Bretsky
12-16-2007, 10:03 PM
IT WOULD BE NICE TO IMPROVE ON THIS BE4 PLAYOFF TIME COMES
Offense ranks last on short list
Third and 1, fourth and 1 a struggle
By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Dec. 14, 2007
Green Bay - It's the barnacle clinging to the Good Ship Green Bay, the burr under the saddle from which Brett Favre has ridden a winner all season.
Wildly successful in area after area, coach Mike McCarthy's club already has clinched the NFC North championship and is tied for the third-best record in the National Football League at 11-2.
The Packers have achieved all of this despite the fact that their offense ranks dead last in the NFL in overall conversion rate on third and 1 and fourth and 1.
"We probably need to improve in that area, huh?" general manager Ted Thompson said Friday. "Obviously, you'd like to convert those. I don't know what the problem is, but we want to be good and efficient in that area. So we will have to improve."
The Packers have converted just eight of 21 third-and-1's and one of three fourth-and-1's, giving them nine of 24 for 37.5%.
Not only does that rank 32nd in the NFL through 13 games but the 37.5% conversion rate is worse than any team in the league from 1996-2006, based on statistics supplied by STATS LLC. The Dallas Cowboys had the poorest mark in the last 11 full seasons at 40% during a 5-11 campaign in 2001.
Clearly, short yardage is the one phase of offense in which McCarthy has been unable to establish any sort of rhythm.
Early in the season, McCarthy had so little faith in his offensive line and running backs that he went shotgun on four of the first five opportunities, including "empty" (no running back) on three.
Beginning with Week 4 against Minnesota, McCarthy has at least tried to play more power football, employing two backs on 15 of 19 chances. But the success rate has shown only modest improvement.
"That's a very good stat," tackle Mark Tauscher said. "You look at it and it's obviously a glaring weakness, something we need to improve on and do it drastically very quickly."
How a team fares in short-yardage situations seems to correlate to won-lost record. Presently, Dallas (12-1) leads the NFL at 94.1% (16 of 17), whereas New England (13-0) ranks No. 3 at 85.7% (24 of 28) and Indianapolis (11-2) ranks No. 4 at 84.4% (27 of 32).
Over the previous decade, the 20 Super Bowls teams converted 70.2%. In that same period, the Packers converted 66.7%.
The NFL average entering Week 15 was 69%. The 31st ranked team is San Francisco (3-10) at 45.5% (10 of 22).
More than three-fourths (76.9%) of the short-yardage attempts have been rushes, including quarterback sneaks. McCarthy hasn't had Favre sneak since the opener in '06.
The Packers' attempts are skewed because two of their runs actually were pass plays that Favre converted by scrambling. Discounting those two snaps, McCarthy has gone with 12 runs (made five) and 10 passes (made two).
Here are the running back conversion rates: Ryan Grant is 3 for 8, Brandon Jackson is 1 for 1 and DeShawn Wynn was 1 for 3.
Grant emphatically replied "100%" when asked how often he expected to convert in short yardage. But his 37.5% mark is a perfect reflection of the team's performance.
"I didn't know it was that bad," Grant said. "I know we're not executing the way we want to. It's been across the board. Everybody, really."
Of the seven failed runs, Tauscher is the only lineman without any degree of culpability. The breakdown for these "bad" runs includes two by Junius Coston; one each by Chad Clifton, Scott Wells, Tony Palmer and Tony Moll; and one-half each for Daryn Colledge and Jason Spitz.
Is this group of linemen just plain soft at the point of attack? Or is this more the result of blown assignments?
"My guess is, it probably would be penetration and assignment," Thompson said.
In the air, Favre has completed two of 10 passes for 12 yards and one interception. He has thrown a bad pass or two, sometimes no one was open, there were drops by Donald Driver and Vernand Morency and one ball was batted at the line.
Since Grant became the featured back early in Week 7 against Denver, the Packers have converted six of 13 (46.2%). That's an improvement over just 27.3% in the first six games (three of 11).
Despite the 221-pound Grant's hard-nosed style and ideal body lean, he has been stopped in two of his last three attempts since his 62-yard touchdown burst in Dallas.
Joe Philbin, the first-year coordinator and former offensive coach, has seemed disconsolate at times given the repeated misfires. It's almost to the point now where the offense might be pressing in short yardage.
"I don't think it's psychological, but when things aren't going well, you usually start pressing," Tauscher said. "We have meetings every week on third down. It's something we know and we continue to say we're going to get better at.
