The Packers have one of the most potent offenses in the league and arguably the best wr in Devonte Adams. But, they also don't throw the ball vertically too much. Against the Panthers they threw one pass more than 10 yards down field. ONE and its below which means this. They will run a ton of man beaters that are short routes and mesh shallow concepts to beat you.
The Packers can beat you in many ways:
1. They can beat you running the ball
2. They can beat you with wide zone boot and play action
3. The Packers have a very good rpo game
4. The Packers can beat you by going empty and taking advantage of matchups with Adams and Lazaar in the slot.
5. The Packers can beat you in the drop back passing game which they do well and protect the passer.
6. They will take advantage of matchups with Adams And Lazar inside or put Adams against your worst cb if you don't travel.
Here he beats Ramsay 1x1 on 2nd and 14 and gets 12 for a manageable first down. The Rams are in combo. Man on Adams, cover 2 with everyone else.
On Defense:
1. You need to play a handful of man and use your 2 deep safeties aggressively in the pass game when you play them. Drive 1 of them down vs condensed sets .
When Adams is to the single side, double him. with one safety and use the other to disrupt the mesh routes. Drive the safety to the 3x1 side to play the mesh or this will happen. 22 yard gains. It seems simple.
You can also do it vs 2x2. but here they dont do it and its a big gain of 22 yards.
Example 1 of a packer man beater, mesh concept.
Example 2, They run mesh and the Panthers drive the safety down! You can do this vs 2x2 or 3x1 when Adams is to the single side. Need to help with him at all times. They drive the safety to the mesh 3x1 side down and double Adams, causing the incompletion.
Here the Panthers do it again and get the sack. Disrupt the mesh routes vs condensed formations. Safety coming down really disrupts Rodgers and they get the SACK!
2. When Adams is in 3x1 and in the trips, you must cover off, play 4x3 or give the impression he is covered or you will get those easy catch and runs (see rpo below) Slant the other way with the dline so things spill out
Adams is one of the best wr and great at getting separation vs man coverage. Here as you can see he does a great job getting separation early in the route which makes it difficult for teams to play him in man. It also amazes me that teams don't double him more and take him out of the game.
MORE Green Bay Packers Mesh Concepts
This video shows how the Packers used bunch formation and simple shifts to dictate coverage and run mesh concepts vs Lions man free defense. They also take advantage of matchups as the Lions really couldn't handle Aaron Jones Athleticism. The clips show how nfl teams take advantage of matchups.
clip 1- align tight end out as #1 strong safety is on him, clear indication they are in man free. Then they motion and shift and run the play they want vs man free coverage. clip 2-Lions are in bear front, packers motion rb jones into the slot. Lions are forced to walk out the mlb. easy read on the mesh as it is a major match up with lions mlb against Jones. The packers know this is a mismatch and easy read for Rodgers vs man free. clip 3-same play as clip 1. Rodgers recognizes man free by alignment and checks to the mesh concept. Very difficult for defenders to get thru all the traffic with man free with no underneath help.The packers also use the running back to create mismatches vs man.
Here are just some of the concepts you will see from the Packers. They are a great offense and very difficult to defend.