Upon further review - the Offense

Posted by Mark Daniels on

With the dust settling on another unfulfilled season, here's a final analysis of the Green Bay Packers of 2012 with today's focus on the offense.   Coming off a record setting year in points scored and losing only one ballgame in 2011, the opponents of the Packers took a hard look at that one game, the loss to the Chiefs in Kansas City, and formulated a plan to try and contain Aaron Rodgers and the offense.   Green Bay got a steady diet of the dreaded 2-deep defense, where both safeties stay back to prevent the big play, linebackers drop into deep middle zones, front fours rush with little blitzing and all 11 defenders tackle like maniacs.   The Packers annually see this defense from the Chicago Bears and look how difficult it's been to win tight games against them.  Complicating matters for Mike McCarthy in devising ways to beat that defense was the fact he had a different cast of playmakers almost every weekend.  The injury and subsequent surgery to Greg Jennings really hurt.  Then Randall Cobb got nicked, Jordy Nelson too.  Another key factor in the offense's inability to draw defenses out of that scheme was the lack of an explosive running game.  The Packers had exactly one rushing play go for more than 30 yards all season, a 41 yard burst by Alex Green.  He wound up as the leading rusher with 464 yards, the lowest team leading total since Darrick Holmes and his 386 yards back in 1998.  It's not a good sign when the quarterback is number two in rushing, Rodgers had 259 yards.  James Starks couldn't stay healthy again and managed 255 and Cedric Benson, signed late in camp, had 248 before hurting his foot in Indianapolis and getting lost for the season.  Ryan Grant was a late season addition that never got a chance to get into the flow.  DuJuan Harris had the best average per carry among the backs at 4.6 and he might have earned a shot at the fulltime roll next season.  But someone among this group has to produce enough of a threat to break to the second level to open the back end of the defense and give Rodgers a chance to make plays downfield with the perimeter group.   McCarthy felt Jermichael Finley grew up a lot in the second half of the season and while his contract situtation is touchy, the fifth year tight end is still too valuable a matchup factor in Mike's offense to let him walk.  Only foot soldier tight ends are behind Finley on the depth chart, Tom Crabtree, Ryan Taylor and D.J. Williams, a real mystery.  Williams would be active one week and show some signs of life, only to be in street clothes the following week.  The big five receiving corps appears headed for dismantling.  Donald Driver won't be back and Jennings will almost certainly get an offer from another team that the Packers feel they can't match.  That will leave three solid pass catchers in Cobb, Nelson and James Jones, easily the most consistent receiver of the bunch with his league leading 14 touchdowns. As for the offensive line, it's a miracle they made it through the season, rolling the dice with only seven rostered linemen all year.  Bryan Bulaga should return from his season ending hip injury but Don Barclay proved to be a find as an undrafted rookie free agent who can play.  Josh Sitton, T.J. Lang and Marshall Newhouse all held up and Lang's versatility came in handy.  The Jeff Saturday experiment at center lasted 15 weeks before he was benched for the younger, stronger Evan Dietrich-Smith.  This unit gave up 51 sacks, certainly not all their fault, but that number must be trimmed.  Derrick Sherrod remains a wild card after missing nearly all of his first two seasons with that broken leg.  Rodgers has clearly hit his prime, the NFL's passer rating leader two years running.   The window of opportunity to cash in the talents of an MVP quarterback doesn't stay open forever.  To keep it from closing even further next year, the Packers need to re-energize the run game, develop another complimentary receiver and solidify the depth on the offensive line.   Three Packer offensive assistant coaches will talk about how they viewed the season and their players on the link below.

Packers Offense Evaluation

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