Bretsky
10-27-2007, 08:04 AM
Mental Block
Zone blocking troubles tackles Packers
By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Oct. 26, 2007
Green Bay - Pass protection is and probably always will be the most important part of the job for an offensive tackle in the National Football League.
Packers tackles Mark Tauscher, left, and Chad Clifton have dealt with a change in blocking philosophy under coach Mike McCarthy.
Left tackle Chad Clifton and right tackle Mark Tauscher have protected and still do protect Brett Favre very well since they moved into the Green Bay Packers' lineup as rookies in 2000.
Coach Mike McCarthy, offensive coordinator Joe Philbin and line coach James Campen know that, value that and factor that into any evaluation of their two veteran tackles.
But when a team's running game ranks dead last in the NFL and every day brings more questions, it gets harder and harder for coaches to remember what Clifton and Tauscher do in protection and ignore their shortcomings as run blockers.
On Monday night, the Packers will play in Denver, the birthplace of the zone run game that they installed in 2006. Despite losing two starting offensive linemen, the Broncos still rush for 130.7 yards each week behind a unit led by left tackle Matt Lepsis.
"Very good, very active," Campen said when asked about Lepsis. "He gets flat down the line on the back side and makes cuts. He's quick to the aiming point. Not a real overly powerful guy but he busts his butt and he finishes."
Lepsis, 33, started at right tackle from 1999-2003 before moving to the left side in '04. At 6 feet 5 inches and 290 pounds, he epitomizes the long, lean blockers that retired line coach Alex Gibbs built his zone scheme around in Denver.
Clifton (6-5, 319) and Tauscher (6-3½, 316) were drafted at a time when the Packers' ground game under Mike Sherman was based on power. The tackle would block down and the guard would pull around to clear a lane for Ahman Green.
Neither Clifton nor Tauscher ever was regarded as an elite run blocker. Still, they more than held their own.
For a year and a half, McCarthy and his coaches have preached how wonderful the zone scheme would be. But it didn't work last year with Green and it hasn't come close to working this year with much lesser backs.
The linemen basically were the same last year and this year. Also the same is their unacceptable performance as run blockers.
"Everyone on the line is just OK," Campen said. "None of us are executing it the way we want it to be done. You have to do your techniques and execute it and win and finish."
As was the case in 2005, the major problem has been at guard. Daryn Colledge has been responsible for a team-high 10 "bad" runs, and Junius Coston is next with seven. Clifton has four. Tauscher and center Scott Wells, rated by Campen as the club's most consistent blocker, have 2½ each.
The Packers are so bad on third and 1 that McCarthy has called passes on six of 10 attempts. Three of the four carries by running backs have failed, each time because guards broke down
Clifton, 31, continues to be a liability on back-side cut blocks. Despite Clifton's bad knees, Philbin says there's nothing wrong with his quickness or flexibility, and Campen insists he's stronger than ever before.
"I think it's more a mental thing than lack of quickness to get from A to B," Philbin said. "It's a little bit of confidence. Then sometimes you don't like to work on your weaknesses."
Clifton has been blessed with amazing physical gifts. No one ever described him as passionate or physical.
"I've been here five years and I don't know that Chad has lost any ability to generate movement at the point of attack," Philbin said. "Has Chad been a bulldozer in the five years I've been here? I wouldn't say that's accurate, either, at any time in his career.
"One of the things that has plagued our running game, not just Chad, is the overall inability to finish blocks and finish runs. We're still searching for an identity in the run game."
In a direct comparison with Clifton, Tauscher probably has been the more effective run blocker over the years. But Tauscher also plays the more heavy-duty of the two positions and pales in comparison to some of the mammoth right tackles who can engulf defenders.
Although Tauscher is 30, Campen said he detected no slippage in his strength, horsepower or flexibility.
"He can (get push) at times," Philbin said. "He's physically big enough. If you examined his career in the last five years, he's a guy that stays on his feet well and kind of covers guys up. You've never going to say he's a guy who can take his guy and move him 10 yards down the field."
After a shaky opener, Tauscher said he had played "fairly well."
"As far as point of attack, I feel like I cover people up and don't allow a lot of penetration," he said. "Am I the most dominant run blocker in the world? No. But I do feel like I do my job."
It's just that the job, at least as far as the run game, changed for Tauscher and Clifton with the arrival of McCarthy.
That meant that, in their seventh seasons, the tackles had to learn the art of cutting a defender's legs out from underneath him. It also meant that the Packers' only two proven linemen entering '06 weren't cut from the classic linear mold of the master, Alex Gibbs.
"It's something that's definitely acquired," Tauscher said. "It's not just a one step and cut. You need to get around him and read it. A lot of times, if a guy plays it soft, it's going to be very difficult to cut him."
Despite the Packers' 5-1 record, McCarthy and his coaches have been stung, if not embarrassed, by their rushing numbers of 65.67 yards per game and 3.26 yards per carry. Maybe their No. 1 objective during the bye was doing something about it.
Denver, with the NFL's worst run defense, couldn't appear on the schedule at a more opportune time.
