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Aaron Rodgers showed that he can be mortal at Lambeau, but the Packers pulled out the win anyway, thanks to a huge defensive effort, including 4 big interceptions. The Packers are sitting 5-0 and I’m absolutely in love with this team.
Before I get started, I’d like to put in another call for comments. How are you all liking the gifs? I’ve tried to start them a little earlier so you can get a better view of the overall play. Let me know what you think. I’m always trying to improve.
Let’s get to the film. As always, stats and ratings from Pro Football Focus.
THE UGLY
In last week’s post, I was kind of bragging on Richard Rodgers’ [82] run-blocking skills, and how he had improved since last year. While I still believe that to be true, he will also have moments like this. He starts in the backfield to Aaron Rodgers’ [12] right. At the snap, he hits the hole exactly like he’s supposed to. He tries to cut-block James Laurinaitis [55] but fails miserably. Oh so miserably. James Starks [44] appears to have a pretty big hole to run through, but Laurinaitis is still on his feet and is able to plug the gap, leading to a minimal gain. If Rodgers had been able to make this block, Starks may have been able to scamper for a pretty good gain.
As I’ve mentioned before, I understand why Richard Rodgers is seeing so much time in the backfield. If he can block (which is not a given), defenses have to account for the run and the pass. However, in a game where the Packers struggled to get the running game going, why did John Kuhn only see the field for 10 snaps and Aaron Ripkowski for 0? On a play like this, a good blocking fullback may have helped this play gain some pretty good yardage. I’m not advocating for more playing time for Kuhn in every game, but I feel like he could have helped them a bit in this game.
THE BAD
Once again, I find myself looking at something I said in last week’s post and having to walk it back a bit. The Packers used this formation last week and were able to convert a couple 4th-and-short situations. This week they flipped the formation but the idea is the same: put a couple receivers close to the line and offset (this week it’s Richard Rodgers and James Jones) to make the defense account for them, then run to the other side of the line with the running back. Conceptually, it makes sense: if the defense has to account for those receivers, you take a couple defenders out of the equation.
It did not work quite so well this week. I assume the Rams saw this formation last week and had a pretty good idea of what was coming. T.J. McDonald [25] crashed hard to the inside, never looking outside. I would love to see the Packers continue to use this formation, but throw a couple wrinkles into it. Maybe a play-action bootleg: get the defense all moving towards the running back, then bootleg back to the other side and throw to one of the receivers who has snuck outside. This is a great look, but it won’t work if they just keep doing the same thing every single time they roll it out.
This is the long run by Todd Gurley [30] early in the 4th quarter. A number of things go wrong here. Letroy Guion [98] starts in the middle and is immediately shoved off the line. I mentioned this a lot last year but it bears repeating here: Guion is at his best when he’s rushing the passer. He can do some good in the run game (he had a tackle behind the line in this game), but he is pushed around far too often.
By this point in the game, B.J. Raji was out with an injury. I have to believe that having him instead of Guion in the middle of the line would have changed the outcome of this play.
Mike Daniels [76] is handled on the edge by Roger Saffold [76]. He’s not getting killed or anything, but Saffold is able to move him to the inside just enough to open a hole for Gurley to run through.
Nate Palmer [51] finds himself drawn too close to the line and unable to see where Gurley went. By the time Gurley bursts through the hole, Palmer has been walled off in the middle and is unable to get back in time.
Lastly, after Gurley breaks through the line, Micah Hyde [33] is back deep. He lines Gurley up pretty well, but bites too hard on an inside fake and allows Gurley to easily break to the outside.
By the time the dust had cleared, Gurley had picked up 55 yards.
THE GOOD
A few plays notwithstanding, the defense was tremendous in this game.
Micah Hyde [33] gets the interception here (you’ll see him start at the left side of the screen, then pop back in to pick off this pass), but it’s the defensive line that makes this happen. Julius Peppers [56] comes flying off the left side and bull-rushes Greg Robinson [73] straight back into Nick Foles [5]. It’s Peppers that registers the hit here, but Clay Matthews [52] and Datone Jones [95] are only a step behind.
Still, it’s Peppers that gets the hit and forces the high throw, which lands directly in the hands of Hyde.
