Cosell’s Watching the Divisionals: What Went Wrong with Packers Offense

NFL Matchup’s Executive Producer shares notes from his study of Divisional Weekend coaching tape: Packers offense vs. Giants defense. 

• Giants 1^st play they had “big nickel” personnel on the field versus Packers “12” personnel with TE Finley and Crabtree, Boley and Blackburn were the LB in the “big nickel”
• Packers 1^st possession ending in a FG began with Grant 19 yds then followed with 6 consecutive passes
• Packers 1^st drive predominantly featured “12” personnel with Finley and Crabtree on the field

• Rodgers missed wide open Jennings on 3^rd + 8 to end 1^stseries, He threw the ball to Jennings wrong shoulder; Rodgers movement had broken down the discipline of the Giants secondary coverage – It would have been a TD
• Rolle was again the Giants slot corner in their regular nickel versus the Packers 3 WR personnel, Williams again was the nickel LB with Boley
• Giants played “big nickel” to Packers “20” personnel with FB Kuhn in the game
• Giants did a good job re-routing slot receivers, Disrupted timing of the Packers pass game; It was one reason Rodgers ran the ball so many times – You force Rodgers to run you win that down even if he gets a 1^st down
• “12” and “20” were the featured personnel packages for the Packers on their first 2 possessions
• Rodgers not as sharp mentally as he needed to be, A few misreads (throwing to the wrong receiver) that prevented big plays and possibly touchdowns
• Giants were consistently physical with the Packers receivers, especially on the inside
• Kuhn 8 yd TD catch came out of straight “I” formation; Play action impacted Kiwanuka, who was responsible for Kuhn out of the backfield

• Kiwanuka did not play that many snaps in this game, In fact his snap count had gone down dramatically in the last 3 games – Only about 20 snaps per game in the last 3 games
• Giants a lot of single high safety coverage concepts with lurk elements to take away Rodgers between-the-numbers throws, Rodgers outstanding with seam throws and in-breaking throws
• Packers did not have a committed or effective run game after Grant 19 yds on the 1^st play of the game
• Rodgers left some plays on the field, Had Jennings wide open down the seam in the 2^nd quarter and did not pull the trigger – Could have been a TD
• Overall Rodgers played a little fast at times, Not as comfortable as I’ve seen him
• Blackburn has become a very important part of the Giants defense, He played almost 50 snaps versus the Packers
• Crabtree bad drop on 3^rd + 7 in Giants territory in the 2^nd quarter, Ended a promising drive that likely would have led to points
• Giants pass rush became a factor as the game progressed, Started closing down the pocket gradually, Less functional space for Rodgers
• Giants continued to utilize Tuck in a roving 2 point stance in their nickel sub-package; Often did that out of “Nascar” personnel, with Umenyiora, Pierre-Paul and Kiwanuka on the field
• Boley sack near the end of the 1^st half came out of “Nascar” personnel; “2 man” coverage with Boley responsible for Starks in coverage, Boley rushed forcing Starks to block him, Boley blew up Starks

• Giants corners played very well in man coverage, Many times Packers WR were not open
• Amukamara started the 2^nd half at RCB for the Giants, with Ross inside over the slot; Rolle was out of the game for a few snaps – Ross became the 3^rd safety in the “big nickel”
• Rodgers inaccurate on open seam throw to Jennings on Packers 1^st possession of the 2^nd half
• Giants at times matched up Boley on Finley in their man coverage concepts
• DT Joseph again stood out on film, A very good run defender
• There was no rhythm or continuity to the Packers pass game, Offense became a series of random individual plays
• Umenyiora knocking the ball out of Rodgers hands on 1^st possession of 2^nd half was game’s biggest play, Jennings wide open on “sluggo” versus Webster – Would have been an easy TD

• Giants very effective when they played “2 man” coverage, They played it out of nickel and matched Boley on Finley – Packers never exploited the matchup
• Starks 29 yds in 3^rd quarter came out of “12” personnel with TE Crabtree and Taylor versus Giants 4-3 – Giants did not play many snaps of 4-3
• Packers did not make plays versus Giants man coverage, That was a critical element in the game
• Amukamara played significant snaps at RCB in place of Ross in the 2^nd half, Ross was back at RCB in the 4^th quarter
• Newhouse played significant snaps at LT in place of Clifton in the 2^nd half
• Rodgers inaccurate throw to wide open Finley on 3^rd + 5 early in the 4^th quarter, An accurate throw and Finley had a lot of running room – Big missed opportunity in a 20-13 game
• Packers backs inability to pass protect was a deciding factor in this game
• Giants edge pressure had a significant impact on Rodgers as the game progressed
• Giants played softer zone coverage concepts on Packers 4^th quarter TD drive, They were trading yards for time with a 30-13 lead
• Driver 16 yd TD in the 4^th quarter was an unbelievable seam throw by Rodgers, He almost had no window with Boley trailing Driver down the seam

• Overall a very good performance by the Giants defense, Excellent combination of pressure and coverage – Rodgers did leave some plays on the field