Originally Posted by
mraynrand
from a Seattle fan board:
"The Lions and Bucs hardly bothered him with their pass rush, but I found something very interesting about Buffalo. Number 55, Hughes is a standup RDE who gave Rodgers fits the whole game. Rodgers was never comfortable because Hughes was constantly around his blindside and he could feel that pressure. There were way more inaccurate throws against Buffalo than against Tampa and Detroit. The reason this is interesting is because from play one he reminded me of a poor mans Bruce Irvin. If you ask me for one serious key to this game I'm saying Irvin getting blindside pressure could be a key. Irvin takes less upfield chances than he did in previous years and he finds ways to move the QB off his spot without having to rush deep around the tackle. That's exactly what Hughes did and all game I thought, "That's Irvin." When Rodgers has pressure in his face he moves around deftly and makes throws no one else can make. Against Buffalo, Hughes was constantly making him move and he wasn't nearly as accurate."
The combination of the pressure and the coverage is what kills a QB (any QB, including Rodgers), because it erodes confidence. Especially if the QB knows the pressure is coming from the blind spot. Makes him nervous and jumpy, less patient in going through progressions and getting the ball out. This is probably the biggest key to the game. Packers solve the pressure, especially blindside pressure, then everything else will fall in line. Need the run game to slow that down and need Bakhtiari to have a solid game.