Quote Originally Posted by pbmax View Post
First half: 18 passes (9.4 aypa), 7 runs (~5.9 ypc), 11 first downs
TOP: 18:27 for Packers D, 11:33 Packers O
Points: 31

Second half: 6 passes (~5.17 apya), 17 rushes (~4.8), that includes 5 Rodgers rushes for 22 which were passes in most cases. 6 first downs
TOP: 16:40 PackD, 13:20 PackO
Points: 3

* aypa = adjusted yards per attempt (adjusted here means minus sacks and would include penalty for ints)

Changes to second half game plan garnered 1:47 of help to the D and 3 whole points. I contend that he could have helped the D by more by scoring more and putting the game out of reach.
Sure, scoring more would have definitively put the game out of reach, no question. But what I don't see yet is why you think the play calling stopped emphasizing scoring, and what would have been different about the play calling if scoring had been the priority. GB had four drives in the second half. The first, which ended in a field goal, petered out after one bad run, an incomplete pass (Rodgers was pressured and threw it away), then a long QB run wiped out by the holding penalty. On the second drive, they picked up one first down (two good runs) and then it fizzled out with a 2 yard run, a sack and an incomplete pass. The third and fourth drives, we know what happened. What I see in the first three drives of the second half is not a pronounced shift in play calling strategy from points to clock killing but increased inefficiency, and primarily in the passing attack. Rodgers was 3-6 for 31 yards in the second half, and failed to convert a single third down through the air (team converted 1 of 4 tries in second half, and Rodgers was 0 for 2 passing). That to me is the biggest difference between first half and second half, and it almost singlehandedly explains why GB stopped scoring points: the offense couldn't convert third downs in the second half while the defense couldn't get off the field. Everything else is secondary, so to speak.