Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
TOM SILVERSTEIN
Game plan against Raiders worked to perfection
Green Bay — If there's one thing Matt LaFleur has shown over his short time as Green Bay Packers head coach, it's that he doesn't favor one skill position over another.
It doesn't matter if you're a halfback, fullback, wide receiver or tight end, LaFleur's offense will get you the ball if you're open.
As the last three games have shown – all of them sans star receiver Davante Adams – trying to get the ball to a single player or position isn't the objective. Identifying a weakness – either the opponent's or yours – and exploiting it is what matters most.
LaFleur looked at the Oakland Raiders and viewed them as a team desperately thin at linebacker with Vontaze Burflict suspended indefinitely, rookie Justin Phillips a patchwork replacement for him and two special teamers backing up Phillips, Tahir Whitehead and Nicholas Morrow.
So, he figured he needed to stress their pass coverage.
Then he looked at his own team and saw he wouldn't have Adams and tight end Robert Tonyan and at best would have Marquez Valdes-Scantling (knee/ ankle) and Geronimo Allison (concussion/chest) at less than 100%.
So, he used a lot of two-back sets to see if he could create some favorable match-ups with them in the pass game and make the Raiders guess where the ball was going.
The result was quarterback Aaron Rodgers using backs Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams and Danny Vitale to his advantage. With defensive coordinator Paul Guenter ordering his front seven to punish the Packers rushing attack, Rodgers started getting the ball into the hands of his backs on the perimeter.
“We knew we had to be aggressive,” LaFleur said after his team improved to 6-1 with a 42-24 victory over the Raiders on Sunday at Lambeau Field. “I thought when we watched the Raiders defense, I thought they have a really stout run defense.
“They tend to load the box up on you and play physical. They play downhill, and I just thought that going through the air might be the best way to attack them.”
Rodgers did a phenomenal job distributing the ball, completing 25 of 31 passes for 429 yards and five touchdowns, making this the first time in his career he finished with a perfect passer rating of 158.3.
Most of the time, all Rodgers had to do was make a solid pass to a wide-open target against a Raiders defense that looked clueless in how to defend LaFleur's offense. Other times, he had to stand in the pocket and absorb a wicked shot after delivery or put the ball where only his guy could get it.
It was the way things started that opened the door for a slew of big plays that put the Raiders (3-3) to sleep.
“That's the beauty in the way the plan came together this week, and really the way Matt wanted to start the game and called the game,” Rodgers said. “There were a lot of things you saw early on that you felt good about coming back to some plays (that worked) off that.
“And there's so much misdirection at times with this offense, it really does open up a lot of stuff.”
Rodgers' 21-yard touchdown pass to Jones was a perfect example of how LaFleur was able to gash the Raiders in the early going. Jones, who had broken off a 15-yard run earlier in the series ran a corner route out of the backfield and drew Morrow in one-on-one coverage.
The ball was thrown over Jones' inside shoulder so he had to turn his head around and try to find the pass, making it a much tougher catch than the pass he dropped on his way into the end zone last week against the Detroit Lions.
“I saw the ball back over here, so I just (turned),” Jones said. “He put it right in my breadbasket. I turned and it was right in my arm. It was a good adjustment, but a better ball.”
It also sent the message that even with Adams out and Allison and ValdesScantling seeing limited action, the ball was going to be in the air.
On another play in the first quarter, Rodgers had Jones and Vitale in the game and, seeing an opportunity for a one-on-one, called an audible that isn't normally for the fullback. It called for Vitale to come out of the backfield and line up in the slot like a receiver.
Thanks to the two-back personnel, Vitale had a linebacker on him instead of a defensive back.
“I was surprised when he called it,” Vitale said. “But I remembered it. I knew what I was supposed to do.”
Rodgers flipped the ball to him in the flat and he broke it for a 22-yard gain.
When the half was over, the Packers led, 21-10, and the backs had contributed 90 yards and two touchdowns through the air. Rodgers was 8 of 8 throwing to the backs and 7 of 11 for 111 yards and a touchdown throwing to everyone else.
Jones and Williams had combined for nine carries for 38 yards, which was just enough to keep the Raiders biting on some of the play-action LaFleur called. The Packers had converted on 4 of 5 third downs and averaged 13.4 yards per catch despite Allison catching three passes for 29 yards and Valdes-Scantling none.
“We knew we had to be without some guys who were down, some big names,” said Vitale, who finished with two catches for 43 yards. “We knew a lot of guys had to step up, so I thought coach did a great job game-planning.”
When the second half started, LaFleur went into attack mode and ran a bootleg that looked a lot like an old Mike McCarthy play Rodgers used to throw to Jordy Nelson. Valdes-Scantling was wide open and even though Rodgers left the ball short, it resulted in a 59-yard gain.
After that, Rodgers hit Jones for a 4yard gain. Then, he hit tight end Jimmy Graham for an 8-yard gain. Then he hit Allison for 4 more. And on second and goal on the 3, he ran a play-action fake into the end zone for a 28-10 lead.
“The touchdown run that I had I got on the edge and we didn't even block the end,” Rodgers said of how effective the play-action was.
From that point on, Rodgers had an open receiver almost every time he dropped back. If it wasn't a back in the flat, it was a tight end between the corner and safety. If it wasn't the tight end, it was Allen Lazard running a go route or Jake Kumerow a comeback.
On a day when LaFleur didn't have his best receivers, he figured out a way to use what he had.
“It's a credit to our guys and our quarterback being able to progress through reads and find the open guys,” LaFleur said. “It takes all 11 to do that.”