Top five defensive schemers in the NFL right now

#5 Mike Pettine

And finally, I want to give Mike Pettine some love. I said before last offseason that the Packers should retain their defensive coordinator no matter who they bring in as their new head-coach because I saw a plan in what he does and the way he coaches defense. All he needed was some more pieces of personnel to really succeed.

For the first time in forever Green Bay under general manager Brian Gutekunst went out and spent a bunch of money in free agency to bring in outside linebackers Preston and Za’Darius Smith as well as safety Adrian Amos from the division-rival Bears. They also drafted Michigan’s Rashan Gary and Maryland DB Darnell Savage to add to a secondary that I already talked about being filled with a bunch of young talent.

What Pettine does best is at is cutting his pass rushers loose and scheming guys free, which has led to career years for the Smith “brothers”, who have combined for 16.5 sacks. He lines them up all over the front and makes it tough for opposing to decipher who is actually coming from where.

The Packers are very effective at messing with protection schemes without having to bring a lot of blitzes, outside of Savage from the slot a couple of times a game. Outside of the way he changes up his 3-4 looks, he likes to play matchups behind that in the secondary, where he tries to utilize his coverage-guys in roles they excel it.

The one real weakness for the Packers recently has been their run defense, which comes from the lack of strong play on the interior. If they do a better job clogging up those lanes, this defense could be good enough to go to a Super Bowl with Aaron Rodgers.

Next up: Wade Phillips, Vic Fangio, Mike Zimmer, and Robert Salah