NFL teams
Rob Demovsky, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Julius Peppers, Clay Matthews power Packers' defense

TAMPA, Fla. -- If Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson allowed himself a minute or two to daydream back in March after he signed pass-rusher Julius Peppers, he surely envisioned the kind of thing he saw play out for real on Sunday.

From one side of the defensive formation, Peppers registered two sacks.

From the other, Clay Matthews got 2.5.

It was part of a season-high, seven-sack performance by the Packers in Sunday's 20-3 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They have not had more sacks in a game since Week 17 of the 2004 season, when they recorded nine against the Chicago Bears.

To cornerback Tramon Williams, it felt like even more.

"I thought they had about 15, actually," Williams said. "That's the type of pressure that I felt they were getting. That's a good sign when feel that defensively. It was big and it was fun."

It was a performance that ranks among the most complete in Dom Capers' tenure as defensive coordinator, which dates to 2009, unless you're willing to discount it because it came against a Buccaneers offense that has not totaled more than 263 yards since Nov. 23.

Either way, the Packers held the Bucs to just 109 yards of total offense, the fewest a Green Bay defense has yielded since Dec. 21, 2006, when the Vikings managed just 104. The Packers haven't allowed a defensive touchdown in eight-plus quarters, dating to the Dec. 8 game against the Atlanta Falcons.

For Matthews, who ran his season sack total to 10, he reached double digits in sacks for the fourth time in his six NFL seasons.

For Peppers, who now has seven sacks, it ended a five-game sackless streak that made some wonder whether the 34-year-old had run out of gas.

"It's more than just me and Clay," Peppers said. "We have other guys who are capable pass rushers. As long as we have everybody ready to go healthy and performing well, I think we could be taking this thing far."

Six different players shared in the sack party. In addition to Matthews and Peppers, Mike Neal had one, while Morgan Burnett, Mike Daniels and Datone Jones each shared in a sack. Outside linebacker Jayrone Elliott also had a pressure that led to Jones' fourth-quarter interception.

The Bucs went three-and-out on their first five drives and at that point, the Packers held a yardage advantage of 185 to zero.

Burnett, fresh off being named one of the defensive captains last week, played most of the game near the line of scrimmage and was a run-stopping machine. He was credited with a team-high 10 tackles, including nine solo stops. The Bucs managed just 16 yards rushing on 14 attempts.

"Really, it started and ended with defense today, just the constant pressure, the seven sacks," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "Really, they controlled the game for us today."

^ Back to Top ^