Every week I take time to roll through all of the Packers offensive snaps multiple times, both for charting purposes but also to get a good feel for what the Packers did offensively. There are always fun
plays & wrinkles. I want to write about those, but I don’t always get a chance to. Then the next game comes around, the cycle starts all over again and some of those fun little plays just fall by the wayside.
Well, today I get a chance to look at a few from Saturday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens. We dove into the overall passing game already, breaking down the first 2 completions from Malik Willis. Today? Today we just look at 3 plays that I just thought were neat.
Play 1: 2nd & 8, 2:21 remaining in the 2nd quarter
The Packers are in 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR) in a tight formation. At the snap, the Ravens bring 5 rushers and play zone behind it. The Packers are running Hank on the right and Cross-Country Dagger on the left. Hank is a 3 step concept while Cross-Country Dagger is 7 step read. Malik Willis [2] is reading Hank-to-Dagger.
Willis is reading Hank on his dropback, but bails as soon as he hits his back foot (probably something to do with Kyle Hamilton [14] detonating Josh Jacobs [8]).
Romeo Doubs [87] is running the hitch route in Hank, and he has a zone defender underneath. Doubs recognizes the coverage, so he just works away from the zone defender and gives Willis a nice target. The threat of the Willis scramble moves the defender up to the line, leaving even a bigger window for Doubs.
Good recognition from Doubs, and well done by Willis to find him with a really nice, sidearm throw past a defensive lineman. Doubs finds grass after the catch and picks up 13 yards.
Play 2: 3rd & 18, 13:37 remaining in the 3rd quarter
It was 27-14 at this point, and the Packers needed something to get them rolling. 3rd & 18 isn’t necessarily where you want to be, but sometimes you find beauty in the places you least expect.
The Packers are in 11 personnel in a 3×1 Trips look. They’re running something that looks an awful lot like Drift Stalk, with a couple key differences.
Matthew Golden [0] is running the Drift/Strike route from the iso position on the left. Christian Watson [9] is running a Push route from the #1 position on the right (in place of the Drift Off Route). Jayden Reed [11] is running something that looks like a Tree Pump route instead of Stalk Rail. (Stalk Rail calls for a Stalk Block off the line that releases vertical, while Tree Pump is a route that pushes vertical to 10 yards, speed cuts to 12 and then veers back upfield.)
Josh Whyle [81] is running an out route from the #3 position out of Trips, and, as it turns out, he’s the most important part of this.
At 3rd & 18, the Ravens are showing 4 deep defenders just shy of the sticks. At the snap, the safety over the passing strength drops down, putting the Ravens in a Quarter-Quarter-Half look. The defender over Watson runs deep with that route, while the dropping safety and the slot defender both drop down on Whyle.
As Reed initially breaks to the outside, Marlon Humphrey [44] passes him off to the deep defender, unaware that the deep defender is already running with Watson.
Willis breaks the pocket and finds Reed down the field for a 30 yard gain.
Reed is settling into a space on the field, but he’s able to adjust to the throw and come down with a nice catch.
Play 3: 3rd & 2, 2:44 remaining in the 3rd quarter
Packers are in 11 personnel and the Ravens are in Man Free (single high safety, man coverage underneath). The Packers appear to be running Lion (double-slants) on the right, which makes sense. It’s 3rd & short and that’s a nice, quick-hitting passing concept in this situation. Reed is running a slant from the inside while Bo Melton [16] is running a follow-slant from the outside. Or is he? (He is not. He is running a Sluggo.)
Melton does just enough to sell the slant to the inside to get the defender to bite, before breaking on the go route. That little step on the slant was enough to move the defender to the inside, allowing Melton to gain separation and drift to the outside.
Willis lays the ball up and Melton is able to come down with the catch for a 34 yard gain on 3rd & 2.
Beautifully done.
Albums listened to: verity den – wet glass; Avery Tucker – Paw; Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
