React and Attack: A Football Blog

            Well, that was rough.       What seemed like a favorable matchup against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday quickly turned into a rout for the Green Bay Packers. Aside from a few decent punts and a field goal from Mason Crosby, the game was a disaster. The Packers defense allowed 38 points against a depleted Saints offense, and even when they managed to get a stop, the Packers offense failed to produce almost anything of value.     When I was able to get ahold of the All-22 tape from the game and began reviewing the defensive performance, I didn't expect to see many positives. Like many Packers fans, I was disgusted by the defense's inability to stop the Saints on the ground or in the air. There were several coverage breakdowns, and the defense failed to get consistent pressure on Jameis Winston. My early hopes for Joe Barry's iteration of the Packers defense were quickly fading.     However, when ...

     Before we get started, I wanted to give a brief explanation about the origin of this article. Recently, I had been tossing around the idea of a semi-regular article series breaking down some aspect of each week's defensive performance. I had also been wanting to explore a blitz that the Packers called against the Bills during the final preseason game. A few days ago, these concepts coalesced into what you see before you. With the "Ride the Lightning" series, I'm planning to take a look at the different blitzes that the Packers run throughout the season. Ideally, I'd like to do this almost every week, but that may depend on what blitzes the Packers run each week, how interesting those playcalls are, and how much time I have between college and work.     As for the name? That came to me almost immediately after I had the idea for the article series. "Blitz" is German for "lightning," and as an avid Metallica fan, the association with their f...