When Aaron Rodgers talks, it’s wise to listen. His pressers and interviews are as insightful and interesting as you will find in the NFL. He is a never ending source of football theory and understanding.
In the wake of the disaster against the Jets, Rodgers made one thing very clear. Green Bay must simplify things.
But what exactly does that mean? Don’t ask Matt LaFleur.
The truth is, I think Matt Lafleur knows exactly what that means. This isn’t the first time Rodgers has asked for simplification.
Rodgers loves and respects Matt Lafleur. But that doesn’t mean the two are necessarily an ideal match for one another. Matt Lafleur is new school. He’s all Sean Mcvay and Kyle Shanahan. He values scheme and motion and keeping the defense off-balance. Aaron Rodgers is old-school. He’s a huge believer in the West Coast style offense. He wants to see the defense, understand the defense, and then make a play against the defense.
On Pardon My Take just two months ago, Rodgers explained exactly how he feels offense should be played.
On Tuesdays episode of the Pat McAfee show Rodgers further explained that he doesn’t necessarily need a swing to a different style of offense despite his love for the West Coast, he just needs things that the guys he’s on offense with can handle.
“The point was if we’re not executing those plans, which to be honest they’re not the most complex things the majority of the time, then the only slight reaction might be to even simplify things even further. That doesn’t mean less motions or checks at the line of scrimmage. It just means let’s make sure these guys can handle what we’re doing. It was really an alert for our players. We need to lock in a little bit more and simplify things in our own mind. Even the most complex plays can be simplified in our mind. We just need to be better in the details. The details have not been good enough.”
This is not a shot at his teammates. Once again history shows this is a long-standing belief of Rodgers. Last January while discussing how to succeed as a young quarterback Rodgers once again discussed simplification.
You see, this isn’t a moody quarterback throwing shade at his coach like the national sports media would like you to think. Aaron is always very careful to applaud and celebrate Lafleur while also stating his beliefs. This is just one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time standing next to the ideas he’s had for years about how the game should be played.
Others are saying the exact same thing. Dan Orlovsky, who is one of the few sane voices on ESPN, was busy saying the exact same thing on Monday mornings Get Up.
So I think it’s important to clarify they wanted Davante Adams back. It wasn’t like they wanted to trade him. They tried to keep him. He wanted out. Second of all, right now they are calling their offense like they still have Davante Adams. And that would be my point with Matt Lafleur…Is they haven’t made an adjustment. He’s dropped back 191 times this year and went under center 35 times. So right now you’re calling an offense like you have a superstar on the outside. You don’t and that is fair. That’s why they need to turn that and go way more under center. Utilize play-action way more from underneath there. Because that…when you don’t have dudes on the outside who are one-on-one whoop guys you have to create the voids for them. You do that by play action pass. Play action is way more impactful from underneath than it is in the gun. So their philosophy has to change from calling plays with Davante to it without Davante.
The benefit of gaining some momentum offensively cannot be understated. First from a defensive standpoint, it’s hard to be aggressive when you’re playing from behind and losing the time of possession battle. This is a defense that thrives on an ability to attack. You can’t attack when you feel like your offense isn’t there to support you. Joe Barry absolutely deserves all the criticism he’s received, but sometimes a defenses best friend is a decent offense.
Secondly, it would seem the Packers best playmaker stands to benefit from a simplification. Quit with all the cute sh!@ and give Aaron Jones the ball. Two years ago people were discussing Jones on the same level as Alvin Kamara and Dalvin Cook. As much as I love AJ Dillon, the more time Jones can spend on the field and the more touches he gets, the better the Packers will be. It’s simple. Hand Jones the ball. Throw Jones the ball. Hand Jones the ball. Play action pass down the field.
Aaron has been saying it for quite some time now and he’s absolutely right. Simplify the offense, simplify the young players responsibilities, and just go out and beat teams. Surely Matt Lafleur knows exactly what that means.
