Nonstopdrivel
15 years ago

Heres the tale of the tape on the Green Bay Packers after their 30-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers at Lambeau Field on Sunday. 

By Tom Pelissero tpelisse@greenbaypressgazette.com November 23, 2009


Off target


The 49ers should have known you cant play soft on the corners against the Packers receivers.

QB Aaron Rodgers exploited 6-yard cushions and on-snap bailouts again and again while racking up 274 passing yards before San Francisco adjusted at halftime. Even when the corners closed the gap somewhat, Rodgers kept throwing underneath on a variety of outs, stops and comeback routes, with only one of his 32 completions traveling more than 14 yards beyond the line in the air.

It doesnt get much easier than the Packers third touchdown drive, when Rodgers threw the same one-step option pass to WR Jordy Nelson for a 6-yard gain near midfield and a 7-yard touchdown. Both times, LCB Tarell Brown backpedaled out of a huge cushion and Nelson embarrassed him after the catch.

Of five passes Rodgers completed on that drive, four were behind the line. For the game, Rodgers completed 20 passes (46.9 percent) within 4 yards of scrimmage 11 of them to a receiver or TE Jermichael Finley, who lined up wide or in the slot 15 times.

Then again, it doesnt matter what technique you play if you cant cover.

Rodgers threw at Brown 12 times, completing eight for 108 yards and both touchdowns, plus an interference penalty. Brown was only 2 yards off on a 10-yard slant WR Greg Jennings turned into a 64-yard TD, but Jennings got a clean release anyway by baiting Brown with a hard outside step.

On the other side, RCB Shawntae Spencer was targeted seven times and gave up six completions for 68 yards. One of the few times Spencer squatted early, Jennings beat him with a double stutter for 32.

The 49ers front pressured Rodgers only once before halftime and had little blitzing help nine extra-man pressures in 46 dropbacks (19.6 percent), just one of which got home. That meant the Packers could protect with five, put more players than usual in pattern and further exploit the perimeter mismatches that made it all too easy to pick the 49ers apart.

Filling the void


Defensive coordinator Dom Capers almost surely will ditch some looks now that CB Al Harris and LOLB Aaron Kampman are done for the season.

Against the 49ers, Capers played mostly dime defense (28 of 47 snaps, 59.6 percent) for a second straight week. He also leaned more heavily on a 3-2 alignment in which ROLB Clay Matthews lined up next to mack ILB Nick Barnett, putting Matthews in position to drop deep or cross-dog with Barnett.

Without Kampman, who had a sack and two pressures in 2 quarters before his knee injury, Capers killed the inside blitzes to let Matthews rush from the edge. Rookie Brad Jones (10 snaps) and Brady Poppinga (five) each had a pressure in Kampmans place, but neither is an equal every-down rusher.

Which would be less of a concern if the Packers had Harris, who allowed only one completion in three targets a 38-yard TD pass to WR Michael Crabtree, who appeared to get away with shoving Harris in the lower back before sustaining his own knee injury early in the fourth quarter.

As usual, Harris had drawn the assignment of covering the opponents top receiver, allowing CB Charles Woodson to blitz, snipe and cover athletic TE Vernon Davis from the slot. San Francisco QB Alex Smith had thrown in Woodsons direction only three times and had no completions and one interception to show for it.

Two plays after Harris injury, Capers sent Woodson on a slot blitz and Smith spotted Davis running the seam against Matthews, who had OK coverage but didnt spot the ball on a 24-yard TD. Capers dialed down the blitzes from there, even as Smith had all day on the next drive to throw at new No. 2 CB Tramon Williams for gains of 20 yards to WR Isaac Bruce and 35 yards to Crabtree. Then, with the 49ers staring down fourth-and-5, Woodson was so concerned with making sure Barnett covered Davis he was late to the flat on RB Frank Gores 10-yard score.

Corner Okie (four snaps), with Woodson at safety, probably is a goner without Harris. All the nickel and dime looks involving a third hand-down rusher likely are out without Kampman. And Capers will have to take a hard look at whos coming onto the field in nickel (Jarrett Bush) and dime (Brandon Underwood) when deciding the best use of those subpackages perhaps finding some new ways to deploy the base personnel (six snaps) he hasnt used extensively for a month.

Playmakers

RB Ryan Grant continues to break arm tackles like never before. He did it on two of his three explosive runs, of 21 and 15 yards, gaining 31 yards after contact. Grants early 26-yard run was a product of a good frontside seal by LT Chad Clifton and Colledge and an impressive downfield cut block by rookie FB Quinn Johnson (18 snaps), who took out star MLB Patrick Willis. FB Korey Hall (11 snaps) also deserves a nod for the lick he laid on LB Scott McKillop to lead Grants 1-yard TD plunge.

One of those inside cross-dogs yielded a big hit for Matthews, whose smack on Smith led to a wobbly fourth-and-2 incompletion to halt the second halfs opening drive. Capers rushed five on 15 of 36 dropbacks (41.7 percent), producing five QB hits and one of the Packers three sacks.
Play breakers

NT Ryan Pickett hasnt gotten shoved around much this season, but C Eric Heitmann got him turned on the 49ers longest gain, a 42-yard run by Gore off an opening-drive draw. Gore ran through LDE Johnny Jollys arm and then blasted past SS Atari Bigby, who was filling a different gap and couldnt adjust. Pickett made up for it three plays later, though, beating RT Adam Snyder into the backfield to drop Gore for no gain on third-and-1.

