Blitz pickup will decide whether Green Bay’s preseason opener feels like a controlled rehearsal or a three-hour fire drill. T.J. Watt can change that mood before the ball moves. He widens toward the tackle, creeps back inside, then stares through the line as if he already knows where the protection will slide. Patrick Queen inches toward the A-gap. Nick Herbig hovers behind them, close enough to rush and loose enough to disappear into coverage.
Across from that picture, Sean Rhyan has only seconds to sort bodies from threats. Jordan Love must confirm the count, reset the protection and locate the throw Pittsburgh cannot cover after the snap.
The Packers visit Acrisure Stadium on Thursday, August 13, at 7 p.m. ET. The scoreboard will matter less than the communication preceding each dropback. Green Bay has rebuilt the shape of its offensive line, while Pittsburgh has paired a deep edge group with new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
That pre-snap chess match turns an otherwise ordinary August game into a diagnostic test. Every Love dropback comes down to one thing: does Green Bay identify the pressure before it arrives?
A reshuffled front five must speak one language
Green Bay’s projected line carries recognizable names, but the arrangement remains fresh. Jordan Morgan moves into the left-tackle job after arriving as a first-round pick in 2024. Aaron Banks, signed in free agency in March 2025, enters his second season at left guard. Rhyan now directs the unit from center, while 2025 second-round pick Anthony Belton settles at right guard. Zach Tom anchors the right side.
Those biographies explain why the group still needs live snaps together. Morgan is learning the weekly burden of protecting Love’s blind side. Rhyan must snap, scan and redirect the slide in one compact sequence. Belton owns rare size, but Pittsburgh will test his eyes with twists rather than challenge only his strength.
Live, the bust can look minor: a quick disagreement between center and guard. On film, the consequence glows in red. One blocker steps toward Queen, another follows, and Herbig loops through the space both men abandoned.
Good blitz pickup starts with rules, not panic. The quarterback makes the declaration, the center adjusts the slide, and the backfield handles whatever leaks through. Problems begin when one player reacts to the most dangerous jersey instead of trusting the call.
Watt creates that temptation on every snap. If Morgan sets too wide, Pittsburgh can send an inside threat through the B-gap. Should Green Bay squeeze protection toward Watt, Alex Highsmith gets the isolated rush from the opposite edge. The challenge is not blocking every defender. Green Bay must block the correct five.
Love’s eyes provide the first layer of protection
Jordan Love can beat pressure without leaving the pocket. His best answer arrives before the snap, when he identifies the defender Green Bay cannot account for and matches that threat with a hot route. Clean diagnosis turns an unblocked rusher into wasted aggression. Late recognition turns a routine throw into a collision.
That is why Green Bay should move Jayden Reed early. Motioning Reed across the formation forces Pittsburgh’s nickel defender to travel, pass him off or bump the coverage. Each response gives Love information. Man coverage may create a quick option route. A zone-match call may leave a receiver settling behind the blitz.
Cadence offers another clue. A hard count can expose a linebacker’s timing or force a safety to reveal his rotation. Once the picture clears, Green Bay can reset the back, widen the tight end or change the launch point.
This part of blitz pickup rarely earns a highlight. The ball leaves in 1.8 seconds, Reed catches it in space, and Watt never reaches the pocket. From the stands, the rush simply failed. Inside Green Bay’s meeting room, Love won the snap before anyone touched him.
Coaches will also downgrade a 15-yard completion if Love absorbs a hit he should have checked out of pre-snap. Production matters, but preseason grades live in the details.
Pittsburgh can manufacture chaos with four rushers
Pittsburgh will not need a special call sheet to stress Green Bay. Watt, Highsmith, Herbig, and Jack Sawyer combined for 25 sacks and seven forced fumbles during the 2025 season. The same group also produced five interceptions and four fumble recoveries. Any protection mistake can become more than lost yardage; Pittsburgh’s edge room turns loose football into sudden possessions.
Graham now controls that group under head coach Mike McCarthy, whom Pittsburgh hired in January 2026 after Mike Tomlin stepped down. McCarthy’s arrival changed the staff, but not the defense’s appetite for pressure. Graham spent the previous four seasons coordinating the Raiders and inherits personnel built for late movement.
That personnel gives Pittsburgh room to show six potential rushers and send four. Queen and Payton Wilson can threaten both A-gaps while Watt and Highsmith widen the tackles. One linebacker then drops beneath the hot throw as Herbig attacks the vacated interior lane. Green Bay sees a blitz. Officially, the box score records a four-man rush.
