Don’t blitz the Packers

The Detroit Lions wanted to blitz the Green Bay Packers in Week 1, in part to get their linebackers playing faster in the running game. When the Packers had answers to the Lions’ blitzes on Sunday, Detroit had to back off and play soft zone coverage, which opened up the running game for Josh Jacobs in the second half. Lions head coach Dan Campbell said as much after the game.

So what did the Packers do to the Lions to take advantage of the blitz? Take a look at the cut-up yourself:

Here were the results from Green Bay’s passing game, in order:

• Explosive play
• RPO glance that Jayden Reed got his hands on, but was a little behind
• Explosive play
• Fade route that Romeo Doubs got his hands on
• Explosive play
• Explosive play (touchdown)
• Explosive play
• Bad decision checkdown after hunting the deep shot for a little too long
• Checkdown
• Fade route that Jayden Reed got his hands on

Ultimately, Packers quarterback Jordan Love finished 6 of 10 for 122 yards (12.2 yards per attempt), a touchdown and a 136.3 passer rating. Arguably, three of his four incompletions could have been caught, too. You take those results.

Even though the Lions got out of their blitz-heavy game plan early, Green Bay was still the third-most blitzed team in the NFL from a percentage standpoint, per NFL Pro. Don’t blitz the Packers. They’ll gut you. Love and Matt LaFleur are calling up homerun shots early and often, if Week 1 was any indication.

Beyond Love, let’s give a shoutout to the offensive line, tight ends and running backs for the pass protection against these blitzes. What Jacobs and Chris Brooks did in pass protection was elite for the running back position. That shouldn’t go unnoticed.