RTs Mark Tauscher and T.J. Lang each had a hand in a San Franciscos two sacks. Tauscher appeared to think he had help inside from RG Josh Sitton, who was looking for a blitzer, while Lang gave ground to SLB Manny Lawson. The 49ers only had two other hits on Rodgers both by DT Isaac Sopoaga, who sniffed out a bootleg to force an intentional-grounding call and was in the right spot when pressure against LG Daryn Colledge flushed Rodgers into him.

In addition to the TD, Davis had a pair of explosive gains in the third quarter both against a Packers blitz, and both times with Bigbys over-the-top coverage arriving late. Buck ILB A.J. Hawk had underneath coverage up the seam on the 32-yarder, while Bush was playing inside on the 29-yarder.

Odds and ends


With Finley back from a knee injury, coach Mike McCarthy extensively employed two- or three-tight sets, with TEs Donald Lee (53 snaps) and Finley (54) getting almost the same number of snaps. The opportunities, however, were disparate Finley was targeted 10 times and had seven catches, while Lee mostly played inline, was targeted twice and didnt have a catch. Each had a drop. No. 3 TE Spencer Havner played only four snaps on offense. Another dime-heavy day meant limited snaps for Hawk (19 snaps) and Pickett (15). Rookie DL B.J. Raji (17 snaps) continued to flash, recording his first sack on a late pressure against LT Barry Sims, but still is working toward consistency.


UserPostedImage
djcubez
15 years ago
Ugh. It doesn't look too good on defense with Harris out. I felt like the extra pressure is what helped our defense out and now we're going to steer away from it.
15 years ago
They ate up the blitzes in the 2nd half. I'm fine with a little more discretion in the blitz packages.
UserPostedImage
Fan Shout
Zero2Cool (14-Feb) : Packers are hiring Luke Getsy as senior offensive assistant.
Martha Careful (12-Feb) : I would love to have them both, esp. Crosby, but either might be too expensive.
Zero2Cool (12-Feb) : Keisean Nixon is trying to get Maxx Crosby and Davante Adams lol
Mucky Tundra (11-Feb) : Yeah where did it go?
packerfanoutwest (11-Feb) : or did you resctrict access to that topic?
packerfanoutwest (11-Feb) : why did you remove the Playoff topic?
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : Tua’s old DC won a Super Bowl Year 1 with Tua’s former backup
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : *winning MVP
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : Funny observation I've heard: Carson Wentz was on the sideline for both Eagles Super Bowl wins w/guys supposed to be his back up winning
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : NFL thought it would get more attention week preceding Super Bowl.
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : Yes, the Pro Bowl. It was played Sunday before Super Bowl from 2010-2022
packerfanoutwest (10-Feb) : pro bowl
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : From 2010 to 2022, it was played on the Sunday before the Super Bowl
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : They moved it to the BYE week before Super Bowl several years ago.
packerfanoutwest (10-Feb) : it was always after the SB.....
beast (10-Feb) : Though I stop following pro bowl years ago
beast (10-Feb) : I thought the pro game was before the Super Bowl?
packerfanoutwest (10-Feb) : ok now for the Pro Bowl Game in Hawaii
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : If I was Philly I would try to end it instead of punting it
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : VICTORY! We have (moral) victory!
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : Hey they mentioned that we 3-peted
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : seems to me the 49ers should have traded Aiyuk when they had the chance
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : if the Eagles get it down to the 1, do they Tush Push or give it to Barkley?
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : 49ers have a money problem if they want to sign their QB
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : Wait for real? Didn't he just get an extension two years ago?
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : 49ers gonna trade Deebo. Interesting
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : Replays always never seem to show the holdings
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : Great throw by Hurts
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : Where Carter falls prey to bad off the field influences (to be clear, not saying he'd clip someone though)
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : Had Carter not gone to Philly were they already had a lot of old college friends, he ends up in a similar spot to Aaron Hernandez
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : I think some of his coaches told scouts to stay away
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : the street racing incident+conditioning and motivation problems
beast (10-Feb) : Then Carter was street racing, where the other car crashed and people died... and other teams were scared to pick Carter for some reason
beast (10-Feb) : I think the Saints traded up, giving their next year 1st to the Eagles, and then they sucked and Eagles got the 10th overall pick
packerfanoutwest (10-Feb) : wtf Barkley?
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : Getting Carter and Nolan Smith in the first round in 2023 was pretty darn good
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : for some reason i'm thinking of a draft where the Eagles where in the mid 20s and a top player fell all the way to them
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : I think so. I would need to look it up. Think it may have been Carolina's pick.
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : i'm not sure who i'm thinking of now
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : oh fuck me i messed that up
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : Jordan Davis was 13th overall
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : Carter was 9th overall
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : Eagles had 15th and 10th selections, moved to 13 and 9 to get Davis and Carter back to back
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : Eagles traded up for Carter, didn't they?
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : Obviously he was a huge risk but getting a top 5 talent on the dline in the mid 20s is fortuitous
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : Jalen Carter falling into their lap certainly helps
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : And we could only wish to have this type of D
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : It's not like Philly has had low draft picks, but has managed to get themselves a top notch pass rush. We spend so much draft capital of D
packerfanoutwest (10-Feb) : another crap halftime show
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : I think it is over, but then I think of Atlanta and want Philly to go in with the same intensity in the second half
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