Early on in training camp, it was clear that the Green Bay Packers’ versatility on offense was going to be one of their strengths. In their Week 1 matchup with Chicago, the versatility was on display almost instantly.
From a personnel standpoint, we saw two running back sets, two tight end sets, three tight end sets, and three and four wide receivers being utilized. Before halftime, two running backs, three tight ends, and five receivers had all seen playing time.
Buy Packers TicketsBen Fennell took it a step further by pointing out that no one in Week 1 put more formations and run schemes on film than what the Packers did.
“That’s a credit to Matt (LaFleur) and Steno (Adam Stenavich),” said Jordan Love on Wednesday. “They come up with some great schemes every week to stress the defense out. Make them play different defenses and give them different looks. We’re trying to make everything look similar, whether it’s run or pass, play-action. It makes it harder for the defense. They have to look at more film, they have to study more looks and have a plan for it.”
Having this type of versatility, where players can handle a wide variety of responsibilities, throughout the skill position groups allows LaFleur to achieve best achieve that ‘illusion of complexity’ we’ve often heard him refer to. In short, having this ability allows the Packers to run a variety of plays from just a few personnel groupings, along with having like-plays – as Love references above – that look and begin similarly, but end up quite different.
The end result when executed well is confusion and chaos for the defense and put them in less than ideal situations. Pre-snap, defenses aren’t able to key in on what they play is what certain player responsibilities might be, given that there are so many potential outcomes. Then as the play is unfolding, having this element creates mismatches and can put pass catchers in space.
“Although it may look like we have the same personnel grouping to a defense,” said LaFleur on Wednesday, “we call it something a little bit different in terms of who we are putting into the game for specific jobs or trying not to overload certain individuals so they feel good about what the plan is and what they’re being asked to do. But that can change on a weekly basis.”
Putting that many looks in front of a defense not only helps on Sunday’s but as opponents watch film throughout the week, it also makes it more difficult for defenses to key in on what this Packers offense is going to do from a week-to-week game planning standpoint as well.
As Love mentioned while at his locker, having a variety of plays on film from a number of different looks means that there is more film for defenses to watch and potential outcomes that they now have to plan for. For an inexperienced offense this can be a huge advantage, given that defenses will want to takeaway what the Packers do well and put them in position to make mistakes, which becomes more challenging to do when there is so much to account for.
If you put all of that together, the trickle-down effect is that it hopefully takes some of the playmaking burden off of the quarterback’s shoulders and has the potential to create explosive play situations for the skill position players.
Overall, the Packers offense had a very sound performance Week 1. The next step is to do it again, while also having to counter whatever adjustments upcoming opponents might throw their way. But the Packers are putting a lot on those defensive coordinators’ plates, and for all we know, they could go in a completely different direction the next time they are on the field because with their versatility , they have the ability to do so.
