Of Course Richard Rodgers was Supposed to Block
As it turns out, tight end Richard Rodgers was supposed to block on the Green Bay Packers’ game-winning play, Thursday night.
That’s right.
Rodgers was supposed to run down to the end zone and basically box guys out so Aaron Rodgers’ primary target, receiver Davante Adams, could make the catch.
We find this hilarious for two reasons.
First, remember the last guy who was supposed to block on a potential game-ending play and then failed to do so? I’ll give you a hint. He also played tight end.
That’s right! Your old pal Brandon Bostick in the NFC Championship game.
Bostick was supposed to block on the Seahawks onside kick attempt so Jordy Nelson could field the ball. He didn’t and you know how that turned out.
Thankfully, Thursday night’s Hail Mary worked out a little better. We do, however, find it comical that guys — specifically tight ends, it seems — still don’t execute their assignments on plays like these.
Secondly, the intended target was Davante Adams?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Man, just knowing that is grounds to fire the entire offensive staff as far as we’re concerned.
“Hey guys, we’ve got one play here, who should we go to?”
“I don’t know, Mike, but Davante sure seems like the guy with the surest hands around.”
“Great! Geterdone!”
We imagine the Hail Mary conversation went something like that.
You know, good old Sure Hands Adams. He catches everything thrown in his direction.
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When I saw the closeup of Rodgers smiling face as he was falling to the ground with the football secured to his body, I could only imagine the pure joy he was feeling in making the most improbable catch of his life. And for the first time in a long time watching my favorite team, I felt it too.
It was a jump ball but Monty just needs to complain about something.
Yeah I exploded with joy. The loudest I have gotten from a Packer win in a while. Did you see Adams behind Rodgers waiting to drop the ball?
Regardless of how bad this game was up until 0.00, last night was a vintage moment for Rodgers (and Rodgers) career. Special moments like this “can” help turn seasons around — not saying this is going to catapult Green Bay into a mid-season power run, but it certainly puts a good feeling on things moving forward.
With that being said, the next 10 days are critical for this team to get its shit together. I totally disagree with the notion that the running game needs to be established to set-up the pass. We saw the running game work to perfection against Chicago (it also worked well against SF, MIN, SD) and so far it’s done nothing to help set-up (or help) the passing game. The passing game, regardless of what’s going on with the run game, is completely broken for a number of different reasons starting with the routes being run and the plays being called. If this team wants to advance deep into the post-season the passing game needs to be fixed before the run game has a chance to truly help. The same type of stagnant play calling we saw back in the middle part of the 2012 season is repeating itself today. Poor, predictable play calling (72.5% runs called on 1st and 10), broken isolation routes, zero creativity, no separation, porous offensive line play, etc. is crippling this team.
Forget about the run game, the offense needs a makeover within the next 10 days to get the passing game fixed. Instead of running isolation routes where the receiver is dependant to beat man-on-man coverage (which clearly hasn’t worked all year) it’s time to start thinking about running more short quick crossing patterns over the middle, back-side slants, more screens to the RB, increased usage of go routes, play action, bootlegs (I saw two play actions called on Thursday night, two!). There are so many different ways to get Randall Cobb the ball in space and McCarthy, Clements and co. have yet to implement anything other than short 4 yr out patterns. If receivers can’t break man-on-man coverage you have to start sending them across the middle of the field where they need to start crossing with other receivers, short and quick routes (The 16 yard completion to Cobb on 4th and 1 was a perfect design — where has that been?). It’s no so much the personnel as it is the scheme. New England, Denver, San Diego and even Detroit run these types of schemes. James Jones, Davante Adams and Cobb have proven they cannot beat man coverage this season, they just can’t. The scheme needs to change in order for this team to have a chance.