" Joe was the O-line coach last year and I think he takes a lot of pride in that. I think everybody is disappointed, and Joe kind of illustrates it best."
Offense ranks last on short list
Third and 1, fourth and 1 a struggle
By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Dec. 14, 2007
Green Bay - It's the barnacle clinging to the Good Ship Green Bay, the burr under the saddle from which Brett Favre has ridden a winner all season.
Wildly successful in area after area, coach Mike McCarthy's club already has clinched the NFC North championship and is tied for the third-best record in the National Football League at 11-2.
The Packers have achieved all of this despite the fact that their offense ranks dead last in the NFL in overall conversion rate on third and 1 and fourth and 1.
"We probably need to improve in that area, huh?" general manager Ted Thompson said Friday. "Obviously, you'd like to convert those. I don't know what the problem is, but we want to be good and efficient in that area. So we will have to improve."
The Packers have converted just eight of 21 third-and-1's and one of three fourth-and-1's, giving them nine of 24 for 37.5%.
Not only does that rank 32nd in the NFL through 13 games but the 37.5% conversion rate is worse than any team in the league from 1996-2006, based on statistics supplied by STATS LLC. The Dallas Cowboys had the poorest mark in the last 11 full seasons at 40% during a 5-11 campaign in 2001.
Clearly, short yardage is the one phase of offense in which McCarthy has been unable to establish any sort of rhythm.
Early in the season, McCarthy had so little faith in his offensive line and running backs that he went shotgun on four of the first five opportunities, including "empty" (no running back) on three.
Beginning with Week 4 against Minnesota, McCarthy has at least tried to play more power football, employing two backs on 15 of 19 chances. But the success rate has shown only modest improvement.
"That's a very good stat," tackle Mark Tauscher said. "You look at it and it's obviously a glaring weakness, something we need to improve on and do it drastically very quickly."
How a team fares in short-yardage situations seems to correlate to won-lost record. Presently, Dallas (12-1) leads the NFL at 94.1% (16 of 17), whereas New England (13-0) ranks No. 3 at 85.7% (24 of 28) and Indianapolis (11-2) ranks No. 4 at 84.4% (27 of 32).
Over the previous decade, the 20 Super Bowls teams converted 70.2%. In that same period, the Packers converted 66.7%.
The NFL average entering Week 15 was 69%. The 31st ranked team is San Francisco (3-10) at 45.5% (10 of 22).
More than three-fourths (76.9%) of the short-yardage attempts have been rushes, including quarterback sneaks. McCarthy hasn't had Favre sneak since the opener in '06.
The Packers' attempts are skewed because two of their runs actually were pass plays that Favre converted by scrambling. Discounting those two snaps, McCarthy has gone with 12 runs (made five) and 10 passes (made two).
Here are the running back conversion rates: Ryan Grant is 3 for 8, Brandon Jackson is 1 for 1 and DeShawn Wynn was 1 for 3.
Grant emphatically replied "100%" when asked how often he expected to convert in short yardage. But his 37.5% mark is a perfect reflection of the team's performance.
"I didn't know it was that bad," Grant said. "I know we're not executing the way we want to. It's been across the board. Everybody, really."
Of the seven failed runs, Tauscher is the only lineman without any degree of culpability. The breakdown for these "bad" runs includes two by Junius Coston; one each by Chad Clifton, Scott Wells, Tony Palmer and Tony Moll; and one-half each for Daryn Colledge and Jason Spitz.
Is this group of linemen just plain soft at the point of attack? Or is this more the result of blown assignments?
"My guess is, it probably would be penetration and assignment," Thompson said.
In the air, Favre has completed two of 10 passes for 12 yards and one interception. He has thrown a bad pass or two, sometimes no one was open, there were drops by Donald Driver and Vernand Morency and one ball was batted at the line.
Since Grant became the featured back early in Week 7 against Denver, the Packers have converted six of 13 (46.2%). That's an improvement over just 27.3% in the first six games (three of 11).
Despite the 221-pound Grant's hard-nosed style and ideal body lean, he has been stopped in two of his last three attempts since his 62-yard touchdown burst in Dallas.
Joe Philbin, the first-year coordinator and former offensive coach, has seemed disconsolate at times given the repeated misfires. It's almost to the point now where the offense might be pressing in short yardage.
"I don't think it's psychological, but when things aren't going well, you usually start pressing," Tauscher said. "We have meetings every week on third down. It's something we know and we continue to say we're going to get better at.
" Joe was the O-line coach last year and I think he takes a lot of pride in that. I think everybody is disappointed, and Joe kind of illustrates it best."