Great analysis.
There's one thing I do wonder about, though. When he's talking about the Pack making it hard on themselves and shows those three plays at the goalline... I wonder if that's always Mike's work or just as much Rodgers himself.
It's pretty obvious that on 1st and 2, the O-line is run-blocking, none of the TEs run any kind of routes, but pick up D-linemen and Jones expects the hand-off and stops when he realises the ball is flying to Graham.
In other words, going to Graham on the fade when he's one-on-one is just an option Aaron has at the line, but that did look like a called run play by Mike.
Second down looks like a play-action pass play all the way.
Third down, again, looks like a pretty agressively run-blocking O-line and no pass-route for Jones. Could just be a very good play-action at the wrong time, but I do have the feeling Rodgers could, again, make a choice there.
That doesn't mean I think Mike is either a good or bad coach, but I do think that some of the blame he gets doesn't fully fall on his shoulders.
That said, the bigger point is very clear and the analysis is great. Would be great if they could get back to basics.
The thing that absolutely maddens me is that Mike's shown that he has it in him. The offensive gameplan he drew up for Flynn in that 2010 game against the Patriots, his first start ever, was amazing. We nearly outscored one of the best offenses in the league with our back-up QB.
I recall some good swing routes out of the back, slants, pretty quick curl routes etc. We ran the ball about as much as we threw it, although the talent level at RB was way lower than we have now with Jackson, Kuhn and Nance running it. We used a lot of check-downs to guys like Kuhn, Quinn Johnson, Nance, Quarless and Jackson. Something I've barely seen this year, as guys like Williams, Jones, Kendricks or Lewis are barely involved. I mean, I know Marcedis isn't the prototype pass-catching tight end from an athletic standpoint. Certainly not at his current age. But he is a smart guy who you can get the ball to, who can find some space and pick up 3-7 on a quick hit, rather than taking the sack and throwing away the ball again.
Originally Posted by: Rockmolder