Green Bay Packers

Packers Should Simplify the Game Plan On A Short Week

Photo Credit: Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Around 7 p.m. this past Sunday evening, the Green Bay Packers were wrapping up a decisive win against the San Francisco 49ers. After the win, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur was already preparing for a short week to face the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night.

LaFleur emphasized to reporters as he was wrapping up the press conference that he was “going to go right back to my office, watch the (49ers) game, and put the game to bed. Then, over the bye week for me, I watched pretty much every snap of Miami, knowing this was coming. So, I made my notes, kind of had a preliminary play for that.”

The short week is a challenge for any team. You wrap up a late-window prime-time game by 7 p.m. Sunday, if you are lucky. Then coaches will often stay overnight to study the game tape, note corrections that need to be made, and study the opposing team’s film to prepare a game plan for the week. They need to do all that by the next day. It’s essentially like cramming for a final exam.

On Monday, you install the game plan and assess your team’s health. Then, on Tuesday and Wednesday, you walk through the game plan for Thursday night. It’s essentially a week of NFL football put into hyper-speed. Ultimately, it forces most teams to simplify their game plan and focus on what they’re confident they can execute effectively.

For the Packers, it likely means a focus on the run game. LaFleur mentioned it as much after an outstanding running game against the 49ers, saying, “We may have to lean on those guys (running backs) a little bit more next game in a couple games here.”

With the short week and the condensed preparation timeline, I’d imagine the Packers will focus on the nuts and bolts of their run and pass game.

In the run game, it’ll likely mean a heavy dose of Josh Jacobs chugging downhill between the tackles, with a rotation of Chris Brooks and Emanuel Wilson to spell him. Per NFL Pro, Jacobs has rushed between the tackles on 62.4% of his carries, the highest rate of his career and the sixth-highest rate in the NFL this season.

The Packers will likely lean on Jacobs against Miami’s stout run defense, which has given up the ninth-fewest rush yards per game. If they can get Miami to commit more bodies in the box, the hope is that it opens up the play-action passing game. However, if the Dolphins force Green Bay into more of a passing-game script, the lynchpin of the game likely shifts to the trenches.

According to NFL Pro, Jordan Love has completed only 40.5% of his passes when pressured, the third-lowest in the NFL. The Dolphins, especially rookie Chop Robinson, have been on fire lately in rushing the passer.

Similarly, Green Bay’s offensive line has been the picture of consistency in protection. The Packers have had the same starting five offensive linemen (Quay WalkerElgton JenkinsJosh MyersSean RhyanZach Tom) for 73.3% of their team’s snaps, the fourth-highest mark in the NFL. Additionally, the Packers are eighth in the league in pass-block win rate.

If the Packers can keep Love clean, I imagine they’ll be able to move the ball efficiently. In the passing game, I could see the Packers tend to opt for more quick-moving designed plays rather than long-developing routes to help mitigate Miami’s pass rush.

On a Thanksgiving Day game, it seems fitting that the Packers lean into the run and play a more traditional, physical brand of football. Hopefully, this will allow some simple play-action effectiveness in the game, and Green Bay can finally secure Jordan Love a turkey leg.

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