Green Bay Packers: 5 Telling NFC Championship Stats from PFF
By Paul Bretl
Dropbacks vs. rushing attempts
If I hadn’t seen how this game played out, but I saw the box score showing that Aaron Rodgers dropped back 53 times and had 48 pass attempts while Green Bay ran the ball just 16 times, I would have been very concerned about the outcome.
This season, the Green Bay Packers have been one of the more balanced teams in the NFL, but against Tampa Bay, they became one dimensional. LaFleur even admitted this after the game, mentioning that they got away from their offense, especially in the red zone.
On both of Green Bay’s failed red zone attempts, the drives ended with three straight passing plays from inside the 10-yard line. Then on each possession following a pair of Jaire Alexander interceptions, the Packers went three and out, passing on all six downs.
Running the ball against Tampa Bay isn’t easy, but in key moments the Green Bay offense abandoned what got them to this point–balance and the quick passing game. As I mentioned above, they looked a bit like the McCarthy offense at the end of his tenure. Spread formation, straight dropback, and hope Rodgers can make something happen.
Dropped passes
According to PFF, the Green Bay Packers had three dropped passes — one for Davante Adams, one for Allen Lazard, and one for Equanimeous St. Brown — and while dropped passes never happen at great times, two of these three came in the end zone.
The first was on a red-zone trip where on first and goal, Rodgers found Adams with a back-shoulder throw that you’d expect the duo to complete 99 times out of 100. However, it was dropped, and the Packers settled for a field goal. The following drop from St. Brown occurred on a two-point conversion attempt that would have made it a three-point game. But again, it was dropped.
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That’s six points taken off the board because of dropped passes. Now, this isn’t’ to say that the Packers would have won 32-31 because we don’t know how that would have affected what Tampa did the rest of the game. But with that said, in an NFC Championship game where everything is magnified, you simply cannot take points off the board like that.