Last week, the Green Bay Packers did not play well and lost on the road to the Washington Redskins while the Buffalo Bills stomped on the Minnesota Vikings. The Green and Gold have to put the sour taste of last week’s result away and focus on their upcoming date with the Bills. The Green Bay Packers tight ends will play a vital role against the Bills on Sunday.
Green Bay Packers Tight Ends vs. Buffalo Bills Pass Rush
Buffalo Bills Pass Rush
Last week, the Bills absolutely dominated the Vikings from opening whistle to the end. They were able to force turnovers early in the game and give Josh Allen, their rookie quarterback, excellent field position.
The Bills defense brought in pressure at a historic pace last week. “The Bills defense tallied a whopping 40 individual pressures against Minnesota. According to our numbers, that hasn’t been done by a defense in a game since the Denver Broncos racked up 41 individual pressures against the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. Buffalo’s defense after combining for just 27 individual pressures in the first two weeks accomplished something that hadn’t been done in more than two full seasons,” wrote Pro Football Focus senior analyst Billy Moy for Buffalo News.
The Bills got their pass rush out of the entire front seven, but two men stood out from the rest. Veteran defensive ends Jerry Hughes and linebacker Lorenzo Alexander were virtually unstoppable last Sunday.
Jerry Hughes
“Hughes had a team-leading 13 quarterback pressures resulting in 10 hurries. Both of which were league highs this week to go along with two quarterback h, ts, a sack and a forced fumble. This combination of stats earned Hughes the second best defensive grade in the entire league in Week Three,” writes Mike Distefano for BuffalowDown.com.
Hughes finished last Sunday with a Pro Football Focus grade of 93.4. Simply put, it is highly unlikely for an edge rusher to have a better game than Hughes did last weekend. Through the first three weeks of the young season, Hughes is tied with Khalil Mack of the Chicago Bears for the most pressure by edge rushers with 20 according to PFF.
Khalil Mack and Jerry Hughes lead all edge defenders in total pressures so far this season. pic.twitter.com/gN3LCsoel6
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) September 24, 2018
But the crazy part is that he was not alone. Usually, when a player dominates like Hughes, they do it by themselves a la Mack with the Bears or his former team the Oakland Raiders.
Lorenzo Alexander
For as dominant as Hughes was, his counterpart linebacker Lorenzo Alexander was equally dominant. The 12-year veteran out of California brought the heat on Sunday, although his stats sheet does not indicate it.
The Bills veteran pass rusher was not often on the field (only 39 snaps), but he made each snap count. “Lorenzo Alexander set a career high with nine pressures. Alexander racked up those pressures on 31 pass rush attempts. All nine of his pressures were hurries,” wrote Moy for Buffalo News.
Pro Football Focus graded Alexander’s outing with a 90.5. In fact, he was so disruptive that on the day, only his teammate Hughes had more pressures and quarterback hurries.
Combined, the two [Hughes and Alexander] had 22 combined pressures on [Kirk] Cousins. That was more than 21 entire teams in the NFL,” wrote Nick Wojton for USA Today.
They were not the only ones to bring the heat as basically the entire Bills front seven lived in the Vikings backfield last Sunday.
Green Bay Packers Blocking Game
The Packers offensive line is facing a tall task ahead. Not only would it be difficult to stop, or at least, halt that Bills pass rush; however, with a wobbled Aaron Rodgers, there is more on the line.
An injury to the Packers legendary quarterback would possibly end prematurely another season for the Green and Gold. This week, Rodgers returned to practice, the first time since suffering a knee injury in the season opener against archrival Bears.
To block that vaunted pass rush, the Packers will have to use their tight ends. This past off-season, general manager Brian Gutekunst signed veteran tight ends Jimmy Graham and Marcedes Lewis.
Graham has always been known more for his ability as a receiving target more than his blocking prowess. Against Washington, he was tasked too many times to block linebacker Ryan Kerrigan, which is a mismatch in favor of Washington. Graham’s impact on Sunday against the Bills will have to be through the air to help get the ball out of Rodgers’ hands quickly, and in the red zone, where the offense has struggled mightily.
Marcedes Lewis
Whereas Graham struggles in the blocking aspect, former Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Marcedes Lewis does not. Actually, a season ago, Lewis received the highest grade for run blocking among all tight ends according to Pro Football Focus.
Packers’ target Marcedes Lewis was the top graded run blocker among tight ends last season according to @PFF. Wasn’t over a small sample size, either. 517 run-blocking snaps. Could be ideal complement at TE.
— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) May 23, 2018
However, the Packers have not given Lewis ample plays to get acclimated with his new teammates. “Of Green Bay’s 206 offensive snaps thus far, Lewis has only seen the field for 13.6 percent of them,” writes Paul Bretl for LombardiAve.com.
Lewis will have to receive more playing time on Sunday to help his teammate on the offensive line block the vaunted Bills pass rush and keep Rodgers healthy and as clean as possible.
The other tight ends on the team, Lance Kendricks and undrafted rookie Robert Tonyan are not much of blockers. Kendricks is not a good blocker due to his smaller frame (6’3, 250) and does not offer a reliable pass-catching target. And, his mate Tonyan (6’5, 237) was a wide receiver at Indiana State. Tonyan much like Graham could provide help through the passing game, running quick routes and be a matchup nightmare in the red zone due to his size. He could win a lot of jump balls.
Conclusion
Lewis is the best blocking tight end on the team, and the offensive line will need his help containing the Bills pass rush. He should see the field a whole lot more this week than he has all season long thus far.
Just a week ago, this game looked like a gimme. Everyone would’ve said the Pack will run away with the victory, but upon seeing what the Bills did to an excellent football team last week, this is not the case anymore. Buffalo’s defense looks good enough to not only keep them in games but also outright win them games against tough opponents as they demonstrated last week.
