Green Bay Packers second-year safety Kentrell Brice played 47 of the defense’s 49 snaps on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks, highlighting just how much trust defensive coordinator Dom Capers has in Green Bay’s new “Nitro” look.
Starting safety Morgan Burnett played all 49 snaps, but many came at linebacker with Brice stationed in the back end alongside Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.
Maybe the Packers have found a new identity on defense.
Burnett wasn’t perfect at linebacker on Sunday, but his speed and coverage ability gave the Packers an impact defender in the middle of the field, and Green Bay still managed to stop the run with a safety playing down in the box at linebacker.
“Morgan Burnett did a hell of a job (lining up) in that box,” defensive lineman Ricky Jean Francois said, according to Pete Dougherty of PackersNews.com. “Hope we can keep it going with that nitro package.”
The Seahawks managed only 90 yards rushing, with 29 coming on a long scramble from Russell Wilson and another 30 on Chris Carson’s second-half run.
The Packers stopped the run without having big people on the field.
Dean Lowry, the starter at defensive end, played only 15 snaps, with several coming on the inside in subpackage looks. Jean Francois saw only six snaps. The Packers rarely played the base, 3-4 defense on Sunday.
Davon House (49 snaps), Quinten Rollins (46) and Damarious Randall (40) all played the majority of the snaps at cornerback, with rookie Kevin King getting on the field for just six snaps in his NFL debut. Second-round pick Josh Jones did not have a play from scrimmage on defense, largely because Burnett was handling his business as the “Nitro” linebacker.
Joe Thomas, who often handled third-down looks as the nickel or dime linebacker last season, played only five snaps. The revolution at inside linebacker has begun in Green Bay.
Mike Daniels and Kenny Clark both received over 75 percent of the snaps, which may foreshadow their increased usage as interior rushers. Daniels was on the field for many of the important third down plays, regardless of whether it was an obvious passing situation or not. Clearly, the Packers want to give him more opportunities to rush the passer. He delivered 1.5 sacks and four quarterback hits on Sunday.
A few more tidbits from the defensive snap counts: Blake Martinez (42) dominated snaps at linebacker over Jake Ryan (five), Kyler Fackrell played 12 snaps after Ahmad Brooks (six) left with a concussion and Clay Matthews and Nick Perry were both on the field for at least 86 percent of the snaps.
Still, the big takeaway from Sunday was the Packers’ falling in love with the “Nitro” package, which looks like it’ll be a fundamental part of how Green Bay plays defense in 2017.
