Packers hoping to restore the declining play action pass in 2018 Play action plays like the ones compiled below used to be a staple of a
productive Green Bay Packers offense. Unfortunately
Womens DeShone Kizer Jersey , that component of the offense has fallen on hard times in recent seasons.According to Football Outsiders, the Packers ranked
16th in the league in the percentage of pass plays that began with a play-action
fake to the running back in 2017. Granted, this statistic took snaps with both
Aaron Rodgers and Brett Hundley into account and one quarterback was certainly
more effective than the other. But as APC’s Paul Noonan pointed out in February,
the Packers only averaged 5.8 yards per play action pass, a mark only one other
NFL team failed to surpass (Oakland, 4.4). Paul pointed out some legitimate
reasons behind Green Bay’s low figure in that article.However, some new stats
released by FO in its 2018 Almanac reveal an even more startling notion: that
the success of the play action pass with Aaron Rodgers has rapidly faded since
2014.In what FO described as the “peak Rodgers” years from 2009-2014, Aaron
averaged 10.8 yards per play action attempt. That number not only ranked Rodgers
first in the league in that category, but was well above the league average of
8.68 yards in that timeframe.But from 2015-2017, the numbers painted a polar
opposite trend. Rodgers’ average dipped to just 6.41 yards per play action
attempt in comparison to the league average of 8.75 yards. That number ranked a
jaw-dropping 40th in the NFL and placed Rodgers above just one other
quarterback: his new backup DeShone Kizer.Surely, the Packers need to improve
upon those numbers in 2018. The question is how do they reverse them?Well, for
starters, a jump-started running game should make defenses second-guess an
offense that has been predominantly pass-first oriented. Though FO stated that
it has “never found a link between rushing success and play-action success,”
Jamaal Williams and Aaron Jones should give defenses reason to believe the
Packers may hand the ball off. The two backs also figure to help as capable
check-down receivers on plays that may have otherwise resulted in incompletions.
Having limited experience with the young stable of backs before injury, Rodgers
should benefit greatly from a season with them at his disposal to aid the play
action as both runners and receivers.Losing Jordy Nelson, one of Rodgers’ main
targets in the downfield play action game, may be a knock for the Packers. But
adding rookie receivers with especially gifted size-speed combinations could
make the vertical passing game dangerous as the season wears on if one of them
emerges. In addition, Rodgers and Davante Adams were an intriguing pass-catch
duo last year until that tragic day in Minnesota. A fully healthy season from
two players with chemistry could raise the Packers’ play action
numbers
Womens Brett Hundley Jersey , as history has shown the ability for them to connect on a long ball with frequency. Of course, Jimmy Graham was signed in
part to stretch the field from the tight end position and could contribute to a
revitalization of the play action attack.Head Coach Mike McCarthy and the
Packers wanted to conduct a full-scale analysis of the offense in the offseason
and there is little doubt that maximizing the often-deceptive play action pass
was a part of that probe. The return of Joe Philbin, who was a part of three of
Rodgers’ so-called peak seasons from 2009-2011 as Offensive Coordinator, may
also be factor in the team’s success by getting back to the basics of what once
made Green Bay so effective in that area. Philbin’s goal was to make McCarthy
look like one of the NFL’s best playcallers and mixing up play action routes
that have become fairly predictable could help in its own right.Another category
in which the Rodgers-led offense has slipped significantly since 2014 is passing
plays of 16 or more yards. If the Packers can restore their potency from the
play action, they should reap the benefits in this aspect and deepen the
playbook in 2018. Aaron Jones proved right those Green Bay Packers fans who had
been pining that he needs to get the ball more frequently.It’s also been
established, with irrefutable, undeniable, completely concrete evidence that
Jamaal Williams is a more than capable blocker.Both Jones and Williams are good
pass catchers and good runners, with Jones having a good advantage in that
capacity. The problem, much like the problem the Golden State Warriors faced
when Kevin Durant signed, is that there’s only one ball.So what is a team with
two good running backs to do?Put them on the field at the same time.It’s not
that simple, of course; opposing teams won’t suddenly fall over like a bunch of
fainting goats when they see 30 & 33 in the backfield.Luckily for Green Bay,
their new head coach happens to have some experience running an offense with a
pair of talented running backs. To the film!Last year, the Tennessee Titans,
under the direction of offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur, didn’t use two backs
all that often and when they did they used similar backfield action.By keeping
the same action but running different plays, the linebackers can’t sell out in
any one direction or else they run the risk of getting exposed.If they blitz
toward the first handoff? Read option to the backside or pull the ball and throw
it to a middle route receiver.If they hesitate in their stances? Run it toward
the edge and beat them to the spot, or run it at them and pick up at least an
easy four yards.In our first clip
Womens Justin Vogel Jersey , the Titans chose the last option.Tennessee has Derrick Henry to Marcus Mariota’s right and Dion Lewis to his left in the
shotgun formation, with a tight end to the left.The opposing Philadelphia Eagles
have their defensive strength to the weak side of the formation with four box
defenders to the offense’s right and three to the left (with the middle
linebacker directly in the middle).Mariota motions the left receiver in, and his