Zone blocking troubles tackles Packers
By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Oct. 26, 2007
Green Bay - Pass protection is and probably always will be the most important part of the job for an offensive tackle in the National Football League.
Packers tackles Mark Tauscher, left, and Chad Clifton have dealt with a change in blocking philosophy under coach Mike McCarthy.
Left tackle Chad Clifton and right tackle Mark Tauscher have protected and still do protect Brett Favre very well since they moved into the Green Bay Packers' lineup as rookies in 2000.
Coach Mike McCarthy, offensive coordinator Joe Philbin and line coach James Campen know that, value that and factor that into any evaluation of their two veteran tackles.
But when a team's running game ranks dead last in the NFL and every day brings more questions, it gets harder and harder for coaches to remember what Clifton and Tauscher do in protection and ignore their shortcomings as run blockers.
On Monday night, the Packers will play in Denver, the birthplace of the zone run game that they installed in 2006. Despite losing two starting offensive linemen, the Broncos still rush for 130.7 yards each week behind a unit led by left tackle Matt Lepsis.
"Very good, very active," Campen said when asked about Lepsis. "He gets flat down the line on the back side and makes cuts. He's quick to the aiming point. Not a real overly powerful guy but he busts his butt and he finishes."
Lepsis, 33, started at right tackle from 1999-2003 before moving to the left side in '04. At 6 feet 5 inches and 290 pounds, he epitomizes the long, lean blockers that retired line coach Alex Gibbs built his zone scheme around in Denver.
Clifton (6-5, 319) and Tauscher (6-3½, 316) were drafted at a time when the Packers' ground game under Mike Sherman was based on power. The tackle would block down and the guard would pull around to clear a lane for Ahman Green.
Neither Clifton nor Tauscher ever was regarded as an elite run blocker. Still, they more than held their own.
For a year and a half, McCarthy and his coaches have preached how wonderful the zone scheme would be. But it didn't work last year with Green and it hasn't come close to working this year with much lesser backs.
The linemen basically were the same last year and this year. Also the same is their unacceptable performance as run blockers.
"Everyone on the line is just OK," Campen said. "None of us are executing it the way we want it to be done. You have to do your techniques and execute it and win and finish."
As was the case in 2005, the major problem has been at guard. Daryn Colledge has been responsible for a team-high 10 "bad" runs, and Junius Coston is next with seven. Clifton has four. Tauscher and center Scott Wells, rated by Campen as the club's most consistent blocker, have 2½ each.
The Packers are so bad on third and 1 that McCarthy has called passes on six of 10 attempts. Three of the four carries by running backs have failed, each time because guards broke down
Clifton, 31, continues to be a liability on back-side cut blocks. Despite Clifton's bad knees, Philbin says there's nothing wrong with his quickness or flexibility, and Campen insists he's stronger than ever before.
"I think it's more a mental thing than lack of quickness to get from A to B," Philbin said. "It's a little bit of confidence. Then sometimes you don't like to work on your weaknesses."
Clifton has been blessed with amazing physical gifts. No one ever described him as passionate or physical.
"I've been here five years and I don't know that Chad has lost any ability to generate movement at the point of attack," Philbin said. "Has Chad been a bulldozer in the five years I've been here? I wouldn't say that's accurate, either, at any time in his career.
"One of the things that has plagued our running game, not just Chad, is the overall inability to finish blocks and finish runs. We're still searching for an identity in the run game."
In a direct comparison with Clifton, Tauscher probably has been the more effective run blocker over the years. But Tauscher also plays the more heavy-duty of the two positions and pales in comparison to some of the mammoth right tackles who can engulf defenders.
Although Tauscher is 30, Campen said he detected no slippage in his strength, horsepower or flexibility.
"He can (get push) at times," Philbin said. "He's physically big enough. If you examined his career in the last five years, he's a guy that stays on his feet well and kind of covers guys up. You've never going to say he's a guy who can take his guy and move him 10 yards down the field."
After a shaky opener, Tauscher said he had played "fairly well."
"As far as point of attack, I feel like I cover people up and don't allow a lot of penetration," he said. "Am I the most dominant run blocker in the world? No. But I do feel like I do my job."
It's just that the job, at least as far as the run game, changed for Tauscher and Clifton with the arrival of McCarthy.
That meant that, in their seventh seasons, the tackles had to learn the art of cutting a defender's legs out from underneath him. It also meant that the Packers' only two proven linemen entering '06 weren't cut from the classic linear mold of the master, Alex Gibbs.
"It's something that's definitely acquired," Tauscher said. "It's not just a one step and cut. You need to get around him and read it. A lot of times, if a guy plays it soft, it's going to be very difficult to cut him."
Despite the Packers' 5-1 record, McCarthy and his coaches have been stung, if not embarrassed, by their rushing numbers of 65.67 yards per game and 3.26 yards per carry. Maybe their No. 1 objective during the bye was doing something about it.
Denver, with the NFL's worst run defense, couldn't appear on the schedule at a more opportune time.