Greg Cosell’s Film Review: The problems with the Packers offense
The Green Bay Packers are a bad offensive team right now.
The offense was out of sync too often against the Arizona Cardinals, and there hasn’t been much rhythm to the Packers’ passing game for a while. There’s almost no structure to the passing game.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was sacked eight times last week, for a variety of reasons. He is a very tentative player lately. He’s not turning it loose on simple throws that are there. Green Bay had just 178 yards of total offense last week. That’s a bad way to go into an NFC North championship game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night.
On some of the sacks, Rodgers had no chance. The line didn’t even slow down the pass rush. But there were a few that show us how and why Rodgers is struggling, and the issues with the offense as a whole.
On Arizona’s second sack, we could see the problem with the rhythm and timing of the offense. There are too many snaps in which Rodgers’ drop and the receivers routes do not time up. That was the case on this play, as Rodgers’ drop was too quick and he had nowhere to throw the ball. Calais Campbell looped around on a tackle/end stunt and sacked Rodgers. The first screen shot is Rodgers as he hits the last step of his drop:
Other times, receivers aren’t getting open. On the play after Campbell’s sack, Rodgers wanted Randall Cobb (18, the No. 2 receiver on the three-receiver side to Rodgers’ right) on an in-breaking route from the slot. Cobb did not get any separation from Cardinals cornerback Jerraud Powers, Rodgers didn’t think he had the throw, and when Rodgers tried to make a play late in the down Campbell got him again on another tackle/end stunt.
Here’s a sack that shows Rodgers is playing tentatively. He had a simple, open throw and didn’t turn it loose. Rodgers had tight end Richard Rodgers immediately open on a quick flat route to his left. But he came off that throw to look inside at the Randall Cobb slant. Dwight Freeney got to the quarterback off a spin move and sacked him.
On many sacks, the line gave Rodgers no chance. Josh Walker had to replace injured Bryan Bulaga at right tackle early in the third quarter, and Walker got beat on just about every pass rush. The Cardinals blitzed on 47 percent of Rodgers’ dropbacks, though that is about the Cardinals’ season average.
But this poor offensive performance wasn’t all on the offensive line. Rodgers hasn’t had a lot of defined throws in the past month-and-a-half, and he’s not a natural rhythm and timing thrower. There’s just not much flow to the entire offense.
Rodgers’ interception is worth looking at as well. Late in the first half, the Cardinals played a dime “Cover 3” zone with Justin Bethel covering James Jones with a boundary lock. An outside rush by Freeney against left tackle Don Barclay impacted Rodgers, and Rodgers threw one-on-one to Jones but Bethel was in excellent position to make the interception.
The Packers have a lot of issues on offense right now, and everything contributed to a poor performance against the Cardinals. The Packers need to figure out some answers before a big game against the Vikings on Sunday night.
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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.