This all started back in 2012. Opposing defenses started playing two deep safeties and dropping five men into coverage to stop the over the top passing attack Rodgers and co. has established in 2010, 2011. Defensive coordinators were daring McCarthy to run and when he tried force feeding Starks, DuJuan Harris or Alex Green it resulted in wasted plays and negative yardage. That all changed when Green Bay brought in Eddie Lacy — opposing defenses had to move up and play closer to the line of scrimmage and the end result was a return to the top offensive game in the league. Now, defensive coordinators have taken it a step further and are pressing the receivers at the line of scrimmage and playing predominant man-on-man press coverage and McCarthy has yet to adjust to this. The only way to break this is to adjust your offensive scheme and stop running isolation routes. The entire passing game is built around the receiver winning one-on-one matchups, the Packers have drafted to this type of design for years. Fast, athletic, outside type receivers who run good routes and can beat man on man coverage (Jordy Nelson, Greg Jennings, James Jones, Donald Driver) could all beat man-on-man coverage (in their primes). The problem here is that Davante Adams, Ty Montgomery, Jeff Janis and Jared Abbrederis can’t pickup for the loss that Nelson and the unsurprising porous play of James Jones have created. McCarthy has instead insisted on “force feeding” Davante Adams (as he’s almost always Option A in these schemes) and he has responded with absolutely abysmal play. It doesn’t help that Green Bay leads the league in dropped passes and that the offensive line is once again completely depleted. These are all factors but instead of just running the same shit over and over and over again — McCarthy MUST find a way to overhaul his scheme within the next 10 days or it’ll be another early round playoff exit.
Please send to MM right away. Spot on
Colt Lyerla would have caught it. We would have at least 2 more wins if we had Colt.
Colt Lyeria :: Dolt Hysteria
Yes! Colt Lyerla FTW! He will come from the bowels of a B league American rugby team to rescue the Packers and take them to Super Bow glory! He’s so good that every professional football team on the continent overlooked him. Love. It.
PackAttack, nice post. I agree.
I totally disagree with the notion that the running game needs to be established to set-up the pass. We saw the running game work to perfection against Chicago (it also worked well against SF, MIN, SD) and so far it’s done nothing to help set-up (or help) the passing game. The passing game, regardless of what’s going on with the run game, is completely broken for a number of different reasons starting with the routes being run and the plays being called. If this team wants to advance deep into the post-season the passing game needs to be fixed before the run game has a chance to truly help.
-PackAttack
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This, all of this.
How was RR supposed to block. He is slow so would andwas late near the end zone, hence the catch:)
Yeah lets have a guy who can’t catch a cold who is only 6′ tall be our intended receiver for this hail mary, instead of a guys who’s 6’4″ and has the best hands on the team. I don’t get the infatuation with Adams. I couldn’t believe it when I heard Rodgers was actually throwing to him on that play.
actually it looked to me like he was throwing with all his might just to get it to the endzone 70 yards away!
hence the longest hail mary winning TD pass in human history.
Not in human history, brah. Circa 1983, with the game on the line, my brother threw me a hail mary with one of those nerf balls with the tail fin. I had to cross into the neighbor’s cornfield to catch it. Pretty sure that was at least 75 yards.
LMFAO Colt Lyerla. Get a clue. Leave the armchair GM responsibility to someone like myself who studies the draft like a religion and has more often than not been correct on predicting professional outcomes of players turning pro.
Take for example my top 3 WRs in 2014
#1 Sammy Watkins
#2 Odell Beckham
#3 Allen Robinson (picked by the Jags several picks after the Packers selected Davante Adams.
Not saying I wouldn’t have addressed a different position in RD2 that year, but at least my board by position was correct.
Take 2013 draft for example. We picked Eddie Lacy in Rd2 and while I wasn’t dissatisfied with that pick, I really was clamoring for a TE from Cincinnati who goes by the name Travis Kelce who went to the Chiefs just a couple of picks later.
So, if I was GM, you’d have Allen Robinson and Travis Kelce on the team. Better than Davante and Lacy?
LOL ok Packers. I know Hail Mary’s are usually extended by a scrambling QB, but Richard Rodgers and his 8.9 40 was supposed to get to the end zone 60 yards down field and block for Davante Adams? What fucking rocket scientist came up with that one?
Why is it not surprising that despite a 12 second play Richard Rodgers was still making his way to the end zone from the 10 when the ball started its downward flight to the end zone……