defender follows but stays 8 yards off the line of scrimmage.This is an easy
call for Mariota to make, as there are more blockers than defenders, so
Tennessee runs to their left.There’s a twist of course; a fake handoff to Lewis
running right freezes the linebackers and both #2 and #3 in red bite on the fake
to Lewis, removing themselves from the play.That allows the TE and LT to combo
on the DE, and the LG and C to combo block the DT.Both the LT and C then move to
the second level to pickup the linebackers.The only unblocked box defender is
Brandon Graham, circled and highlighted; he’s the furthest away from the play on
the LOS, meaning he has the longest route to make a play on the ball and can
also get held by the fake to Lewis.It turns out that Graham did end up making
the play and read it as well as anyone could have, but Tennessee still got three
easy yards with room for a lot more if Graham doesn’t make the play he did.As a
quick aside; you can also run this to the other side from the same formation
just as easily if the Eagles had the left side stacked instead of the right;
just have Henry perform the fake and hand it off to Lewis after a simple switch
call at the line.Earlier in the game, Tennessee used its mobile quarterback out
of this formation only with a TE to the right.The Eagles knew Tennessee is a run
first team, so they come out with a nickel formation but 8 in the box.Using
Philadelphia’s aggressiveness against them, the backfield motion is to down
block on the line and fake to Henry left to right in order to really sell that
handoff.It was sold well because it was a read option.Dion Lewis acts as either
a) cutback blocker for Henry, or b) lead blocker for Mariota on the keeper. It’s
not a play I want Aaron Rodgers running regularly, but it’s something that could
be utilized on third-and-one, when we’ve seen Rodgers run in the past.So now we
know we can run with two backs. What about passing?Well this next clip should
look pretty familiar; it uses the exact same backfield motion and nearly
identical blocking, and was called immediately after Mariota’s run. Fool me
once, shame on you — fool me twice
Blake Martinez Jersey , shame on me; the Eagles were definitely feeling some shame here.Here’s the diagram, with the coverages in red. See if you can
spot the open area:Deep middle, a fan favorite for long bombs.The Eagles go with
an inverted cover 2 with the cornerbacks having the deep halves; smartly, the
bottom receiver goes inside the zone and behind the safety and finds himself
wide open.Notice the Air Raid themes here; the top receiver has the option,
depending on the coverage, to cut the route short and run a comeback or go over
the top if he has a step; Eagles went soft, so he cut it back.The bottom
receiver also has the same choice; if there was a deep safety, instead of
running his route into the coverage, he would sink down in front of it. The
idea, on its surface, is simple; run to where they aren’t.That’s more
frustrating than having a phone without a headphone jack.This next clip takes
advantage of personnel and gets your good route-running back in space against an
overmatched defender.When you bring both backs on the field, some defenses
counter with a linebacker or heavy safety.The Eagles wisely stayed in a Nickel
formation, but the outside coverages were soft enough that Tennessee saw an
advantage anyway.We’ve seen this before; two RBs, one TE.The Titans then motion
Lewis to the left slot.Not catching the Eagles by surprise, cornerback Sidney
Jones follows him across the formation.Luckily for Tennessee, he gives Lewis too
much cushion.A simple out route gets an easy three yards; if the throw was
sooner and in a better spot, Lewis has room to run.So far we’ve got an inside
zone, read option
Womens Mason Crosby Jersey , play-action pass, and a motion to quick out. All of these are generally considered standard at this point. What is a common
play in the NFL that isn’t on that list? The screen pass.I previously
highlighted a few new formations and plays that Matt LaFleur can bring to the
Green Bay Packers, and the final clip in that article was a fake jet sweep fake
dive TE screen.I really enjoy the numerous fakes and non traditional motions, so
its only fitting that the 2 RB screen game comes with its own quirks.Putting
Dion Lewis in ‘orbit’ or ‘rocket’ motion (a deep, behind the quarterback motion
as opposed to Jet motion which is close to the LOS) to Mariota’s right side gets
the defense’s eyes wandering that way as the ball is snapped. To really sell the
fake, Mariota turns and pump fakes to Lewis as soon as he gets the ball.The
linemen hold their blocks for a second longer than a typical screen pass to give
Mariota enough time and get the pass rushers up field, while Derrick Henry
sneaks in behind them to the left.The motion and fake take defenders out of the
play without having to allocate any blockers to them*.(*Note: A quick adjustment
I would make is to have the bottom WR sprint inside at the snap to block a
safety/lingering linebacker to allow the screen man to cut back inside,
especially against zone coverage or teams that ball watch too much.)After the
pump, Mariota pivots left and lays it off to Henry with blockers
established.Another good read by both a DT and CB turn this into a loss; if
Henry is more patient in his route he could have caught it behind his guard with
more room in the middle of the field, but the design is there for something
big.Both Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams could operate as either back; Williams
is the better blocker and Jones the better runner and receiver, but smart play
design can put them both to use.And even if the Packers wanted to use Williams
as a true fullback and have him lead block for Jones, they can! In fact, they
already did in 2018 (s/o to fellow APC writer Jon Meerdink for the play
memory).And of course, some sweet, sweet slow-mo:It’s past theoretical at this
point.Green Bay has two quality running backs without signing Le’Veon Bell, and
a new playbook could make both of their stocks rise even further.
