Read This Be Smarter - Packers' All-22 the 'Dagger' Route

[denverYooper]

Bowen breaks down a cover 2 beater from the MN game over at NFP:

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Packers-All22-The-Dagger-route.html

(h/t pbmax on the thread title)

[pbmax]

Nice title.

What down and distance was that play? Because the DB (I think that's nickel and a DB not a LB on Finley) abandons Fin short and drops and is near an area to threaten that Nelson route.

This is an example of Rodgers making a throw to the middle of the field when its not clear its the best read or most open. Finley is all alone for a 10 yard gain.

[red]

yeah, all i see is fin wide open with nobody within 10 yards of him.

thats where i'd be going

[Fritz]

Agreed, PB. I saw the same thing. But as MM points out, Rodgers and the Packers do not play that game - he was pretty forceful in pointing out to reporters that Rodgers goes through his reads and they're looking for the longest open receiver moreso than the openest receiver.

[pbmax]

Agreed, PB. I saw the same thing. But as MM points out, Rodgers and the Packers do not play that game - he was pretty forceful in pointing out to reporters that Rodgers goes through his reads and they're looking for the longest open receiver moreso than the openest receiver.

Good catch Fritz. I did not hear that. If that is true and not simply convenient, it explains a lot about his offense and Rodgers play.

Everyone at one time was afraid he was going to be Captain Checkdown.

[denverYooper]

Nice title.

What down and distance was that play? Because the DB (I think that's nickel and a DB not a LB on Finley) abandons Fin short and drops and is near an area to threaten that Nelson route.

This is an example of Rodgers making a throw to the middle of the field when its not clear its the best read or most open. Finley is all alone for a 10 yard gain.

I'm pretty sure it was 1st and 10 with 1:48 left in the 1st half.

Given Bowen's description (2 minute drill) and PBP data from PFR (easier to get to than the game books):
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201301050gnb.htm

[denverYooper]

Good catch Fritz. I did not hear that. If that is true and not simply convenient, it explains a lot about his offense and Rodgers play.

Everyone at one time was afraid he was going to be Captain Checkdown.

2nd.

Excellent catch Fritz. You've got a good memory for coach/player comments.

Was it a "Touchdown to checkdown" type statement? I've heard that one a few times from various Packers.

[Freak Out]

Big Fin would have dropped it. :)

[denverYooper]

Funny comment from JSOnline comments: "Racism is when Rodgers holds the ball for 7 seconds waiting for Jordy to get open"

I got that from @JSComments, tweeting choice comments from the JSO's comments section.

[denverYooper]

In Demovsky's chat today (http://www.packersnews.com/interactive/article/20130108/PKR01/301080356/Green-Bay-Packers-chat-Rob-Demovsky-Jan-9-2013), he offered this nugget from Clements:

"Well there was a couple times his vision was blocked and he wasn’t able to see the defender and he didn’t want to take a chance of throwing it blind and risking a turnover. That was the main problem. The protection was good enough that had he been able to have clear vision, he should have been able to get rid of it.”

So it would seem that Rodgers is not always comfortable throwing it when he doesn't have a defender accounted for. IIRC, he threw a couple of picks earlier in the season where he claimed to not see a defender on the GB side of the field and that put the Packers in some compromised spots (Colts game is a big one, Blackburn too, I think*).

*By the way, did you know that Blackburn was unsigned going into the year and just ready to teach school? I think he also singlehandedly shut down a puppy mill and volunteers weeknights at the local soup kitchen.

[Guiness]

Agreed, PB. I saw the same thing. But as MM points out, Rodgers and the Packers do not play that game - he was pretty forceful in pointing out to reporters that Rodgers goes through his reads and they're looking for the longest open receiver moreso than the openest receiver.

Good, detailed write-up. A little hard to follow, for instance he refers to Jennings as the No. 2 WR and Nelson as the No. 1. Prophetic? I think he was just referring to alignment.

Exactly. This is not Madden, Rodgers can't see everyone at the same time and pick the best. MM has chosen to work the progression from the longest to the shortest, and Rodgers takes the first thing he sees that he judges to be makeable. If the three (!) guys covering Nelson had done their job, he would've moved on.

As mentioned, Finley is open, but Kuhn, at the 35, even moreso (you can see bare white arms in the first picture, only he and Nelson didn't have sleeves). You can see this in the second picture, at first it looks like there's a guy 5 yards from him, but that's a ref. If Rodgers was going the other way through his progression, I'd bet Kuhn would've ended up with the ball, making a catch at or behind the LOS.

I'd like to know if Jennings was earlier, later in the progression or not in it at all. He looks to have separation from the MLB covering him, and his route developed earlier. I think his sole job was as the article stated, to drag his man up the field.

[Guiness]

Love the other article that's linked from this one,
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/The-Cover-2-cheat-sheet.html
Simple and dead nuts accurate to what I was taught.

[HarveyWallbangers]

yeah, all i see is fin wide open with nobody within 10 yards of him.

thats where i'd be going

If the pocket had collapsded, he could always throw it out there. Why not wait until the last moment to see if something breaks open further down the field?

[mraynrand]

Right, Fin would be the final read, so he would look at him last. The thing about some of these reads is that they may be split second. Rodgers may see a deep safety on the same side as his #1 read. If that guy starts to drop deep right at the snap, Rodgers is looking to the next guy immediately. I think presnap reads are what separate guys like Brady, Manning and Rodgers from some of the rest: The play may be a second in, and they already know that they are most likely going to have to go to their third or fourth guy. They still have the luxury of being able to see whether the #1 or #2 read comes open, but they are anticipating that #3 or #4 throw right away.

[Fritz]

Good catch Fritz. I did not hear that. If that is true and not simply convenient, it explains a lot about his offense and Rodgers play.

Everyone at one time was afraid he was going to be Captain Checkdown.

Here's the quote by MM from the GBPG: “Checkdowns are a part of every progression read in the passing game,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “We don't go into games and say ‘Throw it to the checkdown.’ That’s not the way we play it."