Before You Dismiss - Just Consider This

[The Shadow]

The Packers play the Rams this Sunday. The Rams are unbeaten & are considered by many to be the best team in the NFC right now.
The Rams are favored by 9 at the moment.

Now then : let's reason together.
That 9 point spread is based upon what the oddsmakers have seen all season from the 2 teams.
If the Packers simply stick to their usual MO, it will most likely result in a loss - death from a thousand cuts.

WHAT IF : McCarthy went ballistically bold?
Here's what he has :
- a future Hall of Fame QB
- what should be a full complement of healthy receivers
- Ty Montgomery, who has not to date been very effectively utilized, and Jamal Williams, an
adept pass blocker
- an offensive line that is capable of pass blocking for at least a short time
- and, of course, a really undependable defense

WHY NOT : Go all-pass (for at least 3 quarters? If you abandon the old traditional thinking of 'trying to establish the run', you eliminate the inevitable 2 yard runs during your drives, which take the ball out of your most talented player's hands.

Spread the Rams defense out. 4 receiver sets + Montgomery or Williams to pass block or occasionally sneak out of the backfield.
Concentrate on patterns of at least 10 yards.
In effect, you are now betting on one of the best quarterbacks to ever play to hit on at least 33% of his attempts to keep moving the chains.
You also force the Rams to pass rush on every offensive play - which has to begin wearing them down to some degree.
If you can somehow have the lead in the 4th quarter, THEN work in a running game.

I keep reading about how the Packers have to get that ol' running game together - but for me, this is simply playing into the hands of that 9 point spread.

LUCK FAVORS THE BOLD!!

[texaspackerbacker]

I like it ........ I don't expect McCarthy to literally go that far, but that kind of a game/taking a large step in the direction you're talking about is an excellent idea.

Normally, the bogey of a plan like this is the QB throws interceptions, but does anybody expect Aaron Rodgers to do that? Hell No.

[pbmax]

Substitute Jones for either RB and I am with you.

I don't expect this to happen though.

[Carolina_Packer]

The Packers play the Rams this Sunday. The Rams are unbeaten & are considered by many to be the best team in the NFC right now.
The Rams are favored by 9 at the moment.

Now then : let's reason together.
That 9 point spread is based upon what the oddsmakers have seen all season from the 2 teams.
If the Packers simply stick to their usual MO, it will most likely result in a loss - death from a thousand cuts.

WHAT IF : McCarthy went ballistically bold?
Here's what he has :
- a future Hall of Fame QB
- what should be a full complement of healthy receivers
- Ty Montgomery, who has not to date been very effectively utilized, and Jamal Williams, an
adept pass blocker
- an offensive line that is capable of pass blocking for at least a short time
- and, of course, a really undependable defense

WHY NOT : Go all-pass (for at least 3 quarters? If you abandon the old traditional thinking of 'trying to establish the run', you eliminate the inevitable 2 yard runs during your drives, which take the ball out of your most talented player's hands.

Spread the Rams defense out. 4 receiver sets + Montgomery or Williams to pass block or occasionally sneak out of the backfield.
Concentrate on patterns of at least 10 yards.
In effect, you are now betting on one of the best quarterbacks to ever play to hit on at least 33% of his attempts to keep moving the chains.
You also force the Rams to pass rush on every offensive play - which has to begin wearing them down to some degree.
If you can somehow have the lead in the 4th quarter, THEN work in a running game.

I keep reading about how the Packers have to get that ol' running game together - but for me, this is simply playing into the hands of that 9 point spread.

LUCK FAVORS THE BOLD!!

I call this plan, "Playing with house money" and like it. If they still have protection issues, or wide-outs struggling to get open issues, the plan will fail, but if you go in thinking that you are challenged to win anyway, don't you have to do something different than what has gotten you off to a slow start and behind the 8 ball in too many games?

That's just the offense. The defense will need their big boy pants to stop TG. If they sell out to stop TG, I hope it does not lead to leaky coverage, ala, Colin Kaepernick torching the Pack for over 400 yards a few years ago, but hey, we stopped the run.

I'm not a Belichick apologist, but you can't argue with the fact that he can customize a game plan to his opponent, whereas, MM seems to say, we have Aaron Rodgers and that should be good enough for us to take the approach we want to take, which is not always true. Then, when the plan breaks down we somehow start moving the ball when we play up tempo, but at that point, it could be the other coach just counting possessions in the second half, trying to protect players...garbage time. Why don't we just save ourselves from garbage time and come out with a unique approach?