Let’s look at another interception, this one the first career interception for rookie Quinten Rollins [24]. Once again, watch the pass rush coming from the left side of the line. Datone Jones [95] splits two defenders and knocks Foles off his spot, forcing the throw to the outside.
It’s also important to look at Rollins on this play. The call is Cover 2 Zone Under. Rollins starts opposite the middle receiver on the left side of the offensive formation. He drops back into zone, looks into the backfield and has a great break on the ball. It was a terrible throw and there were two other Packers in the area, so it’s likely good things would have happened even if Rollins did make this break. Still, it shows good instincts and understanding of the game to make this break.
Let’s look at a really nice play from Jayone Elliott [91].
Elliott is on the right, lined up across from Rob Havenstein [79]. Elliott’s initial move is an outside rush. Havenstein heads him off there, so he does a quick push to get a little space. As he does this, he sees the handoff and Gurley [30] running at his side. With the space Elliott was able to create, he is able to dart inside – away from the reaching arms of Havenstein – and make the tackle on Gurley. This shows great strength, intelligence and reaction time. I’m a very big fan of Jayrone Elliott.
Let’s finish off this defensive portion with a few plays from Clay Matthews [52].
Here is Matthews putting his head down and running at the line like a bat out of hell. The man in his sights is Jamon Brown [68], who comes in at 6’4″, 330 pounds (per his Pro Football Reference page). Matthews rushes and throws his body into Brown, knocking him backwards. Again, Brown is 6’4″, 330 pounds. The result of the play is an 8 yard gain, but watching Matthews throw himself at the line is a joy.
This is a great sack by Matthews and Nick Perry [53]. Matthews starts on the inside and loops around to the outside once a hole opens. Meanwhile, Perry comes off the edge and is blocked back a bit by Cory Harkey [46]. He’s able to get around Harkey and force Nick Foles [5] up in the pocket, directly into the welcoming arms of Matthews.
I love the little moment at the end of this, where Matthews pats Perry on the helmet.
Let’s end the look at the defense by watching one of my favorite plays of the day: Matthews giving Foles nightmares for the rest of his life.
He walks right up to the line, giving the offensive line plenty of time to see what he’s doing. But Mike Pennel [64] ties up Tim Barnes [61] immediately, not allowing him to touch Matthews. Matthews explodes through the line and mauls Foles. It’s beautiful in its ferocity.
Let’s look at a couple plays from the offense.
For starters, I wanted to take a look at this image:
I didn’t chart the number of times the Rams gave this look, but I’d say it was over 50% of the time. It’s a one-deep safety look, and that safety is extremely deep, discouraging deep throws. The corners are pulled up tight, and, even with 3 wide receivers, they’re running into a 7 man box. If the receivers were able to create any separation, Rodgers would have torched this defense, and the Rams would quickly have to switch to different looks. But the receivers couldn’t do that with any consistency.
This is why Rodgers struggled and this is why the running game had trouble getting traction. There’s not a problem with Rodgers: there’s a problem with the receivers not getting open. I think it will get better, but these last couple games have been less-than-ideal.
Here is Ty Montgomery’s [88] touchdown catch, and an example of little tricks the Packers have tried to get their receivers open. The first thing to notice is that there is no deep safety, so the entire middle of the field is open. Had that safety stayed deep instead of coming up in coverage, this still would have been a completion but it’s not likely that it would have ended up in a touchdown.
The other thing to notice is what happens at the bottom of the screen. Montgomery was split out wide, but comes in motion and is lined up closely to Richard Rodgers [82] at the time of the snap. Rodgers runs a lazy fly, while Montgomery runs a dig, cutting underneath Rodgers. By running this route combination, Rodgers takes both defenders with him, leaving Montgomery wide open in the middle of the field and nothing but green in front of him.
Last but not least, I’d like to take a look at this screen pass to James Starks [44]. I’ve mentioned this in the past, but part of what makes Starks so good is his patience and vision. On this play, he slips to the outside, catches the pass, makes a quick move to elude a tackler, then heads to the outside to set up the block for Corey Linsley [63]. Starks has shown that he can’t be the lead back for an entire season, but he excels in this type of role.
Random Thoughts:
– Clay Matthews lined up as ILB on 64.9% of his snaps.
