GREEN BAY – Press Taylor turned on the tape like everyone else did.
Count Jacksonville's offensive coordinator among those impressed by the barrage of pressures the Packers threw at the Houston Texans during Sunday's 24-22 win that saw several free rushers pursuing quarterback C.J. Stroud at breakneck speed.
Taylor also took note of one other development during his film study. Rarely were the Packers running the same four defensive linemen at the Texans. Not only did that preserve Green Bay's pass rushers but it also presented a different look with every shift in personnel.
"It feels like the defensive line is a whole new wave every single play," Taylor said. "A lot of high energy, a lot of really good players, just a wave of pass rushers rolling through and everybody firing off the ball.
"It was impressive - slash - not fun to watch as you're getting ready for it. At the same time, you respect good football, and they played good football."
It's an astute observation and part of the brilliance of the Packers' plan under first-year defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who has not been shy about rotating personnel at all three levels.
Up front, only Kenny Clark (70.9%) among the Packers' interior defensive linemen has played more than 50% of the snaps this season. Even then, the three-time Pro Bowler's workload is less than what it's been throughout his eight seasons with the Packers.
Finding a balance for Clark's snaps has been a supreme challenge for Green Bay's coaches, evidenced by the fact the 6-foot-3, 314-pound defensive lineman has played more than 80% of the defensive snaps in 29 games over the past three seasons.
Depth has helped this year. An ankle injury sidelined Devonte Wyatt (115, 25.3%) for the past three games but it also created an opportunity for Karl Brooks, whose snaps have jumped from 34.2% as a rookie to 42.5%. Run-stuffing nose tackle T.J. Slaton is third at 40.1%, down from 56% last year.
Clark feels like the plan is paying off. He notched two second-half tackles for loss against the Texans, including his stop of running back Joe Mixon for a 1-yard loss with a little more than four minutes to play.
"Fourth quarter, that's as fresh as I've been in a minute," Clark said. "Just going into the fourth, I'm used to playing damn near 60 snaps a game. I think this is the lowest I've been playing as far as snap-wise. It's definitely been helping me out, especially later in the games and in the second half of games."
The Packers have struck an even greater balance on the edge, where Rashan Gary (64.5%), Preston Smith (56.4%), Kingsley Enagbare (43.4%) and Lukas Van Ness (41.4%) have worked in concert with one another.
Like Clark, Smith has been a pillar for Green Bay's defense the past five years. Three times in his first four seasons, the 6-foot-5, 265-pound defensive end played more than 80% of the Packers' total defensive snaps.
Enagbare avoiding a significant knee injury in the playoffs last January has helped take the strain off Gary and Smith, providing a lift with three QB hits, 1½ sacks and two forced fumbles. It's also allowed Hafley to deploy rush packages with three, and sometimes four, defensive ends.
"Playing the mind games with the O-lineman, pretty much all of us are built different or have different playstyle essentially," Enagbare said. "Each series, it's a different kind of look for the offensive lineman. They don't know. I feel like he can't get a rhythm of the game, of himself. Keeping them on their toes and stuff like that."
Philosophically, there is a huge advantage for a defense working more personnel. Pass rushers stay fresh and offensive linemen can't lock into a single guy at one spot. A good example of that was Gary orbiting around the line of scrimmage on a few occasions against the Texans.
You need the players to execute it, though, and the Packers feel like they do.
"We're in a situation where we have a lot of guys who can do it, and we trust them," Hafley said. "Because you can't just say we're gonna rotate no matter what, you gotta trust the guys, know what they're doing and they're good enough to play. So, we've been fortunate to do that."
Hafley evades taking any credit for Green Bay's early success, reiterating football is a "players' game" and praising his support staff for putting players in the right positions.
As an example, Hafley mentioned on Thursday how longtime associate Sean Duggan diagnosed something Houston was doing with its personnel Sunday that Green Bay was able to take advantage of. After a few adjustments, the Packers produced a third-down sack based off Duggan's suggestion.
What can't be debated is the energy with which Green Bay is playing. Taylor sees it on the film. Green Bay is currently eighth in the NFL in sacks despite not having an individual player with more than three. Instead, 12 different players have contributed to that total – tied for the second most in the league.
"They seem to have a lot of fun doing what they're doing," Taylor said. "They seem to really know what they're able and asked to do within the scheme and they're playing really good football right now."
