Rolling through some fun plays from the Packers Week 16 win over the Saints
Every week, a lot of fun things happen on a football field, but we don’t always get a chance to dive into them all. A lot of times we’re focused on themes and overall gameplan, so these fun plays don’t always get their day in the sun. In this space, we’re just gonna fly through a handful of fun plays from the Packers shutout win over the Saints.
If you want a dive into what the Packers passing game did this past week, I wrote about that over here so check that out if you haven’t already.
We’ve got 6 plays. Let’s go
Play 1: 1st & 10, 11:23 remaining in the 1st quarter
The Packers have run versions of this TE Shallow Leak concept off several run looks at this point. It’s basically a TE Pop Pass, but with the TE running a shallow crossing route.
The Packers are selling play action in a way that doesn’t really make any sense as an actual run, but the important thing is to sell the linebackers on some specific keys to get them to trigger down. The Packers are in 11 personnel, with Tucker Kraft [85] in-line on the left, with Jayden Reed [11] and Christian Watson [9] in a tight stack. Chris Brooks [30] is the running back, and he is set away from the strength of the formation.
At the snap, Josh Myers [71] pulls to the left. If you’re really trying to sell a run to that side, Brooks would cross Love’s face and release to the left. Instead, Brooks releases right to help on the edge.
Again, it makes no sense if this was an actual run, but it does its job. The linebacker over Brooks steps up to the line, while the pulling Myers holds another linebacker in space. With Romeo Doubs [87] running a vertical route to clear out the right, there’s no one left to pick up Kraft.
With Pete Werner [20] recovering on the edge and Love unable to get outside for a better angle, he can’t just rip this throw. Love does a nice job of lofting this over Werner, making for a nice, easy catch from Kraft.
Play 2: 1st & 10, 3:48 remaining in the 1st quarter
I really love the Mesh concept. You know what I love even more? Super Mesh!
Mesh is an old passing concept, popularized by BYU coach LaVell Edwards and made to be the central piece of the Hal Mumme/Mike Leach Air Raid attack. It centers on two shallow crossing routes, but has several iterations off of that. Here is a diagram from the University of Kentucky’s 1997 playbook, where Hal Mumme was the head coach at the time:
The Super Mesh takes Mesh then layers High Cross over the top. So you get the initial Mesh with two shallow crossers, then a deeper Mesh with two intermediate crossers.
The Packers go shotgun spread and have the shallow Mesh with Josh Jacobs [8] and Christian Watson [9], with the deeper Mesh with Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs.
The Saints are in man coverage, which this concept works well against. Jacobs releases under the route from Doubs on the right, providing an initial shield from his defender. The shallow crosser from Watson provides traffic from the other side in the middle of the field, so the defender has to wait until Watson clears to converge on Jacobs.
By the time he does this, Jacobs is wide open in space.
The defender – Werner again – tries to make the tackle, but isn’t at the best angle. Jacobs gives him a stiff arm, then turns the corner and rumbles for 13 yards.
Play 3: 3rd & 7, 2:26 remaining in the 1st quarter
Just wanted to show this one to highlight a concept I’ve not seen them hit on in a while. It’s a concept called Bow that is designed to attack the middle of the field. It consists of a hitch/Arrow route from the inside and a dig/Basic route from the outside. This image comes from the Packers 2019 playbook:
When it works it looks beautiful. However, more defenses have been dropping their linebackers deep in the middle of the field, which muddies the water for this concept. They haven’t been running it a ton and they’ve thrown it even less. But this past week they hit on it and it made me happy.
Packers go shotgun spread, 11 personnel, with Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs tight off the left side of the line. Reed originally starts outside, then shifts inside before the snap. The slot defender signals a check and the outside defender stays in place – deep on the boundary – so the Packers know that the slot defender is staying with Reed.
The Saints have a lot of bodies at the line and an umbrella of bodies deep. So, unless a defender buzzes off the line or the safety to that side crashes down, this should be open for Doubs.
Love reads the coverage on the dropback and they get exactly what he thinks they’ll get. When he hits the top of his drop, he fires into the pocket of coverage.
A nice completion for 15 yards and a 1st down.
Play 4: 2nd & 1, 8:44 remaining in the 2nd quarter
I love this one because it plays off a couple of things. The Packers are in a split-shotgun look, with Jayden Reed motioning behind Love before the snap and releasing to the left flat. On that side, Romeo Doubs is on the outside and Watson is in the slot. You’ll see the Packers run to the right off this look, but you’ll also see them throw to Reed on the WR screen.
At the snap, Watson and Doubs release vertically, with Reed camping in the slot. The releases from Watson and Doubs look a lot like the All Go vertical concept they like to run, which leads to dragging the defenders to that side deep and getting a safety to camp over the top.
With the defense dropping deep, they release Tucker Kraft on an intermediate crosser underneath the vertical routes. Get the defense dropping deep, draw up a man to stay with Reed in the flat, then attack in the space between.
I think there’s some confusion within the Saints defense on this, but even if they’re all on the same page, that still leads Kraft with a head full of steam running across the face of a linebacker, which is a match-up I think we’d all be in favor of.
Play 5: 3rd & 2, 4:18 remaining in the 4th quarter
One of my favorite designs of the game. We don’t see this one trotted out too often, so it always brings me great joy when they dial it up.
This was Malik Willis’ first attempt of the game. The Packers are in 11 personnel, in a 3×1 look with the TE in-line on the right, away from the three wide receivers.
The receivers are in Trips on the left, with Bo Melton [80] as the #1, Dontayvion Wicks [13] as the #2 and Jayden Reed as the #3. The Packers have an inside zone run called, with the pass tag looking like Melton & Wicks blocking for Reed. That would be the typical pre-snap RPO read the Packers run: a WR screen pass tag off an inside zone run.
Instead, Melton and Wicks fake the blocks and release: Melton vertically up the sideline and Wicks on a slant. This is a post-snap read RPO, with Willis reading Tyrann Mathieu [32] as the conflict defender. If Mathieu fires down on the line, Willis will pull the ball and fire. If Mathieu stays in place, Willis will hand the ball off, as Mathieu would be in the throwing lane.
At the snap, Mathieu fires down on the line, leaving that space in the middle of the field open. Willis sees him, and fires, but the ball is batted at the line and falls incomplete.
And real shame this beauty was ruined, because it certainly looked like it was going to be a touchdown.
Play 6: 4th & 2, 4:13 remaining in the 4th quarter
On the very next play, the Packers run High Cross against a single-high safety look. Typically the quarterback will read the safety and see which receiver he’s fading over the top of, then target the other receiver. The safety here is dropping straight back, but has his hips flipped to the left almost immediately, making for an easy read for Willis. With Reed getting inside position on his defender and the safety pointing to the other side, Willis rips a throw to Reed for 34 yards.
Absolute laser.
Albums listened to: Swervedriver – Mezcal Head; The Byrds – Fifth Dimension