Packers 2025 Callsheet: 2nd & Short

If you’re new to this series, we’re reviewing how the Packers offense performed in 2025 by down & distance. We’re doing that by building out a callsheet. I ran it all down in my initial post. This is the 5th article in the series, where we’re looking at 2nd & short (where “short” is defined as needi

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If you’re new to this series, we’re reviewing how the Packers offense performed in 2025 by down & distance. We’re doing that by building out a callsheet. I ran it all down in my initial post. This is the 5th article in the series, where we’re looking at 2nd & short (where “short” is defined as needing 1-3 yards for a 1st down). We’ll reference Success Rate & Explosive Rate in this series, so here are the definitions. On 2nd down, a play is considered a success if it gains at least 50% of the yards needed

for a 1st down. A play is considered explosive if a pass gains 16+ yards or a run gains 12+ yards.

I mentioned last week that there are buckets where we don’t have a ton of plays to look at. Friends and neighbors, this is one of those buckets. In 2025, the Packers faced 1.6 non-red zone Second and Short situations per game, the 2nd fewest total in the league. We’re going to round that up to 2 for this article.

Not that this is something totally in your control, but more 2nd & short situations would be nice, especially for a condensed team like the Packers. The pass game is so heavily tied to the run that you could do some real damage off play action shots in this scenario, with an eye on converting on 3rd & short or 4th & short if you don’t get it here. The playbook is open in a way it isn’t in other situations.

Again, not something totally in control of the team. Obviously, you’d like more 2nd & short situations, but you’re not calling plays on 1st down hoping to gain specifically 7-9 yards.

So how did the Packers do on 2nd & short in 2025? Extremely efficient, if not overly explosive. They had a success rate of 85.7% (2nd in the league). They were one of the most run-heavy teams in the league in this situation, only passing the ball on 21.4% of their plays (29th). As a result, their explosive play rate was 7.1% (24th). This was a chain-moving down for them, not a big play one. Part of this is just the way I see the game, but I’d like to see them pass the ball more in this situation.

Today, we’re going with 1 pass play and 1 RPO. Technically, the RPO would be a run call, with an option to pass if there’s a favorable look. I’m actually going to throw in a 3rd play as well, with a slight alteration that I’d like to see.

Passes

PA Boot (6.0 YPA, 100% Success)

I mentioned earlier that the Packers’ pass game is tied closely to their run game and nowhere is that more obvious than here. Get the offensive line showing a zone block one way, then boot the QB out the other way to find a few receivers flooding the boot side.

The clip above is a bit weird, in that it almost looks like the Sail passing concept off a straight dropback play action. Sail is the three-level food passing concept that typically pairs with PA Boot, but, given the path of the RB, this almost looks like an accidental PA Boot, with the QB forced to move to the right because of pressure.

Despite how the above play looks, PA Boot is (and has been) a solid concept for the Packers on 2nd & short.

Runs/RPOs

Wide Zone/WR Screen (13.0 YPA, 100% Success)

One of the reasons PA Boot is a solid concept is that it’s so closely tied to the Wide Zone run, which is a staple of the Packers run game and has been effective in this situation for years.

Here, Wide Zone is paired with a WR Screen option on the right. It’s a pre-snap read for the QB. If the Packers have a numbers advantage to that side off the motion, he’ll throw to the flat behind two blockers. If the numbers are even (or worse), he’ll hand off. The idea is to always be right: throw where you have numbers or run into a lighter box.

They could also roll with another RPO.

Power/Hank (13.0 YPA, 100% Success)

If we don’t necessarily care about tying the pass concept directly to a run concept, this is probably where I would lean. I like the power run game, and I love more vertical pass tags off of it. Pulling lineman can take a little more time up front, giving you the ability to look a touch more downfield in the pass game.

In the clip above, we have a power run to the right with Hank (hitch/flat) on the backside, with the flat route coming off fast motion.

If we really want to push it, I present a play we didn’t see in 2025 in this situation, but is tied closely enough with the play above to make me feel good about its inclusion. We’re rolling Power/Glance.

It’s exactly the same, only we’re releasing the hitch receiver on a glance route. This would be a post-snap read for the QB where he would be reading a single conflict defender. Basically, the QB will put the ball into the belly of the RB and read a defender on the left. If that defender rallies to the run, the throwing lane is open so the QB will pull-and-throw. With the receiver releasing vertically, there’s a chance for an explosive here.

This wouldn’t necessarily be one of the core calls in this situation, but if a defender is biting aggressively on the run from a side of the field, I’d make sure I had this one loaded up.

Here’s how that section looks on our callsheet: