Dan Kohn column: Point - Green Bay Packers should keep throwing the long ball but stop making penalties and giving up sacks
The simple answer is to go strictly back to the basics and ditch the long ball. But in this case, that simple answer is WRONG.
This Packers team isn't built like the Mike Holmgren teams of the 1990s. It is not a true "West Coast" team and should not rely on the short passing game.
Sure, Green Bay should still throw the occasional slant or screen pass. But the Packers aren't built like they were a decade ago. Instead, they have a solid receiving corps that can get open down the field for the big play.
The Packers average 366.2 yards per game on offense and have a quarterback in Aaron Rodgers who has a 101.8 passer rating. The two big blemishes Green Bay has is it leads the NFL in penalties with 74 for 609 yards, and its offensive line has given up a league-worst 41 sacks.
Clean up the offensive line play and penalties and this team would lead the league in big plays. And more than likely be in the thick of the NFC North race.
Wide receiver James Jones averages more than 20 yards per catch, and he's not even the No. 1 receiver.
Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, Jermichael Finley and Jones all have made catches of more than 60 yards and Rodgers has already passed for 17 touchdowns, and we're just over the midway point of the season.
It's true the Packers used the short game against Dallas, but they really didn't move the ball any more effectively than they had been. In fact, for much of the first half, it was ineffective. It was the defense that came to Green Bay's rescue and won that game.
So to abandon the bomb for the short game is to handcuff a very potent offense. It's hard enough winning a weekly battle in the NFL with two good hands. Don't tie one behind your back and expect to win.
If the Packers are smart, they stick with the offensive scheme they have, throw deep often, but clean up the offensive line and penalties. This team has talent. But if it keeps making mistake, after mistake, Green Bay might as well go the Winged-T or Veer, because it just won't matter.
Dan Kohn: 920-993-1000, ext. 1305, or dkohn@postcrescent.com