Paul Bretl | 11/16/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — As the Packers offense searches for more consistency in the second half of the season, their play-action game can be an important part of that equation.
The marrying of the run and passing games is an important element of the Matt LaFleur offense and helps create that ‘illusion of complexity’ that we’ve heard him refer to in the past. In short, this keeps defenses off-balanced and guessing by running like-plays–or plays that start the same but end up quite different–along with being able to run a variety of plays from just a few personnel packages.
However, through the first half of the season, we haven’t seen the Packers find the same effectiveness that they did in 2023 when utilizing play-action. According to PFF, Jordan Love’s completion percentage off play-action is actually 3.5 percent lower than his overall hit rate, which ranks 38th out of 41 quarterbacks. In terms of usage rate, Love went from ranking 11th last season in percent of dropbacks being play-action throws to now being 28th in that category.
So what goes into making a play-action pass successful?
That obviously begins with a good run game that forces the defenders to bite on the run-action component of the play, helping to open up those opportunities in the passing game.
“Just getting our run game started,” said Sean Rhyan of being effective off of play-action. “It’s all predicated off of that and once you get the run game started it opens up your whole playbook because then if the other team knows you can run the ball on them, obviously they’re more aware about stopping the run. We could always drop back to pass all day, but to run the ball well in this league is hard.”
For the offensive line, there is some selling that takes place. While the run-action part of the play is unfolding, depending on the play-call and how the linebackers respond, the line wants to give the impression that they are run-blocking and trying to move the defender, rather than letting the defenders come to them as if they were pass protecting.
“We want to, depending off our play-action and how the linebackers play,” added Rhyan, “we want to sell it a little bit more than we normally would. But we also say don’t sacrifice run sell for protection. If you’re going to put yourself in a compromising position just to get a run sell don’t do it because at the end of the day you still have to keep the pocket and let J-Love throw.”
Once the run-action is complete, it’s about forming that pocket around the quarterback, just like on any other passing play. As already mentioned, if effective, a defender or two may have creeped up thinking a running play was unfolding. From a route running standpoint, there will often be a deep route or two as part of the play-design to either catch the safety off-guard and playing the run, or to at least create space underneath for the short and intermediate routes to operate in.
“Obviously the run game but then you’ve got your protections, always starts there,” said Adam Stenavich on play-action. “And then just having the receivers to stretch the field and create that space between the second and third levels, with whatever you’re trying to do.
“And a lot of times you’re not going to get the premier look that you want, so just checking it down to your playmakers whether that be Josh (Jacobs) or Tucker (Kraft), you’ve seen those guys make a ton of plays when they just catch a short underneath route and make an explosive gain off of that.”
So when it comes being successful off of play-action, it would seem that the Packers have the recipe to do just that. We all know they have a very dynamic group of pass catchers. Protection-wise, the offensive line ranks sixth in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric, and led by Josh Jacobs, the Packers are averaging 5.0 yards per rush and have generated the second-most explosive runs this season.
However, there have been limiting factors for the Packers as well when it comes to usage and the potential effectiveness.
One is the pre-snap penalties. These have often put the Packers behind the sticks and in more obvious passing situations. Even with a strong run game, play-action doesn’t exactly have the same effectiveness when ran in a 2nd-and-15 situation–to put it simply, the defense doesn’t really care if you run the ball in that scenario.
Another limiting factor has been Love’s health. With Love dealing with two separate lower body injuries this season, that has taken away at times the Packers’ ability to line up under center where play-action is going to be utilized.
“I just think every week’s a little bit different in terms of the type of schemes you’re going against,” said LaFleur of the Packers’ play-action, game. “The type of run schemes you’re implementing, you always want to be kind of cognizant and aware of what you put on tape and try to marry it up as best you can.”
Then generally speaking, the passing game as a whole, whether running play-action or not, has been very boom-or-bust this season. The Packers can create big plays with the best of them, but off-target throws, drops, and turnovers–along with those aforementioned penalties–have been difficult to overcome as well.
But having said that, having a healthier version of Love coming off the bye week will play an important role in that phase of the game finding stability, which, in theory, should trickle-down to the play-action game its effectiveness.
The play-action game was a weapon for this offense in 2023. Love completed 72 percent of his throws at almost 10 yards per attempt with 12 touchdowns to just three interceptions. This season, however, that hasn’t been the case, and with play-action being such an important element of the LaFleur offense, when it comes to this unit reaching its ceiling, taking advantage of those opportunities when they arise is crucial.
Like we said, the formula for success certainly seems to exist, but as always, not it comes down to execution.