Simple overloads create the same strain. Pittsburgh may place two threats outside Morgan, forcing the Packers to choose between sliding help left and leaving a running back on the widest defender. The Steelers can mirror the look one snap later and drop one of those threats into coverage.
Reliable blitz pickup requires Green Bay to solve the structure, not memorize the previous answer.
The running backs become the final safety net
Once Love and Rhyan make the call, the back has to finish it. Josh Jacobs brings a 223-pound frame into that collision. If the 232-pound Queen shoots the A-gap, Jacobs cannot catch him sideways or wait flat-footed. He must step into the lane, square his shoulders and stop the charge before it reaches Love’s throwing platform.
That block will not resemble a glamorous preseason rep. Pads crack, both players stagger, and the pass may travel only six yards. Still, the snap reveals whether Green Bay’s blitz pickup can survive when the scheme leaves a back alone against a starting linebacker.
Jacobs may not carry a heavy August workload, which raises the importance of Chris Brooks and MarShawn Lloyd. Brooks has earned trust as a third-down option and pass protector. Lloyd brings a sturdy 220-pound frame, but he still needs consistent game work.
The scan rule matters as much as courage. A back who lunges at the first flashing jersey can open a cleaner path for the actual rusher. Pittsburgh will test those eyes with delayed pressure and linebackers who threaten inside before looping outside. A clean pickup can save the play. One false step can end it.
Green Bay must protect without surrendering the route concept
The Packers can help Morgan without hiding the offense. A tight end aligned beside him can chip Watt before releasing into the flat. That contact only needs to widen the rush angle and buy Love the fraction of a second required to hit the first window.
Tucker Kraft offers the most complete version of that assignment. Luke Musgrave can punish a vacated middle by stretching the seam. Condensed formations also make Pittsburgh declare who owns the edge.
Play-action changes the geometry again. If Jacobs sells the run and Love boots away from pressure, the edge defender must choose between squeezing the handoff and chasing the quarterback.
Green Bay cannot live in max protection, though. Keeping seven blockers home leaves fewer routes against a defense already crowding throwing lanes. Effective blitz pickup must preserve enough receiving options to punish Pittsburgh for sending pressure. Protection without an outlet only delays the hit.
The snap that will linger beyond August
Thursday’s opener will not reveal Green Bay’s entire offense or Pittsburgh’s complete pressure menu. Neither staff needs to advertise regular-season counters during the first preseason game. The matchup can still expose whether the Packers’ rebuilt line shares one set of eyes.
Morgan must resist chasing Watt’s every movement. Banks has to steady the left side when Pittsburgh muddies the interior picture. Rhyan needs firm calls, not perfect guesses delivered too late. Belton must recognize movement before his size becomes useful. Tom will handle the isolated rushes created when help flows elsewhere.
Love ties those answers together. He can change the protection, replace a blitzer with the ball and use Reed’s motion to uncover the coverage. Jacobs or Brooks then becomes the last body between a correct diagnosis and a violent mistake.
No single block defines blitz pickup. Five decisions must arrive in the same language, followed by a throw that makes the defense regret showing pressure.
Late in the first quarter, Pittsburgh may crowd the line with seven bodies. Queen will lean toward one A-gap. Herbig will threaten the other. Watt will widen just enough to pull Morgan’s attention outside. Then the ball will move.
When Green Bay sorts it cleanly, Love can stand tall and deliver into the space the blitz abandoned. A split picture produces the opposite sound: shoulder pads collapsing around the quarterback as Acrisure Stadium erupts.
The final score will fade by morning. That single protection call may tell the Packers far more about the line they are building.
READ MORE: Panthers vs. Cardinals: Why pass protection will define the Hall of Fame game
FAQ’s
Why is blitz pickup important in Green Bay’s preseason opener?
Blitz pickup tests how quickly Green Bay’s rebuilt line communicates. Good protection calls keep Jordan Love safe and allow receivers to run full routes against Pittsburgh’s pressure.
Who leads Green Bay’s offensive line communication before the snap?
Quarterback Jordan Love declares the protection, and center Sean Rhyan adjusts the line slide. Together, they identify blitz threats and direct blockers before the ball moves.
How can Jordan Love beat Pittsburgh’s pass rush without leaving the pocket?
Love uses hard counts and receiver motion to spot blitzers early. He then releases quick passes into open space before the rush reaches his throwing platform.
What role do Green Bay running backs play in stopping the blitz?
Running backs act as the final safety net. Josh Jacobs and Chris Brooks must step into open lanes, square their shoulders, and block charging linebackers.
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