As he prepares for the Wild Card Playoffs, NFL Matchup’s Executive Producer shares notes from his study of Week 17 coaching tape of the Packers offense vs. the Lions defense.
- Clifton was back at LT for the Packers for the first time since week 5, Newhouse started at RT
- Flynn fumbled on the first 3rd + long (3rd + 10), Nice stunt by DT Hill and DE Vanden Bosch
- Lions continued to play significant snaps of “Tampa 2”, They rely primarily on their 4 DL for pass rush
- Flynn showed the ability to improvise within structure, Ability to move outside the pocket and keep his focus downfield to deliver the ball: Nelson 18 yds on 1stquarter FG drive a great example
Jordy Nelson catches a 58-yard TD in front of Chris Houston (AP)
- Lions showed a 5 man pressure concept with Spievey the 5th rusher and “man free” behind it, They had LB Durant matched on Finley
- DT Fairley tendency to play too upright at the snap and lose leverage; Moved too easily, especially by double teams – He needs an off-season in the weight room
- Lions played significant snaps of “man free”, They put the burden on Spievey to match up to Finley
- Flynn looked poised and in command in the pocket, He played at a very comfortable tempo – He was decisive with his reads and throws, Good arm strength
- Suh not as good as he was last season, This season more solid than dominant
- Clifton only played the 1st quarter, After that Newhouse moved to LT and Lang moved to RT with Dietrich-Smith at LG
- Grant 80 yd screen TD came out of 3 WR personnel versus Lions 1st nickel zone blitz of the game, Screen to the side of the blitz – Deep safety Spievey took a bad angle to Grant
- Spievay struggled to match up to Finley in man coverage, That match up hurt the Lions on 3rd down
- Nelson 36 yd TD in the 2nd quarter was a great throw by Flynn, Gave Nelson a chance versus man coverage and corner Smith never located the ball even though he had good position
- Lions struggled playing man coverage, Gave up a lot of plays
Donald Driver reacts in front of Amari Spievey after catching a TD
- Nelson 58 yd TD came off stretch run action, Nelson ran by outside leverage corner Houston on his post route – Flynn underthrew Nelson but Nelson had beaten Houston so badly it didn’t matter
- Lions secondary can be exploited by a good passing team like the Packers, Safeties Spievey and Harris are not very good in pass coverage
- Lions play zone coverage more effectively than they play man coverage
- Jones 40 yds on 3rd + 4 on the winning TD drive was a great throw by Flynn, Jones a little bit of a “sluggo” move on Houston – Lions 2 deep shell and S Spievay jumped Flynn’s slight shoulder roll on Jones slant move inside
- Finley 4 yd winning TD was beautifully game planned, Finley shifted from LOS TE position to “x” iso matched on S Spievay
- Overall Flynn very impressive re: poise and composure in the pocket, plus decision making and consistent accuracy – He has had 2 very good games as a starter the last 2 years
