at full strength come Sunday night. 

If it is, Manning will be put to the test against it.