– In the Aaron Rodgers era, the offense has turned over the ball 3+ times in 13 games. In those games (including this one) they are 3-10, losing by an average score of 31.5-23.2.
– After all the fear about the Rams pass rush crushing Rodgers in this game, he escaped relatively unscathed (turnovers notwithstanding). He was sacked 2 times and hurried 7 times. He didn’t appear to be rushing his throws: his time from snap to throw in this game was 2.90 seconds, only slightly quicker than his season average of 2.96 seconds. The return of Bryan Bulaga really helped their offensive line.
– Rodgers struggled in this game, but he looked very good when throwing to Ty Montgomery: 4/5 for 59 yards and a touchdown, for a QB rating of 155.4.
– Richard Rodgers had a very bad day. I showed his missed block above, but he also had a big dropped pass, and he also had a penalty on a field goal attempt that pushed the Packers out of field goal range. I still believe that he’s going to have a very good season, but he has quite a bit of room for improvement. He’s bound to have a game like this from time to time. As long as this is the exception instead of the rule, I’ll be happy with it.
– The entire secondary had a pretty good day, but Sam Shields was definitely the stand-out. He broke up two long passes (including one in the end zone) in which he stayed step-for-step with the receiver, timed his jump perfectly and knocked the ball away. When targeting Shields, Nick Foles was 1/7 for 10 yards, for a QB rating of 39.6. After a rough game against the Bears, Shields has turned in a pretty solid run.
– As I talked about a bit above, the entire defense turned in another tremendous game. They sacked Nick Foles 5 times, hit him another 13 and hurried him 9 times. The offense was off, but the defense came up huge. Foles was under pressure on 19 of his 33 dropbacks. On those 19 plays, he was 5/16 for 50 yards and 2 interceptions, for a QB rating of 1.6.
Albums listened to: Josh Ritter – Sermon on the Rocks; Led Zeppelin – III; City and Colour – If I Should Go Before You; Modest Mouse – Strangers To Ourselves; Daniel Martin Moore – Golden Age; Chris Walla – Tape Loops; Allison Weiss – New Love; Molly Nilsson – Zenith
Thank you for reading. Dusty Evely is a featured writer for Titletown Sound Off. You can follow him on Twitter @DustyEvely. For even more Packers content, follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
Continue reading...
Before I get started, I’d like to put in another call for comments. How are you all liking the gifs? I’ve tried to start them a little earlier so you can get a better view of the overall play. Let me know what you think. I’m always trying to improve.
Let’s get to the film. As always, stats and ratings from Pro Football Focus.
THE UGLY
In last week’s post, I was kind of bragging on Richard Rodgers’ [82] run-blocking skills, and how he had improved since last year. While I still believe that to be true, he will also have moments like this. He starts in the backfield to Aaron Rodgers’ [12] right. At the snap, he hits the hole exactly like he’s supposed to. He tries to cut-block James Laurinaitis [55] but fails miserably. Oh so miserably. James Starks [44] appears to have a pretty big hole to run through, but Laurinaitis is still on his feet and is able to plug the gap, leading to a minimal gain. If Rodgers had been able to make this block, Starks may have been able to scamper for a pretty good gain.
As I’ve mentioned before, I understand why Richard Rodgers is seeing so much time in the backfield. If he can block (which is not a given), defenses have to account for the run and the pass. However, in a game where the Packers struggled to get the running game going, why did John Kuhn only see the field for 10 snaps and Aaron Ripkowski for 0? On a play like this, a good blocking fullback may have helped this play gain some pretty good yardage. I’m not advocating for more playing time for Kuhn in every game, but I feel like he could have helped them a bit in this game.
THE BAD
Once again, I find myself looking at something I said in last week’s post and having to walk it back a bit. The Packers used this formation last week and were able to convert a couple 4th-and-short situations. This week they flipped the formation but the idea is the same: put a couple receivers close to the line and offset (this week it’s Richard Rodgers and James Jones) to make the defense account for them, then run to the other side of the line with the running back. Conceptually, it makes sense: if the defense has to account for those receivers, you take a couple defenders out of the equation.
