Adams, Jones proved to be a dynamic receiving duo
LaFleur can set them up for bigger things
GREEN BAY - By all but a few measures — not being Super Bowl champs, for instance — the Green Bay Packers had an extraordinary season under first-year coach Matt LaFleur.
No one in franchise history had taken a team to the playoffs, let alone the NFC championship game, in his first season, but with general manager Brian Gutekunst providing the players and LaFleur guiding the team, the Packers went 14-4 and reestablished themselves as the top team in the NFC North.
Many things went right and some things went wrong, including two lopsided losses to NFC champion San Francisco. Statistically, the Packers were all over the place and will have plenty to assess during the offseason.
In a two-part series, starting with the offense, we break down some of the statistics the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel kept to help understand what led to a remarkable 2019 season and what needs to be done to make 2020 better.
Two of a kind
As much as the fan base wants Gutekunst to sign or draft every receiver that comes his way, it should not be forgotten that despite very little help at the other skill positions, receiver Davante Adams and running back Aaron Jones were a dangerous receiving duo.
Adams missed four games with turf toe and wasn’t himself until the final weeks of the season, yet he was an absolute bear for opposing cornerbacks from Week 15 on. It didn’t matter whom he faced, he was productive, and when it came to the playoffs he delivered like no one else on the team (17 catches for 298 yards and two touchdowns).
LaFleur lined Adams up all over the place, but as with former coach Mike McCarthy, when Adams was split out by himself on one side of the formation, he dominated. Of his five longest receptions in the regular season, he was alone to one side on four.
Of his 15 receptions of 20 or more yards, including playoffs, he was alone on eight of them. The more room he had to work, the better he seemed to be. If/ when Gutekunst adds some more productive receivers, LaFleur’s challenge will be getting Adams even more favorable match-ups.
As for Jones, getting quarterback Aaron Rodgers to recognize the value of checking the ball down to his No. 1 back should be a LaFleur priority.
Jones ranked fifth in the NFL in yards after the catch (8.84) during the regular season and had a team-leading 19 receptions in which he gained 10 or more yards post-catch, including three in which he gained 20 or more yards. Adams ranked second with 11 double-digit post-catch gains.
The screen game overall wasn’t great, but Jones often was. He was targeted 14 times and caught all of them for 178 yards (12.7 average) and a touchdown with one lost fumble. By comparison, Jamaal Williams was targeted 16 times and had 12 catches for 71 yards (5.0) and a touchdown.
Jones was healthy all season, and his snaps jumped from 236 in 2017 and 376 in ’18 to 676 in ’19. He was one of 13 Packers players who did not miss a practice.
The Packers may not be loaded with offensive talent, but there are only a handful of teams who wouldn’t take Adams and Jones over their top two producers.
Growing the receiver offense
It was rare for LaFleur not to have a tight end on the field.
It’s nice to have an extra blocker on passing downs and the occasional match-up against a slow linebacker, but if Gutekunst can score in the receiver market, LaFleur could explore using four receivers on the field at once. Not many teams have enough corners to handle two receivers, let alone four.
Despite the pedestrian numbers of Allen Lazard, Geronimo Allison, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Jake Kumerow, the Packers’ longest passing plays occurred when they had three receivers on the field, which was 70% of the time.
In fact, of their 12 completions of 40 or more yards, they had three receivers on the field on eight of them. Their top seven passing plays, including touchdowns of 74 and 67 yards, came with three receivers and one tight end.
Jimmy Graham was the only tight end to have a catch of 40 or more yards.
If you want to know why Gutekunst and LaFleur didn’t give up on ValdesScantling, it’s because he had five of the 12 catches of 40 or more yards. His last one came in Week 7, and his steep slide resulted in him playing just six snaps in the playoffs.
Packers guard Elgton Jenkins committed 10 penalties last season, including six for holding. However, he gave up only a half sack.
Under center
Being under center almost as many times as he was in shotgun was a big change for Rodgers.
In 2018 under McCarthy, he was in shotgun 787 times and under center 482. Part of that was because of a knee injury he suffered in Week 1, but even in ’17 Rodgers and backup Brett Hundley were in shotgun about 60% of the time.
Under LaFleur, Rodgers was in shotgun 681 times and under center 629, an almost 50-50 split. There’s no doubt that was an adjustment for Rodgers in reading defenses and carrying out playaction fakes.
There was a big increase in play-action fakes, from about 90 in ’18 to 155 in ’19, and that number will probably grow as LaFleur puts in more of his offense. Teams continued to send five or more rushers at Rodgers at a rate of a little over 21%, which isn’t a lot.
Protect and serve
Rodgers was sacked 36 times, which is tied for the seventh fewest in his 12 seasons as a starter.
He benefited from having a healthy offensive line.
The ironman of the group was right guard Billy Turner, who played 1,105 regular-season snaps (1,232 with playoffs), the most of any Packers player since Rodgers played 1,147 in ’15 and the most of any offensive lineman since Josh Sitton played 1,122 in ’13.
However, Turner was also the worst pass blocker, and offensive line coach Adam Stenavich’s task this offseason is going to be getting Turner to lower his pad level and better his play against stunts.
By unofficial count, Turner gave up a team-high nine sacks and 51⁄2 quarterback hits, and the number of pressures he allowed was almost double of anyone else on the line. Too often Rodgers had to bolt out of the pocket because someone was coming at him up the middle.
On the other hand, Turner tied with center Corey Linsley for the fewest holding penalties (one) and had just one false start. Turner is still young (28) and next season will be his third as a starter, so improvement isn’t out of the question.
The tight end issue
If you were to look at Graham’s stats without knowing to which tight end they belonged, you would say they were that of a quality backup.
His 38 catches for 447 yards and three touchdowns aren’t terrible until you consider he played 58% of the snaps, more than any other Packers tight end. Were Graham a complementary piece to an established position, he would still have value.
He no longer can run, but he averaged 6.39 yards after the catch, which ranked 17th in the NFC and was better than New Orleans Saints tight end Jared Cook’s 5.91. Graham had nine catches with 10 or more yards after the catch, including two with 20 or more.
The problem is he can’t get open the way he once did, and with $8 million due in the final year of his contract, he’s going to either be released or forced to take a pay cut. Were he to come back at a much lower salary, he would have to be a second or third option, not the starter.
As much grief as Graham took this year for being slow and not very productive, the biggest disappointment was Robert Tonyan. This was supposed to be a big year for him, but he played just 199 regular-season snaps (in part due to a hip injury) and had a season total of 27 yards after his 10 catches.
Rookie Jake Sternberger is the future, and why he wasn’t playing more down the stretch (71 snaps in the final six games) is a mystery. Veteran Marcedes Lewis gave it his all playing 499 snaps, mostly as a blocker, and might be able to squeeze another year out of his soon to be 36-year-old body.
Penalty count
Left tackle David Bakhtiari was the team leader in penalties with 12, including six holding calls and one illegal hands to the face.
However, he did not commit a passblocking penalty in his final seven games or a penalty of any kind in his final six. He revealed late in the year that a hip injury he suffered at the end of 2018 had bothered him until about the bye week.
Rookie left guard Elgton Jenkins gave up only a half sack, but he committed 10 penalties, including six for holding. Right tackle Bryan Bulaga committed three holding penalties and four false starts, which was his lowest combined total since 2016.
The amount of pre-snap penalties involving the play clock and substitutions was ridiculously high (14, 12 accepted) and correcting it must be a priority for LaFleur. There were eight accepted delay penalties and far too many timeouts called because the play clock was winding down.