It sure looks like the no-huddle offense is here to stay.
Now if the Green Bay Packers could just get their pass protection straightened out.
After using one no-huddle series in each of the first two preseason games, Packers coach Mike McCarthy went all in with his newest offensive toy. He used it on four first-half possessions with his starting offense on Friday against the Indianapolis Colts, and it got him 10 points — an 18-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to tight end Jermichael Finley in the first quarter and a 26-yard Mason Crosby field goal in the second quarter.
But it should have been a much more prolific outing if not for pass-protection issues that have plagued the Packers throughout this preseason. Despite returning four of five starters on the offensive line, Rodgers was sacked four times while playing only the first half.
The Packers trailed 14-10 when Rodgers and the Packers’ starters departed, but third-string quarterback Graham Harrell rallied them for a 24-21 victory at Lucas Oil Stadium, where in February they hope to have a chance to repeat as Super Bowl champions. But this was simply a preseason game against a Colts team that was playing without starting quarterback Peyton Manning and receivers Austin Collie and Anthony Gonzalez.
“We should’ve been a lot more productive,” Packers right tackle Bryan Bulaga said. “We’d have been a lot more productive if we didn’t have a couple of breakdowns in protection. There’s things we need to shore up fundamentally.”
The Packers opened in a traditional huddled look in which Rodgers completed both of his passes but failed to gain a first down. Then McCarthy went no-huddle. The first no-huddle drive looked much like the ones in the first two preseason games. Rodgers moved the offense 81 yards in 10 plays, finding a mismatch with linebacker Pat Angerer on Finley’s seam route for a touchdown.
The next three no-huddle possessions resulted in just three points, and all three drives were doomed by sacks. Chad Clifton, the oldest starting tackle in the NFL at 35, gave up third-down sacks on consecutive series to former All-Pro defensive end Dwight Freeney. The first one stalled a 14-play, 61-yard drive that resulted in Crosby’s field goal. Freeney bull-rushed Clifton on third-and-4 from the Colts’ 6-yard line. The only time the Packers huddled on that drive was after a false-start penalty on right tackle Bryan Bulaga and after the final play of the first quarter.
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