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The Green Bay Packers fielded a respectable but often inconsistent offense during the 2019 season, the first under new coach Matt LaFleur. It was a group in the middle of the field overall, placing 15th in points scored and 18th in total yards.
This season it all came together, making the Packers the best football team in 12 weeks.
What changed? Where has been the biggest improvement?
Highlighting a few areas of greatest improvement:
1 third down
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
The Packers are 23rd in the NFL after converting just 36.0% of third-down chances last season. In 2020, they rose to 48.5%. Only three teams were better. And no team averages more yards per game on third down than the Packers, who went from 5.4 yards in 2019 to an NFL-best 8.1 yards in 2020. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers leads the NFL in third yards (990) and yards. per attempt on the third down (9.8), and he is second in the passers classification (114.7) and fourth in touchdowns (14). Jamaal Williams is one of 16 running backs with seven or more conversions in third, and Rodgers scrambled five times for conversions. Davante Adams is third in the NFL for third catches and second for third conversions despite missing two games.
2 Play-Action Passing Game
AP Photo / Jeffrey Phelps
Much of the improvement in the overall effectiveness of the Packers has to be attributed to the success of the play-action passing game. Last season Aaron Rodgers threw three touchdown passes and had a 91.3 passer rating using play-action, a staple of Matt LaFleur’s system. His numbers have skyrocketed in 2020. This season, Rodgers leads the NFL with 15 touchdown passes and a 135.9 passer rating on play-action folds. The Packers are using action play in roughly the same clip (26% in 2019, 28% in 2020), but Rodgers has gone from one of the less effective quarterbacks in the NFL using action play to one more. It made all the difference.
3 Pass blocking / ball withdrawn
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
The Packers were by no means mediocre as a pass blocking group last season, but Aaron Rodgers’ improved protection and attacking pace made the 2019 season mediocre in comparison. Rodgers has been sacked on just 2.8% of his retirements this season, down from 6.0% last year, and he has been held clean in the pocket on 77.1% of his passing attempts, up from 65.5 in 2019, by PFF. Credit both blockers, which have the NFL’s highest 12-week pass block win rate, through ESPN, but also the passing game in general. Rodgers gets the ball out much faster (2.50 seconds in 2020, 2.74 seconds in 2019), which is a direct result of a higher level of comfort on offense and more open receivers to throw in time.
4 Tight end position
Green Bay Packers tight end Robert Tonyan (85) celebrates a touchdown against Chicago Bears free safety Eddie Jackson (39) during their Sunday November 29, 2020 football game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin .
Jimmy Graham’s transition to Robert Tonyan as the best tight end in the passing offense has been a massive upgrade.
Just look at a comparison of the numbers:
| Graham, 2019 | Tonyan, 2020 | |
| Games | 16 | 11 |
| Catches / Targets | 38/60 | 37/42 |
| Capture% | 63.3 | 88.1 |
| TD | 3 | seven |
| Yards / target | 7.5 | 10.9 |
| Evaluating the passer when targeted | 102.6 | 151.7 |
Tonyan could be the most efficient tight wing in football this season. He catches everything, creates explosive games and scores touchdowns. Graham hasn’t done any of these things consistently over his two seasons at Green Bay. And he’s been even worse in Chicago this season, averaging 8.8 yards per catch and 5.5 yards per target. The Packers probably should have moved to Tonyan a year earlier.
5 Fourth down aggressiveness
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
After 12 weeks, the Packers already have four conversions in fourth down (11) more than last season (7). Situationally, the Packers were much more aggressive in fourth, and those decisions often led to more points. Matt LaFleur’s aggressiveness was around average among NFL teams last season. In 2020, he is the leader in aggression from afar. On the fourth downs where the New York Times “4th Down Bot” believes a team should go for him, the Packers have done so on 14 of 18 occasions, or about 78 percent.
6 Aaron Rodgers precision
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) signals on the sidelines during an NFL football game on Sunday, November 22, 2020 in Indianapolis. (AP Photo / Zach Bolinger)
Aaron Rodgers completes 68.5% of his passes, which would be a new career high in one season since becoming a starter in 2008. He completed just 62.0% in 2019, his second lowest note as a starter. Six and a half percentage points is a massive increase. While the Packers fall rate is on the rise in 2020, Rodgers’ bad pitch percentage is down (21.2% in 2019 to 15.2% in 2020) and his target percentage is up (74.7% % in 2019 to 79.9% in 2020), by professional football benchmark. Rodgers’ adjusted completion percentage, according to PFF, is 79.5, up from 73.3 in 2019. He was more precise in deep throws, and LaFleur has always organized easy, on-time throws. The result has been a more precise and efficient football distributor.
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