Keep Rodgers under center...

I know this is going to sound ticky-tack but if you watch Saturday's snaps to Rodgers in the shotgun and you'll see the ball just slowly floats back to him in slow motion. The ball is snapped, the players go, and it takes another beat for the ball to get into Rodgers' hands. By the time Rodgers takes his eyes off the ball and starts to scan the field, the play is well into development. It seemed that Wells' snaps made it back to the QB faster, allowing Rodgers to lift his eyes and scan the field quicker. Not so with Saturday. It seems like such a little thing, but the pace of the shotgun snap seems glacial. I find myself thinking, "Come on, faster, faster" as I watch that ball float back... Keeping him under center also allows Rodgers to scan the field faster with the ball already in his hands.

A point of good interest about the slower snaps.

Packers in the shotgun: drop 7 into coverage and fire your front four upfield after the QB. Even if he does hand it off, the RB doesn't get a north/south running start when he gets the ball, giving everyone on the defense time to adjust to the run and make the stop. That's the problem with the shotgun: it is the penultimate abandonment of the running game. It also eliminates effective play action.

A slow snap negates the advantage of the shotgun.

Keep him under center.

I admired Holmgren for, by and large, keeping bert under center and he did it for the reasons stated above - your QB keeps his eyes on the field and all options are on the table: run, pass, play action.

I gave up wishing MM would see the light on this.

If your line protects, it a huge benefit. Manning lives in the gun. But his line protects... If this team can protect, the MVP is the MVP.

Why people who aren't former or current professional players/coaches feel the need to write full articles about strategy is beyond me.

When former NFL Safety Matt Bowen writes an article about coverages, it means something. When former NFL player agent and cap guy Andrew Brandt writes an article about negotiations and how it all works, it means something. When some "fan columnist" writes an article Monday Morning QB'ing our Super Bowl winning HC who has coordinated some of the most productive NFL offenses of all time, it's lame.

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Why people who aren't former or current professional players/coaches feel the need to write full articles about strategy is beyond me.

No kidding, that's what message boards are for!

I was working on a piece for The Bleacher Report on the premise that teams with more points after 60 minutes tend to fair better than teams that have less points after 60 minutes over the course of a season.

I sent them a rough draft but they asked for some historical data before running with it.

It's an interesting take. But if one is going to write a "fan columnist" article analyzing a game, shouldn't that person not just look at what the Packers are doing but also at what the other team is doing?

The Giants were not playing cover 2 until right AFTER the long TD to Nelson. AR in the gun may not have helped the offense but the Giants switching to a full time cover 2 mostly likely had a bigger impact.

Same angle with a little more data thrown in.

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•As the first chart shows, the Packers are using the shotgun more often than in any of Rodgers' five seasons as a starter. Almost all of those snaps (95 percent) have included at least three receivers, and 83 percent of them have been passes. As with the Umenyiora sack/fumble, you wonder if defenses are simply guessing pass on those shotgun snaps. It's a pretty good bet, especially when Randall Cobb isn't in the backfield, and it would make pass protection difficult for any line.

If he'd get the ball out faster then that statistic would be worthless. It's not an issue of under center vs. shotgun, it's an issue of how your QB executes. That stat could easily be reversed, he could have been holding the ball too long when he was under center and getting the ball away quick when he's in shotgun.

What I'm curious about is why McCarthy doesn't seem to want to move the pocket at all to protect his QB? Rodgers is fantastic outside the pocket, give your LeftRight GuardTackle some help.

Regardless of formations, scheme, etc. it is still about winning one-on-one matchups. This is evident in all aspectsd of football; receivers vs. defenders,
Olineman vs. Dlineman, tacklers vs. runners...right now we are getting beat in every matchup on the oline except Sitton. It is very difficult to come up with anything to offset this....can't run the ball because at least one dlineman gets penetration & our RB's aren't good enough to overcome this, can't throw downfield because we don't have the time, can't throw short because the DB's are in tight coverage. Screens, roll outs, draws, & AR running tyhe ball were not seen on Sunday night & may help. We'll see on Sunday.

This thread should be called "Keep Rodgers Conscious".

When MM talks about his offense, he normally states that protecting the QB is the #1 priority. Makes sense... but then you see tons of empty backfields, no screens, no moving the pocket, no quick passes....

He is protecting him from being a stat whore.

For a fan columnist it is not bad, he made a hypothesis and backed it up with data and reasoning. He never presented it as more than that. Everyone is free to disagree and present other theories.

In regard to moving the pocket, the problem is that it reduces the field for the receivers to work.

As far as outside the pocket, I am of the belief AR has missed sever opportunities lately to get outside and create a play. I don't know if he is hesitant or that things look differently when watching on TV

As to the Giants switch to the cover 2, one could argue this is exactly the time to run it instead of going shotgun. I think the cover 2 keeps you from walking your safety down into the box, correct me if I am wrong.

As far as Critisim of our SB winning HC, he himself said he called a bad game. If Monday morning QBing is such a horrible thing we should all just unplug our computers.

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Originally posted by GratefulPack:
If Monday morning QBing is such a horrible thing we should all just unplug our computers.

That only works if you don't have a laptop, tablet or smartphone.