The other change happening on offense

I think a lot of that is related to the play of the OL and both MM and AR would prefer to go deep and often if possible.

What MM & AR prefer to do isn't what the defense always lets them do. Starting with the Giants playoff game in 2011, most DC's blueprint for beating the Packers is to: 1) Play safeties deep 2) DO NOT react to any run fakes 3) Play tight coverage trying to take away the slant & back shoulder throw, with safety help over the top 4) Have your d lineman rush hard on every play. Of course an improved run game would counter all of the above strategies. It is obvious that MM & TT recognize the need, which is why every move made on offense in the offseason has been done to bolster the run game. Without a threat of the run, MM is unable to be as proficient in the pass game as he would like to be (with AR it was still pretty good last year, but not nearly as good as in 2011). 

Should be very interesting if they continue this into the season.  Certainly should help with the sack problems but it's anybody's guess what the overall effect on the passing game would be.  Will AR throw more INT's because the decisions have to be made so quickly or fewer because the passes are shorter?  Same question goes to completion percentage.  Yards per completion might be shorter, but as we have seen in the preseason the quick passes give guys like Finley a chance to run free for long gains. 

Saw this tweet posted at Pro Football Focus:

 

Average time to throw for Aaron Rodgers yesterday? 2.1 seconds. During the 2012
season he was at 2.8 seconds. #protecttheprotection

He also has 2 very young Tackles that are protecting him. As good of job as they've done, Rodgers/McCarthy need to help them by not putting them in situations where they need to block for 3 or 4 seconds. 

 

Also San Fran and Washington were clearly worried about the deep pass. Their CBs played off the line a lot which opened up the quick throws. The challenging thing for defenses is that these WRs are equally good at taking short passes and gaining big chunks of yards as they are burning defenses deep. 

Saw this mentioned yesterday, but the Packers WRs seem to really like blocking for each-other (including Finley in this).

quote:

but the Packers WRs seem to really like blocking for each-other

Leading Aikman to whine and shriek at one point that the Packers were allegedly engaging in illegal downfield blocking.

 

TOG had a quick release. I don't know that his was ever that fast.

Jenn Sterger knows.

Don't care why it's happening, but it's a change that needed to happen for the health of Rodgers. It's great that MM finally is playing to what the defense is giving him rather than trying to force things downfield if they aren't there or the line can't protect. Ask Rodgers, and I bet he's just fine not getting chased around the field or beaten up. I also think it works because the receivers do block; without that, those five-yard passes would stay at five yards; with the blocking they go for 10 or 15.