Both Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage found themselves Green Bay Packers in the Spring of 2019. Amos, a Chicago Bear for 4 seasons, signed a 3 year deal with the Packers in March. Next was Savage, the Packers second 1st round draft pick of the 2019 Draft, taken 21st overall. The plan was to overhaul the Safety position, replacing the out-of-position Tramon Williams and currently out-of-football Kentrell Brice with Amos and Savage.

Almost two years later, it’s easy to see that the decision paid off. Amos has started all 31 regular season games over his 2 seasons with the Packers while Savage has started all but 3 over the same time. In their first game playing together, the 2019 Season Opener against Chicago, Amos had a game sealing interception and Savage flashed all over the field. In the following week, Savage smoothly deflected a pass that landed in the hands of Preston Smith for a Packers interception.

The Amos/Savage tandem got off on the right foot from Game 1 and over the course of 2019, their consistent and solid play was integral for the Packers, who reached the NFC Championship game.

The 2020 season has developed differently for the safety duo. The first 8 games could be described as quiet, steady play, the type of performances that didn’t show up on the TV broadcast but after watching coaches film, was mostly “solid and consistent”. The flashy, play-making, game-changing types of plays were absent.

Amos and Savage have flipped the script in the second half of season though. After a Sunday Night Thumping of the Tennessee Titans, a game where the Packers had 2 interceptions, 2 sacks and held the top-scoring offense in the NFL to 14 points, the defense is peaking at the perfect time heading into Week 17 and the playoffs.

Take a look at Amos’ and Savage’s Pass Breakups, Interceptions and Sacks from the first 8 games of the season and compare it to their last 7 games:

Amos (First 8 Games): 1 Pass Breakup, 0 Interceptions, 1 Sack

Amos (Last 7 Games): 7 Pass Breakups, 1 Interception, 1 Sack

Savage (First 8 Games): 2 Pass Breakups, 0 Interceptions, 0 Sacks

Savage (Last 7 Games): 10 Pass Breakups, 4 Interceptions, 1 Sack

The emergence of Amos and Savage has been awesome. Amos is almost always in great position, is a sure-tackler, delivers big hits and has turned into a steady player in coverage. Savage delivers big hits as well, crashes down hard in the run game, tackles well and is becoming a ball-hawk.

After the Titans game on Sunday Night, Coach LaFleur on Savage:

“I think he’s just trusting what he sees, trusting his eyes. He’s such a smart player, he’s so athletic. It’s so fun to see a guy work so hard and then start to have the results.”

Savage, only 23 years old, is tapping into the player the Packers had hoped to have when they used a 1st round pick on the Safety from the University of Maryland. Lately, Darnell Savage has looked like the best ball-hawking safety Green Bay has had since Nick Collins, and Packers fans remember the 2010 Super Bowl Team and how important Collins was to their success.

As we head into January football, it’s fair to say that the Packers have a top safety duo in the NFL. It’s a big reason why the defense has played better and created turnovers.

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Alex grew up in a family of Chicago Bears fans in the suburbs of Chicago but was always a Packers guy. Alex\'s AIM name when he was in elementary/middle school was PackerAlex. He now lives in Nashville, Tennessee and you can follow him on twitter at @Alex_Mayer93.

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