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The Packers have a system that is flexible at the line of scrimmage. Rather than running into 8 or 9 in the box, they will consistently check into a pass. In theory, this is a great concept. Don't beat your head on the wall, right?
Well, the Vikings caught on. They brought several linebackers to the line, giving a man look outside. They knew the Packers would not run into their heavly line.
Knowing the Packers were not going to run, they sent their Dlineman relentlessly at the QB. If the Packers ran the ball, these lineman would have been out of their lanes and the Packers would have consistently gained yards, but Minnesota knew the Packers would not pass. That predictablity gave them ablity to send the horses and kill Rodgers. This is the same thing the Giants did to the Patriots and Brady kept trying to pass into a defense that was giving up the run at the expense of killing the QB with the knowledge that the offense would not run into certain looks. The result was the biggest underdog ever winning the SB.
Also, rather than blitzing the linebackers, they dropped them into short zones, to pick off slants. Rodgers did not throw picks, but looked to his next option. Because of the heavy line, the Packers were forced to leave Allen and Williams in one on one matchups. When the linebackers dropped into coverage, our protection schemes were not aligned to stop their best lineman, but instead were focused on the linebackers, which didn't end up rushing. It just confused us and put their best players in positions to succeed.
The bottom line was that Minnesota called a great game that took advantage of their best players and also took advantage of the Packers predictablity. They also set the Packers up by tricking them into a pass heavy game plan with the assumption Allen would be out. Had the Packers ran at the Vikings (false) heavy fronts, they would have churned out massive amounts of yardage. With the DL rushing up field and the linebackers moving backwards, holes would have been wide open and linebackers would have been moving backwards, not at all in tackling posiiton. Because we never adjusted we just got killed. We didn't break any big runs but still had almost 6 yards per carry. To run that well and only run it 16 times is a sin. The Packers held on to their "take what the defense is giving" philosophy just as Minnesota predicted. They never caught on to the fact that Minnesota was setting them up. This is why they lost. Hopefully they learn from this and become less predictable.
Well, the Vikings caught on. They brought several linebackers to the line, giving a man look outside. They knew the Packers would not run into their heavly line.
Knowing the Packers were not going to run, they sent their Dlineman relentlessly at the QB. If the Packers ran the ball, these lineman would have been out of their lanes and the Packers would have consistently gained yards, but Minnesota knew the Packers would not pass. That predictablity gave them ablity to send the horses and kill Rodgers. This is the same thing the Giants did to the Patriots and Brady kept trying to pass into a defense that was giving up the run at the expense of killing the QB with the knowledge that the offense would not run into certain looks. The result was the biggest underdog ever winning the SB.
Also, rather than blitzing the linebackers, they dropped them into short zones, to pick off slants. Rodgers did not throw picks, but looked to his next option. Because of the heavy line, the Packers were forced to leave Allen and Williams in one on one matchups. When the linebackers dropped into coverage, our protection schemes were not aligned to stop their best lineman, but instead were focused on the linebackers, which didn't end up rushing. It just confused us and put their best players in positions to succeed.
The bottom line was that Minnesota called a great game that took advantage of their best players and also took advantage of the Packers predictablity. They also set the Packers up by tricking them into a pass heavy game plan with the assumption Allen would be out. Had the Packers ran at the Vikings (false) heavy fronts, they would have churned out massive amounts of yardage. With the DL rushing up field and the linebackers moving backwards, holes would have been wide open and linebackers would have been moving backwards, not at all in tackling posiiton. Because we never adjusted we just got killed. We didn't break any big runs but still had almost 6 yards per carry. To run that well and only run it 16 times is a sin. The Packers held on to their "take what the defense is giving" philosophy just as Minnesota predicted. They never caught on to the fact that Minnesota was setting them up. This is why they lost. Hopefully they learn from this and become less predictable.
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