The Green Bay Packers offense has a lot of things going for it right now, but one important contributor to their success has been Jordan Love’s ability to spread the ball around.
To a degree, it sounds contradictory to say because, well, who wouldn’t want a true go-to No. 1 target? But Love’s willingness to throw the ball to really anyone on any given play also stresses defenses, just in a different way.
“I think that’s a great,” said Love of the number of pass-catching options he can rely on. “That obviously puts a little bit of pressure on the defense. Just when you are able to get completions to a lot of different guys, they can’t really focus on who they want to cover and things like that.
“I think that’s just part of our offense. We have so many weapons and everybody is able to catch the ball and make a play once they get the ball. The more we can keep getting guys open and getting different guys the ball it puts a little bit more pressure on the defense.”
The Packers didn’t have their first pass catcher eclipse the 100-yard mark in a game until Bo Melton did it in Week 17 against Minnesota. In part, this was a product of some early season struggles on offense. But over the second half of the season, when the Packers offense was one of the most efficient units in football by DVOA, a big reason for that is due to so many pass-catchers being actively involved in the offense.
The Packers’ receiver room truly runs six deep with Melton and Malik Heath on the “back-end” of the depth chart. At tight end are Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave, along with the running backs being active members of the passing game as well.
In the last eight games, there has been only one occasion – against Detroit – where fewer than eight players had a target. There have also been three instances where nine or more players had a target in a single game. On the season, 16 different Packers had at least a target, with nine players totaling at least 200 receiving yards.
“There is from the standpoint of anyone can get the ball at any time,” said Adam Stenavich. “Sometimes you’re in a situation where I wish we had this guy that could just win one-on-one. But for the most part, if you have a good collective group, the quarterback is reading his progressions, he will find the open guy, which I think we’ve been doing pretty well the last couple of weeks.
“I think that’s the biggest advantage defense can’t really game plan and take a guy away. And if they did, now we’ve got these other guys that can go. It’s been pretty cool to see.”
In part, the Packers having to rely on this many players was out of necessity at times because of injuries at the receiver and tight end positions, especially over the last month. But there’s also a lot more to it than just that.
As the season has progressed and the coaching staff has learned where each player is at his best, as Matt LaFleur has pointed out, they’ve done a better job of consistently putting the pass catchers in positions to be successful. It’s a credit to that receiver room for making the plays in practice to earn the opportunities on Sundays, where they’ve continually come through over the last eight games.
There is also something to be said for Love’s willingness to go with what his read and progression tells him. He isn’t shying away from anyone. If what the defense is doing dictates the ball goes to the Z receiver, then that is where the ball is going.
“It allows, certainly, from the quarterback position to read whatever concept truly how it’s intended to be read,” said LaFleur on Monday. “I’ve definitely been a part of teams where we try to force-feed a guy the ball, and sometimes that does not work out in your favor, and other times it does.
“Jordan will tell you he’s got confidence in whoever is out there. All those guys have proven to make plays for us throughout the course of the season. Some big-time plays last night, and hopefully, we can continue that.”
As Love said, spreading the ball around adds more pressure for the defense. Opponents are unable to key in on one or even two players pre-snap, almost regardless of the situation. This then forces them to defend the entire field, creating better spacing for the Packers’ offense to operate within, along with one-on-one matchups.
Given how well Love and the rest of the offense are playing right now, repeatedly being in those situations are opportunities that this group are going to be able to exploit.