Packers’ Self Scout Reveals The Obvious
Well, by god! Gravy Head has finally figured it out! The Green Bay Packers will be running the ball more often from now on.
We will, of course, believe that when we see it. However, coach Mike McCarthy trotted himself out on Monday and proclaimed a commitment to the running game.
The Packers use the bye week to “self scout.” Meaning, they analyze their deficiencies and figure out what they need to do differently. The big thing? Run the football more.
“The run game needs attempts, that’s really the biggest thing coming out of the self scout,” McCarthy said.
Hmmmm… really?
We’ve been hammering the Packers for most of the season for not running the football. We are certainly not alone in doing so. Primarily and obviously, the Packers need to get the ball in Aaron Jones’ hands more often.
Jones is averaging 5.9 yards per carry. Yet, he has only 32 carries in the four games he’s played. Those carries break down as follows: 6, 11, 7 and 8.
It is, quite frankly, amazing that the Packers haven’t utilized Jones more. It is, quite frankly, amazing that Buffoon has just realized the Packers need to run more. Did he watch any film prior to the bye? Was he at any of those games his team played in?
It’s still going to be all about throwing the football, of course.
“When you throw the football, especially normal down and distance, you want to be higher in action pass than in dropback,” McCarthy said. “The action pass is where you want to do a better job.”
McCarthy has talked about the importance of running the ball before. How the Packers needed to do it more often. And typically, that has turned out to be lip service.
McCarthy says the Packers are going to run the ball more. Then they do nothing of the sort.
We would like to think this time will be different. The weapon is there in Jones.
And this is the perfect week to surprise everyone. The Packers travel to face the undefeated Rams in Los Angeles. What’s the best way to derail the type of potent offense the Rams have?
Control the clock. Own the time of possession.
How do you do that?
You run the damn football effectively.
What will be interesting to see is if McCarthy finally just goes with his best option in Jones. Or will he stick with Jamaal Williams and Ty Montgomery? Both of those guys have gotten more snaps in the Packers’ last two games than Jones.
That’s crazy in and of itself. So perhaps this week we’ll know if McCarthy has any inkling about running the football or if he just likes to tell you he does.
There is one glaring issue, though. We can’t simply run it more. As it’s being done, if we run it more, we punt more. We get a lot of runs stuffed at the line. This OL does not win consistently enough against DLs-LBs to convert a 3rd and 1-2 yds. And yet, we think we are the 49ers of 2012 or the 2014-2016 Cowboys, that we can simply run it up the gut and expect 4yds. More often than not, we get stuffed. Without the element of deception, we are at a disadvantage. We need their defense to figure out what’s coming (inside run, outside run, short pass to the RB, lead blocker and RB through the same hole, lead blocker faking to another hole, end around and WR or TE setting an edge against incoming LBs, RB/WR-end-around/pass option, whatever makes the defense hesitate a little).
Assuming we start showing some variety with the runs, then there’s the issue of who carries the ball. Even doing all the above, we may still lose to the defense in some of those attempts, so it’s in the RB’s hands to break a tackle or make a guy miss. And Jones is orders of magnitude better at that than Williams and Montgomery. You may chose to hammer them with Williams when their defense starts getting tired and have a tough time bringing him down, with him stealing some yards through contact in the process. When they are fresh, defenses have shown they can stuff Williams, putting us in disadvantageous 3rd and longs.
Summarizing:
1) use misdirection and deception
2) Use Jones at first (maybe Montgomery, creating mismatches if the opportunity arises).
3) If for some reason we want to spare Jones, do so after the mid third quarter, when tired defenses will need more work to bring down a heavier guy (that will be pretty rested if we followed the above steps).
And let’s not forget we have a credible long-passing threat in Rodgers, so defenses can’t simply crowd the box and relax.
Does anyone else lose their mind when Mike runs the ball non stop to close out a one score game? Mike.. the clock says 3:57.. you need a few first downs.
Like when they’re 5:00 minutes away from the Super Bowl and McCarthy predictably runs fat Lacey directly up the middle into a congested line three fucking times in a row? No, doesn’t bother me at all :/
Lacy. How can someone throw away so much money. Drop the fork for a decade and get filthy rich. What a dumb ass.
Fat Mike says we need to run the ball. He’d better tell that to the dumb ass calling the plays. Who is that guy,Mikey?
Why doesn’t McCarthy just…call it a day already.
Just retire.
Say your goodbyes, go to KFC, order a 15 pc. bucket, 2 Lrg. mashed, 2 large gravy, some wings, corn, beans, 10 cookies and a large diet coke and call it a day..
We can run more effectively if we put someone in constant motion with a hand off, flat pass, quick slants, misdirection, and runs. Watch the chiefs offensive schemes MM!!
Self Scouting. What a load of crap. That’s like me saying im going to quit masturbating. Until I actually do it and stick to it its just a fantasy.
Lol! Yep!
Skinny….I have no idea why, but The Lonely Boy asked me if i knew where you lived. Just figured a “heads up” is in order.
Lmao