Tom Silverstein
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers needs to let the Green Bay Packers’ offense work for him.
GREEN BAY – If the Green Bay Packers were serious about changing things on offense, it sure wasn't evident in Week 1.
Not even close.
There was nothing to distinguish the offensive performance in a 10-3 victory
over the Chicago Bears from the worst efforts of 2018, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers was right in the middle of it again.
The opening performance looked awfully familiar: too many sacks, ineffective RPOs, off-target throws, a lack of commitment to running the ball and too much time being used between plays. Maybe it’s a small sample size, but it doesn’t mean some of those issues should be ignored.
No, it wasn’t a shock that the offense was disorderly and ineffective given it was the debut of coach Matt LaFleur’s new scheme and Rodgers’ first live snaps running it, not to mention it came on the road against one of the best defenses in the NFL.
But slice it any way you like, 213 yards and 2for-12 on third downs doesn’t cut it.
Those invested in the Packers’ success would feel a lot better if they had seen more signs of Rodgers being back on course, but now they’ll keep their fingers crossed it happens Sunday in the home opener against Minnesota.
By his own admission Rodgers didn’t play well at Soldier Field. There are people lined up for miles willing to excuse his performance, citing the quality of the Bears defense, the poor performance of the offensive line, Rodgers not playing a snap in the exhibition season and poor playcalling.
There are probably people who blame Mike McCarthy.
Even if some of those excuses are legitimate – McCarthy is off the hook this time – the onus is on Rodgers to carry out LaFleur’s offensive vision. He scoffed at the importance of playing in exhibition games and had a chance to stick it in everyone’s ear on national TV.
But the way the game started, it looked a lot like last year.
The Packers attempted to throw on 13 of their first 15 plays. LaFleur calls the plays, but Rodgers played some part in it. Two of the plays appeared to be run-pass options (RPOs) – where a run play is called but Rodgers has the option of throwing to a receiver without telling his linemen and running back.
It’s not clear if any of the other passes were the result of Rodgers changing plays at the line of scrimmage.
Regardless, how in the world does passing 86.7% of the time constitute establishing a running game? And weren’t we told that much of the passing game stems from the running game? So, how exactly was this the anti-McCarthy so many people want LaFleur to be and why wasn’t it a priority to run the offense the way it’s supposed to be run?
LaFleur said it came down to not having enough run opportunities, which was a common lament of McCarthy’s, but really it is just an excuse for allowing Rodgers the freedom to throw it more. In so many ways, Rodgers looked like he was playing in the same offense as last season. For instance, Rodgers seemed to be outsmarting himself with the RPOs.
There was one in which he forgot there wasn’t a receiver to the left side and nearly wound up with a grounding penalty after realizing he better throw it away. Two more, both to receiver Marquez Valdesresulted in one catch for 1 yard. The incompletion stopped the clock for the Bears and allowed them to retain a timeout in the final two minutes.
Each of those plays could have contributed to getting the ground game moving.
Then there was the lack of tempo.
Rodgers’ previous coaches praised him for his ability to get opposing defenses to declare their intentions before the snap, but as the years went on, he took more and more time using a hard count to sucker the defense into showing its hand and then adjusting the play with the many audibles available to him.
LaFleur’s philosophy is the opposite. He wants to use quick snaps to catch the defense off guard. It rarely worked like that against the Bears. Rodgers often ran down the clock to try to get the best read on the defense’s intentions.
After the game, Rodgers acknowledged that the tempo was poor. Most of the fault falls on his shoulders, but not all of it because LaFleur had some trouble getting the plays in on time in the second half.
In the first half, however, LaFleur consistently got the play in with 25 seconds to go on the 40second play clock, resulting in Rodgers breaking the huddle with somewhere between 16 and 20 seconds left.
After three miserable series that netted minus-12 yards, the Packers were averaging 8.6 seconds left on the clock when the snap was made. On three of the nine plays, the snap occurred with 5 or fewer seconds left.
Then, on the fourth series, everything changed. The offense drove 74 yards on four plays for a touchdown. The average time left on the play clock was 15.3 seconds at snap. Three of the four came with 17 seconds left on the play clock.
Rodgers went 4-for-4 on the drive and caught the Bears with 12 men on the field with a quick snap on the final play, tossing up a no-risk jump ball to tight end Jimmy Graham for the touchdown. As well as that worked you would have thought it would continue.
But on the next series, the average time left was 4.7 seconds and, guess what? The series netted 22 yards. It ended when Rodgers ran the clock down to 2 seconds audibling to get receiver Davante Adams open and getting sacked after the maneuver failed.
And that brings up another familiar sight: Rodgers getting sacked five times.
In his defense, the offensive line had too many breakdowns and when it did Rodgers was rightly focused on protecting the ball, a couple times eating it rather than risking a fumble on an attempted throwaway. But there were occasions when the line blocked well, and he didn’t stand firm and deliver the ball from the pocket.
According to Next Gen Stats, the NFL’s hightech player tracking system, Rodgers had the second most time to throw (3.04 seconds per attempt) of any quarterback in Week 1. It’s a sign that either nobody was open, or Rodgers was holding onto the ball too long.
Part of the reason president Mark Murphy hired LaFleur was that he felt he could get Rodgers back to playing at a Pro Bowl level. LaFleur brought with him the trendiest offense in the NFL and it was supposed to open new doors for Rodgers.
But as LaFleur has explained it, his offense is about fast tempo, spreading out the defense with a wide-zone rushing attack and making hay on play-action passes. His offense is supposed to use bunch formations, picks and deception to help receivers get open. Getting rid of the ball on time is critical.
So is avoiding sacks. The point is, the offense looked more like a combination of LaFleur and McCarthy than just LaFleur. At this juncture, it’s more important to get the offensive line accustomed to the new blocking scheme and the backs figuring out where the holes are going to be than running a few RPOs or trying to outsmart the defense at the cost of slowing down the tempo.
It looked too much like business as usual in Week 1.
There will be plenty of time for Rodgers to put his stamp on LaFleur’s offense and in time he and LaFleur will work out a way in which the quarterback’s diagnostic ability can be put to full use. But now is the time to build the foundation of the offense and get all the machinery working at the same speed.
Maybe Rodgers needs to let the offense work for him instead of him trying to work the offense.