Packers quarterback Jordan Love had one of the highest quarterback ratings in NFL playoff history inside Jerry World in Green Bay’s demolition of the No. 2 seed Cowboys, and two schematic concepts were at the core of this unbelievable effort.
Before I begin, I’m compelled to praise the Packers offensive line. While quarterback is the most vital position in football, I remain a firm believer that it all starts up front. And when I write “it” I mean — offensive success in any shape or form.
Love had a perfect passer rating against 10 Cowboys blitzes — 8 of 10 for 158 yards with three touchdowns and no picks — and faced pressure on just seven of his 21 drop backs. While a 33.3% pressure rate isn’t incredibly low, the Cowboys did lead the NFL with a 45.1% pressure-generation rate during the regular season. Oh, and Love was sacked zero times at Dallas.
Extra order of cheese curds to Green Bay’s big men in the trenches after this one.
Now for the schematic masterclass from Matt LaFleur. He and Love first aggressively worked the middle of the field, mostly to Romeo Doubs, with a deep dig against the Cowboys two-deep safety zone shell.
In fact, Love’s first completion of the game featured one of the more open receivers you’ll see in the playoffs — foreshadowing for the Packers pass game against the Cowboys. In a second-and-13 situation, Dallas’s coverage dropped into a soft Cover 4 look, with the two outside corners responsible for the outside quarters of the field and two safeties assigned to the two inside quarters of the field.
LaFleur sent sizable wideout Christian Watson, who was positioned in the slot at the snap, down the middle. He ran directly between the two deep safeties. On that side of the field, Doubs started by running a boundary vertical.
Watch what he did at about 20 yards past the line of scrimmage.
Breaking to the inside when everyone on the Cowboys defense was convinced Doubs was also running a vertical, meant no one was there to account for him in the middle of the field, with the two deep safeties justifiably concerned with Watson screaming down the seam. Oh, and Aaron Jones running a quick comeback out of the backfield occupied the underneath linebacker. What’s funny here — Love was pressured and didn’t see Doubs in rhythm. Didn’t matter Love was a little late. Doubs was that wide open.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? That…
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