First week of NFL football is in the books! You hyped? Man, I'm hyped. So great to kick back and break down this great Packers game and...

/touches earpiece

I am now hearing that the Packers lost to the Vikings this week, and it was not the most graceful lost. I also heard that some idiots were way off in their predictions. Like this guy.

Amari Rodgers game incoming https://t.co/TjV8Gcr2Pv

— Dusty (@DustyEvely) September 10, 2022

Anyway, as with all weeks, there's always something interesting to look at. It's always a bit tough to get back into my weekly routine in week 1. Combine that with a lackluster performance and there just aren't a ton of plays I tagged to look at today. Some of that is due to the game situation as well: when you're losing by a lot, you change the way you run the passing offense and it doesn't resemble much of what you actually wanted to run. That means more 4 Verts in the second half than they would prefer. 

So, today, we're going to look at 3 plays. Two of them bad - although with interesting things to look at - and one good. We'll end with the good, because I want you to come back next week.

You ready? Too bad, because we're rolling, anyway.

Play 1: 1st & 10, 9:17 remaining in the 1st quarter

We're gonna just rip the band-aid off immediately. This is the Packers first offensive snap of the game, and they were looking to take a shot. There's not really much here in the way of scheming anything up. This is just putting two speedy receivers on the outside and saying, "Run fast." Not a winning strategy for an entire game, but if you're looking to highlight some speed early, there are worse ways to go about it.

The Packers come out in 12 personnel, with Sammy Watkins [11] and Christian Watson [9] as their receivers, both isolated on opposite sides of the field. The Vikings are showing a two-high Quarters shell pre-snap. 

At the snap, Aaron Rodgers [12] looks to Watkins on the left, but he's really reading the backside safety (Camryn Bynum [24]). Instead of dropping back into a deep coverage, Bynum shuffles to the line. That gives Rodgers a piece of information during the dropback: he's likely not looking at straight Quarters coverage. As Rodgers hits the top of his drop, he moves his eyes over to the playside safety, who is in the process of rotating back to the post. That means there's no safety help for the speedy Watson, so Rodgers loads and fires.

It's a really nice route from Watson. He bends slightly to the post to flip his defender to the inside, then steps back out and explodes down the field. He does everything he needs to do, right up until the most important part.

I love that they opened with this. They went big on the first play, and opted to show off their shiny new toy. I hope we see more of this going forward...with a different ending, of course.

Play 2: 3rd & 8, 2:44 remaining in the 1st quarter

This is the sack from Za'Darius Smith [55], so buckle up. Yes, the result was bad, but I really like this concept. The Vikings have a lot of bodies on the line, with only one defender playing over the bunch. They're looking for someone to drop off the line, but they're not sure who it will be until the ball is snapped. 

Packers are in 11 personnel, with a bunch to the left involving 2 of the 3 wide receivers. Randall Cobb [18] is the outside man, Christian Watson [9] is the middle and Robert Tonyan [85] is the inside man. 

Watson is running a clear-out route, Tonyan is running a road-paving route and Cobb is running a drag underneath. The idea is to create commotion at the release point, then have Cobb emerge from the chaos. New. Unbroken. Shiny and chrome.

At the snap, the end man on the line of scrimmage (EMOL) drops back into coverage and immediately engages with Tonyan. Tonyan is more than happy to oblige, which gives Cobb a nice, easy release. 

Eric Kendricks [54] is lurking in the middle, so Rodgers can't let this ball rip as soon as Cobb emerges. He has to check the responsibilities of Kendricks. Kendricks ends up picking up Aaron Jones [33] out of the backfield, releasing through the line and to the left. 

With Romeo Doubs [87] helping clear the right, that leaves an ocean of room for Cobb. And Rodgers sees him. It looks great. But oh wait, what's that going on with Jake Hanson [67]? He's getting bull-rushed into oblivion you say?

If Hanson is able to muscle Smith a little to the inside, Rodgers could have stepped right and delivered a strike to Cobb on the drag. Alas, that doesn't happen. Really beautiful until it wasn't.

Play 3: 1st & 10, 14:11 remaining in the 2nd quarter

Like I said, we'll end on a fun one. I'm not a monster.

One of the concepts the Packers have loved over the years is a beauty that goes by the name of All Go HB Seam. The problem with it is the same thing that becomes a problem for all beautiful concepts: eventually defenses figured out how to take it away. Such buzzkills. The Packers still found scattered success with it in 2021 (it averaged 7.6 YPA for them), but the explosive plays just weren't there. Defenses started throwing an umbrella over the concept side, so most of the yardage ended up coming from a backside route.

The concept itself is designed to flood one side of the field with three vertical routes: a crossing route from the inside, a vertical route on the outside and a seam route that splits those routes and typically comes from the backfield.

With the defense sitting over the deep routes, it seems as though the Packers are looking for different ways to attack defenses with this look. This play gives us a good look at that. Two of the routes are in-tact: Sammy Watkins [11] is running the crosser/bender from the right, while Jones runs the outside vertical route off jet motion. That leaves the seam route, which would typically be run from AJ Dillon [28] in the backfield. But they don't release him.

They show a power run look up front, with Hanson pulling across the formation and leading the way. The rest of the line is looking to downblock, including Tonyan as the in-line TE on the run side. The idea on the run would be to wall the defense off to the inside, then have Hanson as the pulling guard kick out to the run side.

All of that action triggers a reaction from the linebackers. Tonyan simply sifts his way through the flotsam and jetsam and finds the green.

Oh, that's fabulous. Utterly fantastic.
Show a power run look with Hanson pulling & have Tonyan look like like blocking down, then release him past the pulled-up LBs. pic.twitter.com/9HAiqEoMlk

— Dusty (@DustyEvely) September 13, 2022

With the defense falling back over the All Go side, there's a lot of room on the boundary for Tonyan to work with. He ends up with a cool 23 yards.

I got a little excited and did a video on this play, and why I loved it so much. So if you want some more drawings and feel like listening to me talk for a few minutes, have at it.

Thanks for joining me! Feels good to be back, even if the game itself didn't go quite as expected. For my part, I really enjoyed seeing some of the new wrinkles the Packers put into some of their core concepts this week. All offseason I've been pondering what the offense could look like. And, while it was certainly ugly at times, I like the approach. It gives me a nice sense of optimism going forward.

Albums listened to: Anathallo - Hymns; Brian Fallon - Night Divine;The Andrews Sisters - The Magic of the Andrews Sisters; The Innocence Mission - Christ is My Hope