Packers Film Room: Woulda Coulda Shouldas In Week 7

It’s underselling it a bit to say that the Green Bay Packers had a few missed opportunities this past weekend, but there were a couple big ones that stood out that I wanted to spend a bit of time with. I already looked at the field goal operation, so today we’re going to look at a couple of passing plays: the 4th down to Golden in the flat and the incomplete pass to Jacobs just before the blocked field goal.

Play 1: 4th & 4, 4:20 remaining in the 2nd quarter

Packers are in 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR) in a Quad Bunch Nub formation (a 4×1 formation with three receivers in a bunch to one side and the TE in-line on the opposite side of the formation). It’s 11 personnel, but the formation is a bit funky, with Pierre Strong [22] (the RB) the inside man in bunch, and Matthew Golden [0] (a WR) in the backfield. The Packers don’t shift or motion: they walk to the line, Jordan Love [10] gives a quick assessment, then they quick-snap, trying to catch the Lions mid-communication (something they did quite a bit in this game).

They’re running a version of Mesh, with Tucker Kraft [85] and Pierre Strong running dueling drag routes, crossing a couple yards down the field. This version is Mesh Sit, with Savion Williams [83] following a drag then pulling up on a Sit route in the middle of the field. Christian Watson [9] is running a corner route and Golden is running a flat route.

Typically the read on Mesh would be the vertical route first (Watson on the corner), then the Mesh point (Kraft/Strong, Williams), then the flat if none of those are open (Golden).

This version out of Quads is slightly different, in that part of the whole thing is for the bunch receivers to create a wall of commotion for the Flat route. It’s a bit like Mesh Traffic in that regard (we’ll get to that).

That would make DJ Reed the most important player on the defense. Love is reading Reed at the snap. With the push from the bunch and the initial angle from Reed, it looks like he’s going to get caught in the wall, which would leave Golden wide open in the flat.

Instead, Reed does a really nice job of avoiding contact and maintaining speed over the wall, firing off the hip of Watson and driving down on Golden.

Nice rep by Reed. If Reed gets so much as a bump, this is a TD. If Love feels he’s able to wait a tick to throw this, he could see Reed breaking and move off. If that were the case, he could have potentially been able to find Strong on the backside.

Unfortunately for Love, Strong would be the 5th read on this play, which would make it tough to work back over to him.

There’s a version of this play I like a bit better. A small little change but creates just a bit more traffic to navigate for the defense. This would see Golden align away from the bunch and release through the line (typically through the B gap). We’ve seen the Packers run this a few times over the years. It doesn’t have quite the same pop if it’s a WR in the backfield, but it could still be enough to get the job done. It introduces a few more moving pieces for the offense (slightly longer to set up, hoping the o-line doesn’t get shoved back into the release point, etc.) but it’s a beautiful play.

I am certainly not saying that this play absolutely would have worked, but it’s a slightly different take on the same idea. It’s also one of my favorite Mesh variants, so I will bring it up as often as I can.

Play 2: 3rd & 5, 3:30 remaining in the 4th quarter

Fast forward to the last offensive play of the game for the Packers. Game tied 17-17, facing 3rd & 5. They are – once again – in 11 personnel. Bunch right, RB aligned away from the bunch. The Lions are showing a single-high safety and a lot of bodies around the line.

Kraft shifts wide before the snap, leaving a two-man stack of Watson and Golden just outside the right hash. They’re running a little shallow crossing concept between Golden and Kraft, while Watson runs a corner route over the top.

On the left side, Josh Jacobs [8] motions out at the snap, giving him outside leverage on his defender. With the initial release of both Savion Williams [83] and Jacobs, it looks like they may be running Arches, a popular concept in this down and distance. Instead, Jacobs gives a little shake and releases vertically up the field, while Williams releases vertically to the inside.

On this play, Jacobs would be the Alert (throw this at the top of the drop if given a specific look or simply don’t look at it at all after an initial assessment post-snap). The goal of concept is to work the concept on the right (look to Watson initially, then work to Golden/Kraft underneath) if the Lions rotate back to a two-high safety look after the snap.

With the Lions staying in single-high – and Jacobs getting outside leverage on the motion – Love takes the vertical route to Jacobs. The Lions staying in single-high means there are more bodies around the line, making the shorter concept from Golden/Kraft pretty muddy.

They had already hit Jacobs on a couple choice routes close to the line earlier in the game, so the defense likely had those in mind. Midway through the 2nd quarter they hit Jacobs on an Angle route on the Texas concept.

Then, early in the 3rd, they hit him on an out route (and he scored a TD on it).

Derrick Moore [8] is in good coverage down the field, but the hesitation from Jacobs at the assumed break point gives him the initial separation he needs.

Love lofts the ball over the top, dropping it in the bucket. I believe Derrick Moore [8] may get a fingertip on this, but it hits Jacobs in both hands and he can’t bring it in.

Not too different from the route he ran against the Broncos last year that ended in a TD. Except for the part where he caught the ball. That part was different, I guess.

Albums listened to: Chapterhouse – Whirlpool; Lucy Dacus – Forever is a Feeling; Teenage Fanclub – Bandwagonesque; Ethel Cain – Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You