Green Bay Packers' Potent Pass Rush Falls Flat Against Peyton Manning, Broncos

The Green Bay Packers came into Week 8 boasting one of the league's best pass rushes—a unit that was second in the league in sacks, with 23, behind their Sunday night opponent: the Denver Broncos. 

However, that pass rush struggled to contain Philip Rivers when the Packers played the San Diego Chargers in Week 6, and when they returned from their Week 7 bye on Sunday, it didn't appear that they had put themselves in position to do any better against Peyton Manning. 

In fact, the unit was much worse. 

At least the stat sheet looked nice after the game against the Chargers. After all, the Packers did sack Rivers three times and hit him another 13. But that didn't prevent the quarterback from passing for 503 yards, most of those coming off quick slants to Danny Woodhead and Keenan Allen. 

The Packers went into the bye week understanding that if their pass rush couldn't take the short game away from Manning and get into the backfield before he released the ball, it would be the same story. But unfortunately, that knowledge didn't translate into production on the field. Bleacher Report's Zach Kruse was "surprised" by Green Bay's pass rush:

Green Bay didn't sack Manning one single time, and in fact it only got three hits on him, with two of those coming from Clay Matthews. 

The Broncos came out of their bye fresh, prepared and ready to play. The offense had one of its best games of the season, even if Manning didn't find the end zone. 

The Packers, on the other hand, couldn't bring the pressure. That was especially concerning given that Denver features one of the league's most reconfigured offensive lines. That, combined with the new offensive system, had been limiting Manning's effectiveness all season. 

"I do think some of Peyton Manning's unfortunate throws and decisions are the result of his subliminal lack of confidence in his frontline. ... The offensive line isn't clicking like it should," wrote Broncos insider Mike Klis of 9NEWS on Oct. 28. "How can it? It's a collection of kids, newcomer veterans and mainstays who are tied to a different system." 

But Denver's offensive line clicked and then some on Sunday, giving Manning time to progress through his reads and find the targets he wanted. Manning was 21-of-29 for a 72 percent completion rate, which is his second-highest of the season. 

Green Bay's front simply could not get into the backfield in time to put any sort of pressure on Manning, and the veteran quarterback did as he pleased. 

This was the work of a unit that had posted at least one sack in an NFL-record 42 consecutive games—a streak that ended Sunday night. NFL Live host Trey Wingo did a Packers-Broncos comparison using sack stats:

Even getting nose tackle B.J. Raji and outside linebacker Nick Perry—who have four sacks between them on the season—back from injury couldn't generate any team knockdowns. 

While the pass-rush was dire on this night, in this game, it's certainly no reason to panic. Manning is a good quarterback who has been playing far below his level this season, and his offensive line finally came together to help him get into a groove and step into his throws. 

“Denver was clearly the better team tonight. Very humbling loss. We didn’t break their rhythm on offense. They ran it well. Explosive gains were lopsided in Denver’s favor,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said after the game, per a series of tweets from the team's official Twitter account. 

The Broncos ran the ball extremely effectively—for 160 yards, to be exact—and that success on the ground combined with Manning releasing the ball quickly all but eliminated the Packers' ability to dial up the pressure.  

The Packers made some systematic changes this season that have improved their pass rush dramatically, including getting lighter on the defensive line and embracing versatility and athleticism over space-eating. As Wes Hodkiewicz of Press-Gazette Media pointed out:

"

Defensive coordinator Dom Capers will be the first to tell you they haven't totally abandoned their old two-gap scheme. It’s just that opposing offenses have forced them to change. Today, linemen have to be able to pressure the quarterback as well as defend against the run, particularly in a 3-4 scheme like the Packers.

"

The season-long payoff of those changes isn't wiped out by one game. Certainly the prime-time nature of the clunker brings more negative attention to the Packers defense, but this was one game in which the unit, which has been above-average all season, deserved it.