It did not work quite so well this week. I assume the Rams saw this formation last week and had a pretty good idea of what was coming. T.J. McDonald [25] crashed hard to the inside, never looking outside. I would love to see the Packers continue to use this formation, but throw a couple wrinkles into it. Maybe a play-action bootleg: get the defense all moving towards the running back, then bootleg back to the other side and throw to one of the receivers who has snuck outside. This is a great look, but it won’t work if they just keep doing the same thing every single time they roll it out.
This is the long run by Todd Gurley [30] early in the 4th quarter. A number of things go wrong here. Letroy Guion [98] starts in the middle and is immediately shoved off the line. I mentioned this a lot last year but it bears repeating here: Guion is at his best when he’s rushing the passer. He can do some good in the run game (he had a tackle behind the line in this game), but he is pushed around far too often.
By this point in the game, B.J. Raji was out with an injury. I have to believe that having him instead of Guion in the middle of the line would have changed the outcome of this play.
Mike Daniels [76] is handled on the edge by Roger Saffold [76]. He’s not getting killed or anything, but Saffold is able to move him to the inside just enough to open a hole for Gurley to run through.
Nate Palmer [51] finds himself drawn too close to the line and unable to see where Gurley went. By the time Gurley bursts through the hole, Palmer has been walled off in the middle and is unable to get back in time.
Lastly, after Gurley breaks through the line, Micah Hyde [33] is back deep. He lines Gurley up pretty well, but bites too hard on an inside fake and allows Gurley to easily break to the outside.
By the time the dust had cleared, Gurley had picked up 55 yards.
THE GOOD
A few plays notwithstanding, the defense was tremendous in this game.
Micah Hyde [33] gets the interception here (you’ll see him start at the left side of the screen, then pop back in to pick off this pass), but it’s the defensive line that makes this happen. Julius Peppers [56] comes flying off the left side and bull-rushes Greg Robinson [73] straight back into Nick Foles [5]. It’s Peppers that registers the hit here, but Clay Matthews [52] and Datone Jones [95] are only a step behind.
Still, it’s Peppers that gets the hit and forces the high throw, which lands directly in the hands of Hyde.
Let’s look at another interception, this one the first career interception for rookie Quinten Rollins [24]. Once again, watch the pass rush coming from the left side of the line. Datone Jones [95] splits two defenders and knocks Foles off his spot, forcing the throw to the outside.
It’s also important to look at Rollins on this play. The call is Cover 2 Zone Under. Rollins starts opposite the middle receiver on the left side of the offensive formation. He drops back into zone, looks into the backfield and has a great break on the ball. It was a terrible throw and there were two other Packers in the area, so it’s likely good things would have happened even if Rollins did make this break. Still, it shows good instincts and understanding of the game to make this break.
Let’s look at a really nice play from Jayone Elliott [91].
Elliott is on the right, lined up across from Rob Havenstein [79]. Elliott’s initial move is an outside rush. Havenstein heads him off there, so he does a quick push to get a little space. As he does this, he sees the handoff and Gurley [30] running at his side. With the space Elliott was able to create, he is able to dart inside – away from the reaching arms of Havenstein – and make the tackle on Gurley. This shows great strength, intelligence and reaction time. I’m a very big fan of Jayrone Elliott.
Let’s finish off this defensive portion with a few plays from Clay Matthews [52].
Here is Matthews putting his head down and running at the line like a bat out of hell. The man in his sights is Jamon Brown [68], who comes in at 6’4″, 330 pounds (per his Pro Football Reference page). Matthews rushes and throws his body into Brown, knocking him backwards. Again, Brown is 6’4″, 330 pounds. The result of the play is an 8 yard gain, but watching Matthews throw himself at the line is a joy.
This is a great sack by Matthews and Nick Perry [53]. Matthews starts on the inside and loops around to the outside once a hole opens. Meanwhile, Perry comes off the edge and is blocked back a bit by Cory Harkey [46]. He’s able to get around Harkey and force Nick Foles [5] up in the pocket, directly into the welcoming arms of Matthews.
I love the little moment at the end of this, where Matthews pats Perry on the helmet.
Let’s end the look at the defense by watching one of my favorite plays of the day: Matthews giving Foles nightmares for the rest of his life.
He walks right up to the line, giving the offensive line plenty of time to see what he’s doing. But Mike Pennel [64] ties up Tim Barnes [61] immediately, not allowing him to touch Matthews. Matthews explodes through the line and mauls Foles. It’s beautiful in its ferocity.
