NFL Matchup’s Executive Producer shares notes from his study of Week 15 coaching tape: the Packers Offense vs. the Chiefs Defense.
- Jennings, Starks and Clifton all inactive for the Packers
- Newhouse again started at LT for the Packers
- Packers showed the “bone” formation on the game’s 2nd play, The 2 FB backs were actually TE Crabtree and Williams
- Chiefs utilized dime sub-package v. Packers “11” personnel, When they played man they matched corner Daniels on Finley
- Daniels played nickel slot corner v. “20” personnel, when the Packers had no TE on the field
- Packers aligned Finley at “x” iso at times, Chiefs matched up with outside corner Flowers or Carr or Daniels
- Chiefs played significant snaps of man coverage, In some “man free” concepts they had S Lewis matched on Driver inside with Daniels matched on Finley
- Interesting personnel and matchup for the Chiefs: Against “11” personnel with both Finley and Cobb in the game the Chiefs played dime with the 4th corner Arenas who matched up on Cobb
- Chiefs also played dime when the Packers went “10” personnel, with 4 WR on the field
- Jones and Driver played outside more with Jennings out, and they both struggled to win v. man coverage – Loss of Jennings was significant
- Chiefs played almost no snaps of base 3-4, They played nickel and dime depending on Packers personnel
- Packers 1st possession of the 3rd quarter they went “Wildcat” with Cobb taking the direct snap, Packers were looking for a spark
- Rodgers had his worst game of the season re: accuracy, His ball location was an issue – He missed a number of open receivers
- Driver 2 yd TD came out of 4 WR personnel and Finley, Chiefs matched up with 5 corners; Rookie Brown was the 5th corner and he was matched on Driver in the slot, Driver beat him easily
- Chiefs clearly game planned match up of corner Daniels (6’1”, almost 200 pounds) on Finley
- Perfect storm took place in this game: Jennings out with injury, Chiefs predominant tight man coverage, Rodgers bad game throwing the ball, Injuries on Packers OL, Increase in pass rush pressure as the game progressed
- Bailey sack and Hali sack in the 4th quarter both were individual wins v. Packers back up OL, Bailey v. LG Dietrich-Smith and Hali v. LT Newhouse
- Chiefs played more “cover 2” on the Packers final TD drive, Made sense given they had a 19-7 lead
- Rodgers again was a little tentative with his reads and throws, About the 4th consecutive game in which he was not as sharp mentally as he was earlier in the season
- Rodgers has not been as disciplined in the pocket in recent weeks as he was earlier in the season