Statistical Look from PFF at Packers vs. Vikings

With thanks to Bryan Hall and our good friends at Pro Football Focus, here’s a closer look at some of the key statistics from the Green Bay Packers’ 23-14 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 12 Sunday:

• If you count every snap (penalties included), the Packers ran a season-high 84 offensive plays.
• Of Aaron Rodgers’ 41 drop backs Sunday, 16 were considered “under pressure.” The Vikings brought six blitzes, which Rodgers again handled well (4-of-5 for 42 yards, 101.7 passer rating).
• 22 of Rodgers’ 32 attempts went 10 yards or less in the air. Dink and dunk against the two-high safety look.
• PFF wasn’t as nice to fill-in right tackle Don Barclay as I was this morning. While my tape study assigned a single hurry to Barclay, PFF gave him three. The two holding calls also hurt his grade. Overall, Barclay graded out as the worst player on the offense Sunday. Rarely do I disagree with PFF, but this is certainly one of those times.
• Other pressure numbers from the offensive line: Marshall Newhouse (one hit, five hurries) and Jeff Saturday (one hurry). Rodgers was assigned responsibility for both sacks and one hit.
• Jared Allen was responsible for two sacks, one hit and six hurries, although he wasn’t as close to as dominant as those stats would suggest.
• Jermichael Finley’s 52 snaps Sunday were his most since Week 3 against the Seattle Seahawks (54). He caught six of his team-high seven targets.
• The Packers ran behind or off right tackle 10 times for 68 yards. Between center and left guard, Green Bay rushed five times for just six yards.
• 62 of the combined 124 combined rushing yards from James Starks (27 snaps) and Alex Green (28) came after first contact. Each had 31.
• John Kuhn (44 snaps) received a +2.0 run block grade.
• Packers head coach Mike McCarthy called play-action passes on 20 percent of the Packers drop backs.
• Randall Cobb (62 snaps) caught all six of his targets for 62 yards. Four of the targets traveled less than 10 yards in the air, including two behind the line of scrimmage.
• Greg Jennings played 56 snaps in his first game back from abdominal surgery.
• Cobb ran 85 percent of his snaps from the slot; Jennings, just 18 percent.
• Cornerback Casey Hayward started and played 54 snaps, while Davon House received 26. The two combined to allow just two catches on seven targets for 25 yards. Hayward was targeted just once, recording a pass defensed in his one opportunity.
• Ponder completed just three of 10 passes to receivers for 38 yards.
• Morgan Burnett allowed a team-high four catches on seven targets for 57 yards, but his two interceptions earned him a positive grade.
• The Packers missed seven tackles, including two each from Brad Jones and Burnett. Seven might even be a conservative number.
• Over 30 drop backs, Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder was under pressure just eight times. Dom Capers brought extra pressure on 16 snaps of the 30 passing snaps. Luckily, Ponder was awful regardless of the scheme Capers used or pressure applied.
• Erik Walden had two pressures over 23 pass-rushing snaps. Jones had two hurries and a hit over 12. Dezman Moses was shut out over 23. Frank Zombo played just five snaps and was shut out again (one hurry in 56 total snaps in 2012).
• Mike Neal (two hurries, hit) and Mike Daniels (hurry) provided the only pressures from the defensive line. B.J. Raji was shut out after registering 10 hurries the last two games.
• 186 yards of Adrian Peterson’s 210 yards came after first contact. He forced four missed tackles (again, likely a conservative number).
• Jarrett Bush was tagged with two special teams penalties.