The Green Bay Packers are planning to play faster on offense this season, which means less substitutions and more plays, according to Rob Demovsky.
We’d point to Chip Kelly’s Philadelphia Eagles as the model for such an offense, but despite all of the hullaballoo about Kelly’s offensive genius, the Eagles did not run the most plays in the NFL last year. You get the picture though.
The Packers are harping on the fact that they want their skill position players to be three-down guys. That will limit the need for subs and allow the offense to keep the pressure on opposing defenses. It will also allow the Packers to run more no-huddle.
“I’ve always been of the belief of getting as many shots as you can, so we’ve always emphasized playing as fast as you can. When you have as many three-down players as you can possibly have, obviously your substitution patterns are cleaner. You’re not subbing because you have to, you’re subbing just when you need to,” McCarthy said.
That’s great for the offense and will probably make for some really fun games to watch. What no one seems to be talking about is what affect that’s going to have on the Packers defense.
Last season, that unit couldn’t get off the field when it needed to. If the offense is running faster, they’ll spend less time on the field. The defense will be on the field more, unless they can stop teams quickly and we don’t have a lot of faith in that happening.
That makes for a tired defense at the end of games. And unless the Packers are up by 30 points, that’s likely to be a problem.
We’re sure there will be adjustments. The Packers can always go back to pounding the ball with Eddie Lacy to eat clock if this fast break offense doesn’t work.
If it does, the Packers could very much start to resemble the New England Patriots or dare we say, the Denver Broncos.
I bet Raji is thrilled to read this news. My guess is McCarthy wants less substitutes during series so the opposing defense cannot substitute. It may not mean running more plays just dictating the defensive players on the field. It is all about match ups. I just hope (and so does Raji) there are not to many three and outs when we run the so called fast break offense.
I thought the Packers had some kind of drill they were talking about a couple years ago where there was some kind of horn blown every 7 seconds or whatever to get them to run their offense faster…? But this time they mean it?
First of all…GB offense doesn’t play slow?!
Am i wrong?
Eddie Lacy will be key to this model. His size and strength act as a battering ram that will wear out opponent’s defensive line and pass rush. That type of “hammer” style running back has been aptly described as trying to catch a falling sofa every time he takes the ball. A regular dose of that hammer will wear them down, which will only be exacerbated by a faster of succession of plays. That’s when Rodgers opens it up. The Packers will be on the rise after a couple of down years.
I’m no MM mind reader, but I’m guessing “playing fast” doesn’t necessarily mean scoring quickly and leaving your D on the field to hold down the score/win the game. If your offense doesn’t have to deal with substitutions, it can get in and out of the huddle efficiently and execute lots of plays. Over the course of a game, that could mean many quick-strike, first down plays that chew up the clock, big-strike TD passes, or any combination thereof.
To run more plays, first you need to have the ball!
and get first downs.
It is the defense that needs to play faster.
The offense needs to worry less about creating match-ups and more about simply beating the guy across from them.
Instead of trying to create match-up via playing fast, how about simply fielding an offense that the defense can’t match up with?
Damn, I cannot stand your “opinions” iltarion. You, sir, are not very smart. Its like you just type just to see that you wrote a comment. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, your name should be “ildiot”. Ted are you talking about, don’t worry about match-ups. Please don’t answer that, I don’t want to see another one of your “opinions”.
Do you really dispute that the defense needs more speed, and needs to improve all? Wow. ….
The defense not only needs more speed they need to be much more aggressive. The defense needs to attack just like most offenses do. Forget about the DL standing flat footed defending their two gaps. Shot the gaps more often, hit the running back on the way to knocking the QB on his ass, jamb the receivers like Al Harris, quit thinking so much, be unpredictable, and be aggressive. That will help the defensive speed.
Wtf* I meant instead of the word ted
Wtf* I meant instead of the word ted
The last line in McCarthy’s quote makes no sense.
Yup, think he meant “…subbing when you want too.”