Packers mesh concepts and man beaters on offense

 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.

Green Bay vs Panthers.

Adams uses his hands to get seperation early in the route as the Panthers go man free. 

Wide open at the top of the route with no safety help. Easy 20 yard gain

Leverage rpo's

The other thing that is built into the system is the rpo options any time they get 3 over 2, or at times 3 over 3 with leverage. You have to paint a cloudy picture at times or Rodgers will take easy throws. Vs the panthers he gets 3 wr over 2 and he throws it out to Adams with 2 blockers for an easy 14 yard gain. If he doesn't like the numbers on the perimeter the Packers will often have run built in.

They will take this any time you give it to them which they do here vs the Panthers. 

Example #2 , they come out in 12 personnel and hae an rpo with a wr screen. 

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.

These 3 examples are great play design by the packers.

The packers also use the running back to create mismatches vs man.

In the next video you see how they use Aaron Jones against the Lions by essentially running 3 screens for him with the 1,2, and 3 wr. This is a great play design vs man free coverage and getting one of your best athletes the ball

Here are just some of the concepts you will see from the Packers. They are a great offense and very difficult to defend.

Green Bay Packers Run Game - Using Motions to Your Advantage

 By Jim Jackson

Matt LaFluer and the Green Bay offensive staff are very strong in their ability to use motions to their advantage in the run game. Like the 49ers offense they use shifts, motions, and arounds (post snap) to gain an advantage. There are three reasons why you would want to use motion in the run game:

1. Gain a numbers advantage at the point of attack.

2. Gain an angles advantage for your TE or OL blocking by reaction to the motion.

3. Make a support player (safety or corner) loosen his alignment and not trigger so quickly.

The Packers use all three of these in their run game to gain an advantage. 

The first play is an example of a fly sweep fake softening the down safety causing him to hesitate. This makes the block for the WR much easier. Condensed formations help with this block as well. This play was Week 12 vs CHI.

The second play is a Toss Windback play in Week 2 vs DET. The TE motions from the furthest alignment to a hip position. This align to execute mentality gives him and inside/out blocking angle on the OLB which is critical to the play.

The final play is a Duo play with Jab Footwork by the RB. This play was Week 9 vs SF. There are 2 motions on this play. The motions help the OL and the Slot WR with blocking angles. This is creative run game design!!!

Just like the 49ers and Rams, Green Bay is on the cutting edge of shifts and motions to gain run game advantages. More teams should implement these concepts to simply slow run defenses down. What is the next concept or step they will take?