Let’s look at a couple plays from the offense.
For starters, I wanted to take a look at this image:
I didn’t chart the number of times the Rams gave this look, but I’d say it was over 50% of the time. It’s a one-deep safety look, and that safety is extremely deep, discouraging deep throws. The corners are pulled up tight, and, even with 3 wide receivers, they’re running into a 7 man box. If the receivers were able to create any separation, Rodgers would have torched this defense, and the Rams would quickly have to switch to different looks. But the receivers couldn’t do that with any consistency.
This is why Rodgers struggled and this is why the running game had trouble getting traction. There’s not a problem with Rodgers: there’s a problem with the receivers not getting open. I think it will get better, but these last couple games have been less-than-ideal.
Here is Ty Montgomery’s [88] touchdown catch, and an example of little tricks the Packers have tried to get their receivers open. The first thing to notice is that there is no deep safety, so the entire middle of the field is open. Had that safety stayed deep instead of coming up in coverage, this still would have been a completion but it’s not likely that it would have ended up in a touchdown.
The other thing to notice is what happens at the bottom of the screen. Montgomery was split out wide, but comes in motion and is lined up closely to Richard Rodgers [82] at the time of the snap. Rodgers runs a lazy fly, while Montgomery runs a dig, cutting underneath Rodgers. By running this route combination, Rodgers takes both defenders with him, leaving Montgomery wide open in the middle of the field and nothing but green in front of him.
Last but not least, I’d like to take a look at this screen pass to James Starks [44]. I’ve mentioned this in the past, but part of what makes Starks so good is his patience and vision. On this play, he slips to the outside, catches the pass, makes a quick move to elude a tackler, then heads to the outside to set up the block for Corey Linsley [63]. Starks has shown that he can’t be the lead back for an entire season, but he excels in this type of role.
Random Thoughts:
– Clay Matthews lined up as ILB on 64.9% of his snaps.
– In the Aaron Rodgers era, the offense has turned over the ball 3+ times in 13 games. In those games (including this one) they are 3-10, losing by an average score of 31.5-23.2.
– After all the fear about the Rams pass rush crushing Rodgers in this game, he escaped relatively unscathed (turnovers notwithstanding). He was sacked 2 times and hurried 7 times. He didn’t appear to be rushing his throws: his time from snap to throw in this game was 2.90 seconds, only slightly quicker than his season average of 2.96 seconds. The return of Bryan Bulaga really helped their offensive line.
– Rodgers struggled in this game, but he looked very good when throwing to Ty Montgomery: 4/5 for 59 yards and a touchdown, for a QB rating of 155.4.
– Richard Rodgers had a very bad day. I showed his missed block above, but he also had a big dropped pass, and he also had a penalty on a field goal attempt that pushed the Packers out of field goal range. I still believe that he’s going to have a very good season, but he has quite a bit of room for improvement. He’s bound to have a game like this from time to time. As long as this is the exception instead of the rule, I’ll be happy with it.
– The entire secondary had a pretty good day, but Sam Shields was definitely the stand-out. He broke up two long passes (including one in the end zone) in which he stayed step-for-step with the receiver, timed his jump perfectly and knocked the ball away. When targeting Shields, Nick Foles was 1/7 for 10 yards, for a QB rating of 39.6. After a rough game against the Bears, Shields has turned in a pretty solid run.
– As I talked about a bit above, the entire defense turned in another tremendous game. They sacked Nick Foles 5 times, hit him another 13 and hurried him 9 times. The offense was off, but the defense came up huge. Foles was under pressure on 19 of his 33 dropbacks. On those 19 plays, he was 5/16 for 50 yards and 2 interceptions, for a QB rating of 1.6.
Albums listened to: Josh Ritter – Sermon on the Rocks; Led Zeppelin – III; City and Colour – If I Should Go Before You; Modest Mouse – Strangers To Ourselves; Daniel Martin Moore – Golden Age; Chris Walla – Tape Loops; Allison Weiss – New Love; Molly Nilsson – Zenith
Thank you for reading. Dusty Evely is a featured writer for Titletown Sound Off. You can follow him on Twitter @DustyEvely. For even more Packers content, follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
Continue reading...
