GREEN BAY – As his second regular season in the NFL wrapped up Sunday, Packers defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness put together some quality work in his 27 snaps.
The 2023 first-round pick remains a part-time player as of now, but outings like this show his contributions go beyond what shows up on the stat sheet.
Also, the Packers have a fancy-looking but highly productive running play that worked like a charm against the Bears.
Here's the rundown.
Play No. 1: Second-and-14 from the Chicago 22, first quarter, 1:31 left
Result: Incomplete pass
Rushing off the edge, Van Ness does a good job here of keeping the hands of LT Larry Borom (75) off of him to get around the edge. Then he turns on the speed and closes on QB Caleb Williams (18) to force the throwaway.
Play No. 2: First-and-10 from the Chicago 45, second quarter, 1:50 left
Result: 3-yard run by RB D'Andre Swift
Nice transition work from Van Ness, as he's initially rushing the passer, but he reads the delayed draw handoff to Swift, peels off the block by Borom, and wraps up the ball carrier after a short gain. A very athletic play not all 272-pound defenders can make.
Play No. 3: Second-and-7 from the Chicago 48, second quarter, 1:25 left
Result: Incomplete pass
Very next play, Van Ness is multitasking effectively. First, he bumps slot WR DJ Moore (2) to disrupt his release off the line of scrimmage. Then, he floats into the flat to cover Swift leaking out. Finally, knowing teammate LB Edgerrin Cooper (56) is with him on that side of the field, he leaves Swift for Cooper and charges at Williams to cut off the scramble and make him throw, which Swift can't handle.
Play No. 4: First-and-10 from the Green Bay 36, fourth quarter, 10:51 left
Result: 4-yard run by Swift
Textbook edge-setting against the run. Van Ness uses the straight arm against Borom to hold the point, then peels off the block to get in on the tackle. Unfortunately, Swift has enough forward momentum to get 4 yards and make this a "win" for the offense, but on balance it's well-defended.
Play No. 5: First-and-10 from the Chicago 20, fourth quarter, 7:34 left
Result: No gain for Swift
Another strong edge set, on a different type of run. Swift wants to take this run outside, but Van Ness takes an extra step out and up the field off Borom's block to make Swift turn it back inside into heavy pursuit. This is the first play of a three-and-out that helped get the Packers back in the game.
Shifting gears to the offense, this is one of the best runs in the Packers' playbook, and it's neat to see its mirror opposite as well.
Play No. 6: Second-and-10 from the Chicago 47, second quarter, 13:40 left
Result: 12-yard run by RB Josh Jacobs
The Packers have gotten really good at executing this power, gap-scheme run that's dressed up all fancy with the orbit motion from WR Jayden Reed. His motion across the formation and around the quarterback is meant to create misdirection via an unusual kind of play-action fake. It's a distraction to the defense, and essentially eye candy, to set up an inside handoff with two pulling blockers. The two pullers are LG Elgton Jenkins (74) and TE Tucker Kraft (85), who come across to take out DL Montez Sweat (98) and LB T.J. Edwards (53), respectively. Elsewhere, RG Sean Rhyan (75) locks up DL Gervon Dexter Sr. (99) at the point of attack, C Josh Myers (71) knocks DL DeMarcus Walker (95) out of the way, and RT Zach Tom (50) hunts for and finds LB Tremaine Edmunds (49) on the second level.
Play No. 7: Second-and-4 from the Green Bay 33, third quarter, 2:16 left
Result: 23-yard run by RB Chris Brooks
Now for the really cool part – the exact same play schematically, but the mirror image with all the actions reversed. So Reed's motion starts from the opposite side, while the pullers are Kraft (who's lined up on the right instead of the left) and RG Rhyan (instead of LG Jenkins). Also, it's LT Rasheed Walker (63) finding Edmunds on the second level (instead of RT Tom) … well, you get the idea. This time the hole opens even wider because the Bears send a blitzer, DB Kyler Gordon (6), from what turns out to be the back side of the play, so they're one short in the secondary to limit the gain.
