The way the Packers run their offense now with about the only thing determined by the coach being personnel and pre-snap alignment, and about the only other thing predetermined in that little semi get-together before they line up you can't really call a huddle being snap count, it puts a premium on pre-snap communication which is obviously a lot more challenging on the road against good defenses in hostile environments. With different people of varying levels of experience at different positions moving in and out of the lineup, it doesn't take a whole lot for someone on the offense to not be in sync with the rest of the group. Pre-snap communication can change post-snap reads so even if they do communicate all the way around someone might not react to what the defense does the same as others expect them to. Other times (Buffalo) players get disrupted post-snap which throws off timing.
On the road and particularly against good teams all those dynamics haven't come together as efficiently as they can yet.
It's not McCarthy's style, and I think he's right in his aggressive approach for the continuing development of the offense, but they may have had more success in a few of those road games by dialing back by a couple years some of what they ask Rodgers to do at the line of scrimmage - not for his sake but for the good of guys like Adams and Linsley. Maybe adjust protections but not make as many actual play adjustments on the fly. Adams in particular hasn't seemed to have gotten on the same page with Rodgers on some of those back shoulder/fly routes outside and has missed some hot read route adjustments as well. This could also have created a little more structure for the offense against Buffalo in terms of run-pass ratio as the game develops. I'm convinced a lot of the pass heavy approach was Rodgers making the calls at the line based on what the defense is showing him. Taking that away a bit and forcing a few runs in spite of what the defense showed might have helped.
They're not rookies anymore though so I'd say it's balls to the walls as far as stretching how they want to approach making adjustments at the line of scrimmage.
Making mistakes sucks but if they're learning and getting better it's worthwhile. Without checking, I'd say McCarthy's teams have tended to get better as the season goes on so the teaching and learning they're doing seems to be having an impact over time. Hopefully the Buffalo game will provide some valuable lessons that they'll build from. It better or they're doomed because that game will be studied hard by every opponent from now til they're done.
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Originally Posted by pbmax
