The Packers used three tight ends to keep the Steelers from cheating on Davante Adams

One of the most memorable moments in last week’s Steelers-Packers game was when quarterback Aaron Rodgers caught Pittsburgh in the process of filling in, the gunslinger attempted to get one of his “free plays.” patented, and Mike Tomlin quickly realized the situation and called a time out. CBS cameras quickly took close-ups of the two contestants, who, with a wink and a nod, admitted that they had both achieved exactly what they were trying to accomplish at the time. -the.

Basically you can tell when the opposing teams know exactly what the other is doing as well. Often times this is seen when both teams are so stubborn that they refuse to change because they believe they have the advantage in the specific game, formation and situation.

In the fourth quarter of Week 4, we saw the Steelers and Packers sink into their heels to the extreme. Pittsburgh turned their covers to wide receiver Davante Adams for most of the night, which is hardly a surprise with Marquez Valdes-Scantling, the team’s speed catcher, placed on the injured list on Friday. previous for a hamstring injury.

Green Bay’s response was simple: detach Adams from the roster, take out the bowling ball that AJ Dillon is in the backfield, and line up three tight ends all opposite Adams to create a blocker wall behind if the Steelers continue to “double down.” “Adams. The Packers have lined up in that exact lineup and staff five times in a row. The Steelers have shamed their safety at Adams five times in a row.

Running inside that lineup prevented both Pittsburgh’s two cornerbacks and Adams’ shadowy high security from influencing the running games. Essentially, the Packers managed to get eight hats (five linemen and three tight ends) out of eight hats (all defenders other than those three defensive backs listed) and just chipped away at the defense as they spun the ball around. clock to close the match. .

Four carries turned into 20 yards and a race timer, an easy result to get multiple scores in the fourth quarter. The fifth game was a game action shot thrown at tight end Robert Tonyan head-to-head with a cornerback, who at one point was two or three yards from the target. A back throw from Rodgers led to a failure, but Tonyan was open and the decision making in this situation from a call-to-play standpoint was very solid.

For what it’s worth, the Packers would use those three tight ends two more times on the next drive, their last real drive of the game before kneeling in the ball game. For most of the game, the offense manipulated both the Steelers’ revolving covers to Adams and their staff replacements to gain the advantage. For example, they would come out of formations with multiple tight ends, attacking the Steelers’ “base” personnel in the air, but run downhill with three receivers on the ground when Pittsburgh was in their lighter “nickel” defense.

That could very well be the team’s “base down” identity until MVS comes back onto the pitch from his hamstring injury in a few weeks, which is good for those of you who want to see. more Dillon keys go ahead. The Packers adjusted mid-game to many Pittsburgh trends, but none was clearer than that five-game streak where they turned the game into a binary decision for the Steelers: “Are you overtaking Adams or not?” “