Smith Cranks Up the Pressure as Defense Sacks Falcons

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With Aaron Rodgers rolling, the Green Bay Packers’ offense is an undeniable powerhouse. If Za’Darius Smith can stay rolling, the defense could follow suit.

Smith had a monster game in the Packers’ 30-16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night. By the official stats, Smith had three sacks, four tackles for losses, five quarterback hits and eight tackles. Each of those led the way as the defense played its best game of the season against its most talented opponent.

Entering the night, Smith had two sacks and three quarterback hits, which put him on a pace for 10.7 sacks and 16 quarterback hits. Last year, in a tour de force debut with the team, he was sixth in the NFL with 13.5 sacks but tied for first with 37 quarterback hits. Similarly, Smith entered the night with five quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. That was a pace of 26.7 pressures – a meager figure compared to last year’s league-leading 93.

By those lofty standards, Smith’s performance was more in line with expectations.

“You know me, I’m more of a pressure guy, man,” Smith said while cradling the game ball given to him by coach Matt LaFleur. “We discussed that last year; P [Preston Smith] wants sacks and I want the pressures. The pressures bring sacks, so in those situations man I was just glad I was able to make some big plays for the team and get this dub.”

Smith matched or exceeded his three-game totals of eight tackles and the aforementioned two sacks and three quarterback hits in one dominant performance.

It was a big-time showing in a critical game. Not only was Green Bay’s offense incredibly short-handed without receivers Davante Adams and Allen Lazard, but the defense lost cornerbacks Kevin King (quad) and Chandon Sullivan (concussion). That wasn’t a perfect formula for success against a high-powered Atlanta offense that entered the week sixth in scoring with 30.0 points per game.

Instead, the Falcons managed only 16 points – a full two touchdowns less than their season average and the Packers’ best performance of the year. Matt Ryan threw for 285 yards but there was quite a bit of fluff added to that total in the fourth quarter. Julio Jones had four catches for 32 yards in the first half before missing the second half with a hamstring injury. Calvin Ridley, who entered the week leading the NFL in receiving yards per game, didn’t catch any of his five targets. Moreover, Atlanta didn’t have a play of 20-plus yards until less than 2 minutes remained.

So, in the triumphant locker room, LaFleur called up Smith to deliver the game ball.

“He called the stats,” Smith said. “I forgot the stats but it was something crazy. I’m talking about on a video game. I didn’t even know I had done that much but, you know, it’s big, man, to be able to get this because he challenged me earlier this week to bring my all in this game. I’m going to continue to do it because I started out slow but, as you can see, I’m back on track now to continue to be great.”