[pbmax]

I'm not a Belichick apologist, but you can't argue with the fact that he can customize a game plan to his opponent, whereas, MM seems to say, we have Aaron Rodgers and that should be good enough for us to take the approach we want to take, which is not always true. Then, when the plan breaks down we somehow start moving the ball when we play up tempo, but at that point, it could be the other coach just counting possessions in the second half, trying to protect players...garbage time. Why don't we just save ourselves from garbage time and come out with a unique approach?

M3 definitely thinks this a majority of the time. But there are many examples* of him bypassing that thought process and doing something creative on offense. If the Rams alarm him enough, I expect something different.

The problem will be concern for Rodgers life and limb. While he is unusually unwilling to commit TE and RB to chip, he will take hugely limiting steps to protect an injured Rodgers.

* Any game versus the Patriots, Williams Wall Vikings, Falcons playoff

The weirdness is when he sees a defense that SHOULD be vulnerable (but survives with a ferocious pass rush) and then gets crushed until he adapts (any Giants game before that 2012, CK era 49ers, Seattle including 2014 playoffs).

[mraynrand]

I say go Six wides (or five WRs and a TE) and a running back. Pull the goalie! (I mean pull the RT!). Put one TE in as a center eligible. Dare them to rush Rodgers - he will have the ball out so fast it will make their heads spin!

[run pMc]

With Donald and Suh, they can rush with 4 and flood the back with coverage.

I'd consider a few shorter routes in case they jam receivers or go heavy blitz. I'd expect the Rams D to counter with ways to slow things down enough to pressure Rodgers.
Also, I think keeping the Rams offense off the field is the best defense, whether that be with runs or passes. (aka the Indy-era Peyton Manning defense)
You'd think someone capable of completing 60-70% of his passes would be able to complete enough to move the chains. No shame in dumping off to a RB like Jones if they can break a tackle and turn a 2 yd checkdown into a 12 yard run.

[Joemailman]

If you go heavy pass, they have to be high percentage passes though. Not hold onto the ball 6 seconds and then throw a sideline pass 30 yards downfield. The reason is you can't afford to have a lot of incomplete passes that lead to 3 and outs. It could get ugly fast if that happens.

[texaspackerbacker]

When is an Aaron Rodgers pass ever not a high percentage pass?

Yeah, get rid of the ball quick a good percentage of the time, but don't force those quick passes into coverage - Rodgers almost never does, and if the first read isn't there, let Aaron be Aaron - let him scramble around and throw it down the field. THAT is the Packers bread and butter, not just against a tough team like the Rams, but all the time.

The difference between what we basically do most of the time and what is advocated in Post #1 is not wasting a down here and there with running plays. Knowing McCarthy, he's still gonna waste a few plays running it into the retreating backsides of our mediocre O Line. However, Shadow's plan above - which hopefully McCarthy will at least try some watered down version of - tends to take the O Line out of the equation. Either get rid of the ball quick or have the QB scramble, both of which should have good outcomes.

[pbmax]

When is an Aaron Rodgers pass ever not a high percentage pass?

When he gets sacked.

You got any more riddles?

[Joemailman]

When is an Aaron Rodgers pass ever not a high percentage pass?

When it's incomplete. And right now he's 28th in the NFL in completion percentage. When Rodgers is great, he is at least in the Top 10. Or top 5. Incomplete passes lead to bad down and distance. That's been a problem all year.

[texaspackerbacker]

When he gets sacked.

You got any more riddles?

Actually, a sack is not a pass. And sacks and hurries are on the mediocre O Line blocking for him. Rodgers virtually never throws an interception. More incompletions than usual this year? That sure beats interceptions, and as his mobility gets back to normal, I can't help thinking the throwaways and small degree of inaccuracy will decrease as his leg heals up.

[gbgary]

sacks count vs passing yards...also when he passes up an open underneath guy for a long ball the percentage goes down.

[yetisnowman]

^^^^Exactly. Outside of the rookies and Bortles, Rodgers has the worst in the NFL. He still isn't healthy. The best strategy is minimizing LA's possessions and throwing 20 or more incompletions is not the way to do that. It's a quick way to get blown out.

[texaspackerbacker]

Sounds like the lofty goal of some of ya'all is to come within 3 touchdowns or so hahahahahaha.