GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Javon Bullard sounded hungry.
The Green Bay Packers safety was told after Thursday's win over the Carolina Panthers that six different Packers had sacks.
"Mmmmm!" was the sound Bullard made.
He was then told that the team's best player, edge Micah Parsons, will probably practice next week for the first time since tearing his ACL and meniscus last December.
"Mmmmm!" Bullard said again.
Maybe Bullard was hungry for whatever food spread awaited players inside Lambeau Field after their 27-19 victory, but his reaction likely mirrors the salivation of the locker room and fanbase with Parsons returning soon after the defense's best pass-rushing game of the season.
The Packers pressured quarterback Bryce Young on 52.2 percent of his dropbacks, according to TruMedia. They hadn't eclipsed a 40 percent pressure rate in any of the first seven games. The highest team pressure rate in the NFL this season belongs to the Minnesota Vikings at 47.6 percent. Green Bay's average time to pressure against the Panthers was 2.31 seconds, a tenth of a second faster than the best average time to pressure in the league this season (Jacksonville Jaguars, 2.41).
The Packers also sacked Young six times for a sack rate of 12.8 percent. Both the Packers' raw sack total and sack rate were their highest this season.
"It was just the relentless pressure," Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. "I thought our guys did a great job up front. I think some of the looks that we're giving them, the opposition, Carolina, are very difficult. We do a lot of different things off of it, so I think that's a big-time credit to our defensive staff."
LaFleur said defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon likes to use the word "savant."
"I think he's a savant," LaFleur said.
Without Parsons, Gannon has concocted creative ways to generate pressure. The former Arizona Cardinals coach and first-year defensive coordinator in Green Bay said 95 percent of coaches correlate affecting the quarterback to what defenses do after the snap. Gannon is in the 5 percent, he said, who think of how to confuse the quarterback pre-snap. He might be reaching into that bag more without his best player because Parsons makes it easier to win pass rushes with just four rushers, because he creates more one-on-ones for others and can beat double-teams himself.
Pre-snap disguises are vital in Gannon's defense no matter who is on the field. Safety Evan Williams is at the line of scrimmage about to blitz? Nope, he's dropping into the deep middle and picking off Dak Prescott. Linebacker Isaiah McDuffie is lined up over the right guard and about to blitz on a third-and-6 against the Panthers, with edge Brenton Cox Jr. about to do the same to his left? Nope, both are dropping into coverage while Williams and linebacker Ty'Ron Hopper blitz, and Williams occupies the right guard while Hopper annihilates Young untouched to force a punt. The next time they align that way, Hopper and Williams might drop into coverage with McDuffie and Cox rushing.
The last time the Packers had six sacks in a game was Week 7 against Gannon's Cardinals last season. However, Parsons had three sacks that game. Against the Panthers, six players got on the sack sheet. Edges Lukas Van Ness, Barryn Sorrell, Dani Dennis-Sutton and Cox each had one. Hopper and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt also joined the party. Why does everyone feel empowered on a defense without arguably its two best players in Parsons and Edgerrin Cooper, and missing linebacker and captain Zaire Franklin the past two games?
Let Bullard explain.
"J.G., he's not scared," Bullard said. "He's not shying away from things because we lost a couple of players. He's still gonna dial that s-- up, and I think that's huge. It shows a lot of confidence in the players that we have, and honestly, that's huge kudos to him because it's not a lot of coaches (who) dial it up like that. … When you want a nasty defense, you want a rugged defense, a loud defense, a confident defense, your coordinator has to damn near replicate that, and I think we complement each other real well."
Gannon has discussed the need to rush as a unit, especially against quarterbacks who can create outside the pocket like Young. So he was probably thrilled with that group's first third down of the game. After Packers returner Coleman Owen fumbled away the opening kickoff, the Panthers started their first drive on the Green Bay 29-yard line. They later faced a third-and-8 from Green Bay's 15. Van Ness, against the left tackle, and Sorrell, against the right tackle, collapsed the pocket evenly and forced Young to step up. He bumped into his right guard's rear end because defensive tackle Karl Brooks had pushed him back, and Wyatt was there to take down Young as he bounced to his left. Now that's a team rush.
The Panthers entered Week 8 second in the NFL with 39 explosive completions this season (at least 16 yards). Their explosive pass rate of 15.6 percent was tied for ninth in the league. On Thursday night, that percentage dropped to 7.3 with just three explosive completions. Young tried virtually nothing deep down the field, instead leaning on the RPO game and quick hitters. Safety Xavier McKinney attributed that in part to the pass rush getting home quickly.
Were the Panthers down their starting right tackle and starting left guard? Yes. And Dennis-Sutton said the Packers felt they could take advantage of that. He called the prospect of doing so "exciting." But the Packers still had to execute, which they did to near perfection.
"He does a great job putting those guys in position," LaFleur said of Gannon. "But it doesn't mean anything if they can't go execute it. … That's a big-time credit to our players."
The best player of that group, and on the entire team, probably returns to practice next week.
Parsons likely won't play against the New England Patriots next Sunday, but his long-awaited return isn't far off. The Packers had to tread water without one of the game's best defensive players. They've done that and then some at 5-3.
Now a pass rush gaining steam adds its head honcho? Despite all of the Packers' flaws, vibes are high in Green Bay.
"It's huge," Bullard said of Parsons' impending return. "I think we're getting this thing right at the right time. Defense is clicking, offense is clicking. I think the Packers finna go on a roll."
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
