The Packers left a few chances on the field in Week 7, and two of the biggest showed up in the passing game. One came on a 4th-and-4 look in the second quarter. The other was the final offensive snap of the game, a 3rd-and-5 chance with the score tied at 17-17.
Start with the fourth down. Green Bay came out in 11 personnel and lined up in a Quad Bunch Nub formation, with Pierre Strong as the inside man in the bunch and Matthew Golden tucked into the backfield.
The Packers didn’t shift or motion at all. They got to the line, Jordan Love took a quick look, and they snapped it fast, trying to catch the Lions in the middle of communication.
The route concept was a Mesh variation. Tucker Kraft and Pierre Strong crossed on drag routes, Savion Williams ran a drag before settling into a Sit route, Christian Watson worked a corner, and Golden leaked to the flat.
In a standard Mesh, the vertical route is the first look, then the crossing routes, then the flat. Here, though, the bunch was part of the design.
The idea was to create traffic and give Golden a clean window on the outside.
That put DJ Reed in the spotlight. Love was reading him at the snap, and at first it looked like Reed might get pinned by the traffic and leave Golden open. Instead, Reed slipped through it cleanly, stayed on pace, and drove right down on Golden.
It was a strong defensive rep. If Reed gets even a slight bump, the play probably turns into a touchdown.
If Love holds the ball just a beat longer, he may be able to see Reed break and come off the throw. From there, Strong might have been available late, but by that point he would have been the fifth read, which makes that recovery tough.
There’s another version of the concept that is even better, at least in my book. It keeps the same basic idea but puts Golden away from the bunch and sends him through the line, usually through the B gap.
It adds a little more clutter for the defense to sort out. It also brings more moving parts for the offense, including a slightly longer setup and the risk of the line getting pushed back into the release point.
Still, it’s a beautiful play, and one I like a lot.
The last Packers snap of the day came much later, with 3:30 left in the fourth quarter. It was 3rd-and-5, the game was tied 17-17, and Green Bay was again in 11 personnel. This time they showed bunch right, with the running back aligned away from the bunch, while the Lions presented a single-high safety look and a crowded line.
Before the snap, Kraft shifted wide, leaving Watson and Golden stacked just outside the right hash. The right-side concept had a shallow crossing element between Golden and Kraft, with Watson running a corner over the top. On the left side, Josh Jacobs motioned out at the snap, giving himself outside leverage on his defender.
At first glance, it looked like Jacobs and Savion Williams might be part of Arches, a concept the Packers like in this situation. But Jacobs made a little shake and then released vertically, while Williams released vertically to the inside. Jacobs was the alert on the play, meaning Love could take him at the top of the drop if the look was right, or ignore him after the initial post-snap check.
That look was right. With the Lions staying in single-high, and with Jacobs already holding the outside leverage advantage, Love went to the vertical shot. The Lions’ coverage left the shorter stuff on the right side crowded and muddy, so the ball went to Jacobs.
Green Bay had already found him on a couple of choice routes earlier in the game, and the defense had to have those in mind. In the second quarter, they hit Jacobs on an Angle route off the Texas concept. Early in the third, he caught an out route and scored on it.
This time, Derrick Moore had solid coverage downfield, but Jacobs’ hesitation at the break point gave him just enough separation. Love put the ball up and dropped it into the bucket. Moore may have gotten a fingertip to it, but Jacobs had both hands on the pass and still couldn’t haul it in.
It was a lot like the route Jacobs ran against the Broncos last year, the one that ended in a touchdown. The difference here was the catch. That part didn’t happen.
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