Here’s an overview of what to expect from the Packers:

Key players

Aaron Rodgers, quarterback. Rodgers has been consistently one of, if not the, best quarterback in the NFL over the past few seasons. He was almost faultless to start the season as he led the Packers to an unbeaten 6-0 start before their bye week. Since then, he hasn’t quite reached those same standards on a consistent basis, but he is still an extremely tough quarterback to beat. He’s about as prototypical as they come: Incredibly smart, mobile in the pocket and athletic enough to be a threat with his legs. Rodgers has a cannon for an arm, and there isn’t a throw he can’t make. He has pinpoint accuracy and knows how to throw receivers open even when they appear perfectly covered. Rodgers is without doubt the biggest name in this game and the biggest threat to the Redskins.

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Randall Cobb, wide receiver. Cobb is an explosive slot receiver. He’s small, at only 5 feet 10, but is lightning quick and can cut on a dime. The Packers are creative with how they line Cobb up. They line him up outside or in the slot, but they can also hide him in the backfield to help give him a free release. He’s a chain-mover, often the go-to target on third downs because of how quickly he can win matchups. If the Redskins are going to focus on a Packers receiver, Cobb would be the one. He leads the Packers with 79 catches this season.

Richard Rodgers, tight end. Rodgers has been the preferred red-zone target. At 6 feet 4, 257 pounds, Rodgers offers more size than most of the other Packers receivers. He does a good job using that frame to box out defenders to ensures he’s the only player who can make a play on the ball. Rodgers has eight touchdown catches this season, tied with James Jones for the team lead. The Redskins have struggled to cover tight ends in recent years, which makes Rodgers an even bigger threat.

Clay Matthews, linebacker. Matthews is the unquestioned leader of the Packers’ defense. Since being drafted, Matthews has been one of the most dominant pass rushers in the NFL. But last season, the Packers moved him from outside to inside linebacker. There, he’s in charge of getting the defense set and in position before the snap. He runs the show for the Packers defense just like Aaron Rodgers does for their offense. He’s played well since switching inside, but that move has forced him to drop into coverage a lot more often, making him less of a threat rushing the passer. However, when he does get the opportunity, he’s still as effective as ever, having registered 6.5 sacks on the season.

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Julius Peppers, outside linebacker. Peppers has taken over the mantle as the team’s top pass rusher. He leads the team with 10.5 sacks and has been a constant force off the edge. Peppers is a versatile rusher with a bag full of tricks. He can line up on the outside against either the left or right tackle, but he’s just as capable shifting inside and attacking the interior linemen. While his explosiveness isn’t quite what it was when he was younger, Peppers can still offer a threat with a speed rush. But he can also win with strong hands, inside moves and power rushes. Morgan Moses and Trent Williams have been as good as any tackle pair in the NFL this season, and they’ll need to continue at that level to keep Peppers quiet.

Mike Daniels, defensive end. Daniels has proven to be a versatile asset to the Packers’ defense. He lines up at four- or five-technique defensive end in the Packers’ base 3-4 package, but kicks inside to a one- or three-technique defensive tackle in their nickel and dime sub packages. He’s been a force in the run game and has four sacks from an interior position against the pass. Daniels is a well-rounded player who will see time against all three of the Redskins’ interior offensive linemen.

Scheme

Offense: On paper, the Packers run a West Coast offense. Under Rodgers however, the offense has typically been more of a vertical passing attack with West Coast terminology, rather than a traditional West Coast offense predicated on short timing routes. That’s not to say some of the offense’s staples aren’t in the playbook. The Packers will run route combinations, like all outs or double stick, that can be found in every West Coast offense. But they also like to to work the ball down the field to make use of Rodgers’s arm. Green Bay also incorporates a number of option routes, which give the receiver an option to run two or three different routes based on the coverage.

They combine this passing attack with a zone running scheme. They’ll run the ball from different looks, with Rodgers under center, in the shotgun and even in the pistol. But their most common plays are the outside and inside zone plays, which the Redskins should be very familiar with.

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Defense: Green Bay uses a base 3-4 defense, but the Packers often find themselves in their nickel and dime packages. They can be creative with those packages, particularly with Clay Matthews’s versatility. Matthews will switch between inside and outside linebacker in sub packages, so the Redskins will have to make sure they locate him and have him accounted for on every snap. In coverage, the Packers tend to prefer safer zone coverages, so they can disguise where their blitzers come from.

Strengths

The offense is extremely good at the scramble drill. When plays break down, Rodgers does an excellent job scrambling out of the pocket and buying time for his receivers to get open. The receivers know to keep an eye out for Rodgers scrambling and break back towards him or get down the field. Many of the Packers’ biggest plays have come from Rodgers and his receivers freelancing after the original play has broken down.

The running game is often overshadowed by Rodgers, but it’s not to be taken lightly. Defenses often play with two deep safeties to give them extra support over the top against Rodgers, but that leaves fewer defenders in the box to stop the run. Add in the Packers’ tendency to use their 11 personnel group (three receivers, one tight end, one running back) and the defense can be left with just five or six defenders in the box to defend the run. Running back Eddie Lacy is a strong zone runner who can power over poor tackle attempts. The Redskins will need to be fundamentally sound with their tackling technique to make sure he doesn’t break tackles and pick up extra yards after contact.

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Defensively, Green Bay can generate plenty of pressure. It finished the season seventh in the NFL with 43 sacks. They like to use multiple variations of zone blitzes that bring five rushers with six defenders dropping into zone coverage behind it. They can send corners, safeties and linebackers to join in on any given blitz with a relatively save zone coverage behind it. But with Peppers and Matthews on the edge, they can also pressure the quarterback with a standard four-man rush. That pressure can cause rushed throws, which have led to interceptions for the Packers. They are ninth in the NFL with 16 interceptions this season.

Weaknesses

The Packers’ glaring weakness is along the offensive line. Green Bay is in the top 10 for sacks allowed with 47. They’ve suffered injuries to their offensive line, the biggest being to starting left tackle David Bakhtiari. He missed the Week 17 loss to the Vikings, which forced left guard Josh Sitton to slide outside to left tackle. If that continues, the Redskins will feel good about that matchup against Preston Smith and Ryan Kerrigan.

Rodgers’s top target, Jordy Nelson, was placed on injured reserve with a torn anterior cruciate ligament before the season began. Without that threat to take the top off the defense, the Packers’ receivers have struggled to get open. Their route combinations have been unimaginative and haven’t helped Rodgers cope without his best receiver. They haven’t found many route concepts that get receivers open consistently on short-to-intermediate levels. They have a tendency to rely on receivers winning one-on-one matchups or freelancing on the scramble drill. Teams have had success playing tight press man coverage on the Packers’ receivers, who haven’t won one-on-one matchups often enough.

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The Packers’ defense hasn’t stood out as a particularly strong unit against either the run or the pass. They rank around the middle of the pack against both. However, the Packers are a bend-but-don’t-break defense. They are just outside the top 10 in the NFL in points allowed. That means the Redskins will likely be able to move the ball against them, but could struggle to finish off drives with touchdowns.

Mark Bullock is The Insider’s Outsider, sharing his Redskins impressions without the benefit of access to the team. For more breakdowns, click here.

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