I’ve got plans this offseason, man. Some of those are football related, and some are not. The new Texas Chain Saw Massacre just dropped. I’m finally watching Ozark. I bought Red Dead Redemption 2. I’m trying to go to bed at a reasonable hour (emphasis on “trying”).
But I also have football plans, because there is something wrong with me. I tend to treat the offseason as a bit of continuing education. Read some books, watch some clinics and watch film on teams around the league to see what they’re running offensively. Basically, do all the things I wish I had time to do in-season.
Of course, I’m also looking back on the Packers season. In this case, I needed to go back and chart the Packers first couple of games; to tag their passing concepts for an analysis a little later in the offseason. Of course, part of the reason I do this is just to remind myself of some of the plays/moments I’ve forgotten throughout the course of the season. The season is long, and the moments that happen later obviously stick in my head more than the moments that happened earlier. There are so many fun moments throughout the season and I don’t want my feeling on the entire season driven by what happened in the final game. It’s a fun exercise and I truly enjoy doing it every year.
So that is how I found myself watching the Packers/Lions Week 2 game on a Tuesday night. After getting drubbed by the Saints in Jacksonville in Week 1, we didn’t really know what this game - this home-opener - would hold. But the Packers showed that week 1 game to be a fluke and ended up beating the Lions 35-17 in this game, shutting out the Lions in the 2nd half in the process. It’s a game I was thrilled to be at with some good friends.
The play that put the Packers ahead for good game early in the 3rd quarter, with Rodgers uncorking a perfect laser to Tonyan in the middle of the field. So I posted it to Twitter.
The response was mainly good, but I did get a couple along the lines of “why didn’t he throw it to Lazard?” And it’s a valid question, especially considering that the Packers’ final offensive play of the 2021 season involved Rodgers chucking a ball to a double-covered Adams while Lazard was open in the middle of the field. I talked at length about that play, but I wanted to revisit the topic.
In this video, I walk through the play concept, the defensive coverage and the pre-snap read that determined the progression for Rodgers on this play.